Arhuaco language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Ika language (Nigeria).
| Arhuaco | |
|---|---|
| Ika | |
| Native to | Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Arhuacos |
Native speakers | 8,000 (2009)[1] |
|
Chibchan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | arh |
Arhuaco, commonly known as Ika, is an Indigenous American language of the Chibchan language family, spoken in South America by the Arhuaco people.[2]
It has 14,800 speakers, all in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of Colombia, 90% of whom are monolingual.[2] Literacy is 1 to 5% in their native language. Some speak Spanish, and 15 to 25% are literate in that auxiliary language.[2] The users have a very strong traditional culture and have vibrant use of their tongue.[2]
It is also known as: Aruaco, Bintuk, Bíntukua, Bintucua, Ica, Ijca, Ijka, Ika, and Ike.[2]
The language uses a subject–object–verb (SOV) sentence structure.[2]
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 consonantic phonemas:
| 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 |
External links
Notes
- ↑ Arhuaco reference at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Arhuaco, by Arango and Sánchez, Ethnologue, 1998, access date 04-16-08
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