U'wa language

U'wa
Tenebo, Uw Cuwa
Spoken in Northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Boyacá Department, Colombia; Venezuela
Ethnicity U'wa
Native speakers 1,800–3,600[1]  (2004)
Language family
Chibchan
  • Chibcha–Motilon
    • Chibcha–Tunebo
      • U'wa
Language codes
ISO 639-3 variously:
tnd – Angosturas Tunebo
tbn – Barro Negro Tunebo
tuf – Central Tunebo
tnb – Western Tunebo
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The U'wa language, Uw Cuwa, commonly known as Tunebo, is a Chibchan language spoken by between 1,800 and 3,600 of the U'wa people of Colombia, out of a total population of about 7,000.[1]

Contents

Dialects

Dialects at the time of European contact, include –

  1. The Duit dialect (in Duitama)
  2. Sinsiga (in Chita, and likely Róyota and Cobaría)
  3. Tunebo (in Margua, Sínsiga, Bocota and Cubugón)
  4. Tegría (in the Pamplona Valley and Uncacía del Sarare, in North Santander)

Current dialects as described by Fabre 2005 are as follows:

  1. Angosturas Tunebo – nearly extinct
  2. Eastern Tunebo (or barro negro) at least 300 speakers (1981) in Barro Negro, Tabías and San Lope (Casanare)
  3. Central Tunebo (Cobaría) – 1.500 (1982)
  4. Western Tunebo (Aguas Blancas) undetermined number in southern Santander

Phonology

Vowel

Front Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar Glottal
Voiceless stop t k kʷ ʔ
Voiced Stop b
Fricative s ʃ h
Nasal m n
Vibrant r
Oral semi-vowel w j
Nasal semi-vowel w̃

Notes

  1. ^ a b Adelaar & Muysken (2004:109)

References

External links