Chibcha language
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| Chibcha | |
|---|---|
| Muisca, Muyskkubun | |
| Spoken in | Central highlands of Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Muisca |
| Extinct | 18th century |
| Language family |
Chibchan
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | chb |
| ISO 639-3 | chb |
Chibcha, also known as Muisca or Mosca, is an extinct[1] Chibchan language of Colombia, formerly spoken by the Muisca people, a complex indigenous civilization of South America and the present-day Colombian region. Scholars believe the Chibcha language arose in South America and then migrated with people to nearby areas.[2] In 1770, King Charles III of Spain officially banned use of the language in the region as part of a de-indigenization project. The ban remained in law until Colombia passed its constitution of 1991.
Words of Muyskkubun origin are still used in the departments of Cundinamarca of which Bogotá is the capital, and Boyacá. These include curuba (a fruit), toche (a bird), guadua (a bamboo-like plant) and tatacoa (a snake). The Muisca descendants continue many traditional ways, such as the use of certain foods, use of coca for teas and healing rituals, and other aspects of natural ways, which are a deep part of culture here. Chibcha culture flourished in these areas since at least the 7th century BC.[2]
The only public school in Colombia currently teaching Muisca (to about 150 children) is in the town of Cota, about 20 miles by road from Bogotá. The school is named Jizcamox (healing with the hands) in Muisca.[2]
The Chibcha or Muisca called their language Muyskkubun. The Spanish called it Chibcha, derived from Chib (staff) and Cha (man), meaning the "Chief of the Community". Chibchacum, the god of agriculture, was punished by the god Bochica and had to hold the earth on his shoulders.
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading (in Spanish, use Translate on Google)
These are available through the Virtual Library, Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango Banco de la República, Colombia
- Teresa Arango, Precolombia: Introducción al estudio del indígena colombiano (PreColombia: Introduction to the Study of Colombian Indigenous People), Madrid: Sucesores de Rivadeneyra, 1954
- Álvaro Botiva Contreras, Leonor Herrera, Ana Maria Groot, Santiago Mora, Colombia prehispánica: regiones arqueológicas (Pre-Hispanic Colombia: Archeological Regions), Instituto colombiano de Antropología Colcultura, 1989
- Central Andean Region, Vol. IV, Geografía Humana de Colombia (Human Geography of Colombia), Bogotá: Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Hispánica, Digital publishing on the Virtual Library of the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango Banco de la República.
- Rafael Martín and José Puentes, Culturas indígenas colombianas (Indigenous Cultures of Colombia)
- Javier Ocampo Lopez, "Mitos y leyendas populares de Boyacá" (Popular Myths and Legends of Boyacá), in El pueblo boyacenses e su folcior (The Boacense Village and Its Folklore), Digital publishing on the Virtual Library of the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango Banco de la República (Luis Angel Arango Library of Bank of the Republic)
- Miguel Triana, La civilización chibcha (1921) (The Chibcha Civilisation)
- Luis Eduardo Wiesner Gracia, "Etnografía muisca" (Muisca Ethnography), in Central Andean Region, Vol. IV, Geografía Humana de Colombia (Human Geography of Colombia), Bogotá: Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Hispánica, Digital publishing on the Virtual Library of the Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango Banco de la República
[edit] External links
- Muyskkubun Project, in Spanish, with Muyskkubun–Spanish dictionary
- "Chibcha", Archives, sources in Spanish on the Chibcha language, Rosetta Project
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