Arhuaco language
| Arhuaco | |
|---|---|
| Ikʉ | |
| Native to | Colombia |
| Ethnicity | 14,800 Arhuacos (2001)[1] |
Native speakers | 8,000 (2009)[2] |
Chibchan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | arh |
| Glottolog | arhu1242 |
| ELP | Ica |
Arhuaco, commonly known as Ikʉ, is an Indigenous American language of the Chibchan language family, spoken in South America by the Arhuaco people.[3]
It has 14,800 speakers, all in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of Colombia, 90% of whom are monolingual.[3] Literacy is 1 to 5% in their native language. Some speak Spanish, and 15 to 25% are literate in that auxiliary language.[3] The users have a very strong traditional culture and have vibrant use of their tongue.[3]
It is also known as: Aruaco, Bintuk, Bíntukua, Bintucua, Ica, Ijca, Ijka, Ika, and Ike.[3]
The language uses a subject–object–verb (SOV) sentence structure.[3]
Phonology
- Vowels
| Back vowels | Central vowels | Front vowels | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open vowels | i | ɨ "ʉ" | u |
| Mid vowels | e | ə "ë" | o |
| Close vowels | a |
/ə/ is raised to and merged with /ɨ/ word finally.
- Consonants
This language registers 17 consonant phonemes:
| Labial | Alveolar | Alveolo-palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| occlusive (voiceless) | p | t | tʃ | k | ʔ |
| occlusive (voiced) | b | d | dʒ | ɡ | |
| nasal | m | n~ŋ | |||
| fricative | s | h | |||
| fricative | β "w" | z | ʒ | ||
| flap | ɾ |
References
Frank, Paul. 1985. A grammar of Ika. PhD thesis. University of Pennsylvania.
Frank, Paul. 2000. Ika syntax. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Landaburu, Jon. 2000. La lengua Ika. in Lenguas indigenas de Colombia: Una visión descriptiva. Bogota: Instituto Caro y Cuervo.
External links
- Arhuaco (Ika) dictionary.
- Ika language version of the Faculty of Humanities of the National University of Colombia.
Notes
- ^ Arhuaco language at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
- ^ Arhuaco at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e f Arhuaco, by Arango and Sánchez, Ethnologue, 1998, access date 04-16-08
