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Barbacoan (also Barbakóan, Barbacoano, Barbacoana) is a language family spoken in Colombia and
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Ekua ...
.


Genealogical relations

The Barbacoan languages may be related to the
Páez language Páez (also Paez, Paes; or the autonym Nasa Yuwe 'Nasa language') is a language of Colombia, spoken by the Páez people. Crevels (2011) estimates 60,000 speakers out of an ethnic population of 140,000. The language is spoken by the second larg ...
. Barbacoan is often connected with the
Paezan languages Paezan (also Páesan, Paezano, Interandine) may be any of several hypothetical or obsolete language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language. Proposals Currently, Páez (Nasa Yuwe) is best considered either a langu ...
(including Páez); however, Curnow (1998) shows how much of this proposal is based on misinterpretation of an old document of Douay (1888). (See:
Paezan languages Paezan (also Páesan, Paezano, Interandine) may be any of several hypothetical or obsolete language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language. Proposals Currently, Páez (Nasa Yuwe) is best considered either a langu ...
.) Other more speculative larger groupings involving Barbacoan include the Macro-Paesan "cluster", the
Macro-Chibchan Macro-Chibchan is a proposed grouping of the languages of the Lencan, Misumalpan, and Chibchan families into a single large phylum (macrofamily). History The Lencan and Misumalpan languages were once included in the Chibchan family proper, but ...
stock, and the Chibchan-Paezan stock.


Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Atakame, Cholon-Hibito, Kechua, Mochika, Paez, Tukano,
Umbra The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source after impinging on an opaque object. Assuming no diffraction, for a collimated beam (such as a point source) of light, only the umbra is cast. T ...
, and
Chibchan The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Cost ...
(especially between Guaymí and Southern Barbacoan branches) language families due to contact.


Languages

Barbacoan consists of 6 languages: *Northern :* Awan (also known as Awa or Pasto) ::* Awa Pit (also known as Cuaiquer, Coaiquer, Kwaiker, Awá, Awa, Telembi, Sindagua, Awa-Cuaiquer, Koaiker, Telembí) ::* Pasto–Muellama :::*
Pasto Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the city had appr ...
(also known as Past Awá) ''(†)'' :::* Muellama (also known as Muellamués, Muelyama) ''(†)'' :* Coconucan (also known as Guambiano–Totoró) ::* Guambiano (also known as Mogües, Moguez, Mogés, Wam, Misak, Guambiano-Moguez, Wambiano-Mogés, Moguex) ::* Totoró (also known as Polindara) ::* Coconuco (also known as Kokonuko, Cauca, Wanaka) ''(†)'' *Southern ? (Cayapa–Tsafiki) :* Caranqui (also known as Cara, Kara, Karanki, Imbaya) ''(†)'' :* Cha’palaa (also known as Cayapa, Chachi, Kayapa, Nigua, Cha’palaachi) :* Tsafiki (also known as Colorado, Tsafiqui, Tsáfiki, Colorado, Tsáchela, Tsachila, Campaz, Colima) Pasto, Muellama, Coconuco, and Caranqui are now
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
. Pasto and Muellama are usually classified as Barbacoan, but the current evidence is weak and deserves further attention. Muellama may have been one of the last surviving
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...
s of Pasto (both extinct, replaced by Spanish) — Muellama is known only by a short wordlist recorded in the 19th century. The Muellama vocabulary is similar to modern Awa Pit. The Cañari–Puruhá languages are even more poorly attested, and while often placed in a Chimuan family, Adelaar (2004:397) thinks they may have been Barbacoan. The Coconucan languages were first connected to Barbacoan by Daniel Brinton in 1891. However, a subsequent publication by Henri Beuchat and Paul Rivet placed Coconucan together with a Paezan family (which included Páez and Paniquita) due a misleading "Moguex" vocabulary list. The "Moguex" vocabulary turned out to be a mix of both Páez and Guambiano languages (Curnow 1998). This vocabulary has led to misclassifications by Greenberg (1956, 1987), Loukotka (1968), Kaufman (1990, 1994), and Campbell (1997), among others. Although Páez may be related to the Barbacoan family, a conservative view considers Páez a
language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The numb ...
pending further investigation. Guambiano is more similar to other Barbacoan languages than to Páez, and thus Key (1979), Curnow et al. (1998), Gordon (2005), and Campbell (2012) place Coconucan under Barbacoan. The moribund Totoró is sometimes considered a dialect of Guambiano instead of a separate language, and, indeed, Adelaar & Muysken (2004) state that Guambiano-Totoró-Coconuco is best treated as a single language. The Barbácoa (Barbacoas) language itself is unattested, and is only assumed to be part of the Barbacoan family. Nonetheless, it has been assigned an ISO code, though the better-attested and classifiable Pasto language has not.


Loukotka (1968)

Below is a full list of Barbacoan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties. ;Barbacoa group *Barbácoa of Colima - extinct language once spoken on the Iscuandé River and Patia River, Nariño department, Colombia. (Unattested.) *Pius - extinct language once spoken around the Laguna Piusbi, in the Nariño region. (Unattested.) *Iscuandé - extinct language once spoken on the Iscuandé River in the Nariño region. (Unattested.) *Tumaco - extinct language once spoken around the modern city of
Tumaco Tumaco is a port city and municipality in the Nariño Department, Colombia, by the Pacific Ocean. It is located on the southwestern corner of Colombia, near the border with Ecuador, and experiences a hot tropical climate. Tumaco is inhabited ma ...
, department of Nariño. (Unattested.) *Guapi - extinct language once spoken on the Guapi River, department of Cauca. (Unattested.) *Cuaiquer / Koaiker - spoken on the Cuaiquer River in Colombia. *Telembi - extinct language once spoken in the Cauca region on the Telembi River. (Andre 1884, pp. 791–799.) *Panga - extinct language once spoken near the modern city of Sotomayor, Nariño department. (Unattested.) *Nulpe - extinct language once spoken in the Nariño region on the Nulpe River. (Unattested.) *Cayápa / Nigua - language spoken now by a few families on the Cayapas River, Esmeraldas province, Ecuador. *Malaba - extinct language once spoken in Esmeraldas province on the Mataje River. (Unattested.) *Yumbo - extinct language once spoken in the Cordillera de Intag and the Cordillera de Nanegal, Pichincha province, Ecuador. The population now speaks only Quechua. (Unattested.) *Colorado / Tsachela / Chono / Campaz / Satxíla / Colime - language still spoken on the
Daule River The Daule River is a river in Ecuador, in Guayas Province. At Guayaquil, it joins the Babahoyo River; from that point the confluence becomes the Guayas River. Cities along the river * Pichincha, Ecuador * Balzar * Colimes * Palestina * Santa Lu ...
,
Vinces River The Vinces River is a river of western Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally tr ...
, and
Esmeraldas River The Esmeraldas River is a river in northwestern Ecuador that flows into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Esmeraldas. Among its tributaries is the Guayllabamba River which drains Quito. Charles Marie de la Condamine Charles Marie de La Conda ...
, provinces of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Los Ríos, Ecuador. *Colima - extinct language once spoken on the middle course of the
Daule River The Daule River is a river in Ecuador, in Guayas Province. At Guayaquil, it joins the Babahoyo River; from that point the confluence becomes the Guayas River. Cities along the river * Pichincha, Ecuador * Balzar * Colimes * Palestina * Santa Lu ...
, Guayas province. (Unattested.) *Cara / Caranqui / Imbaya - extinct language once spoken in the province of Imbabura and on the Guayllabamba River, Ecuador. The population now speaks Spanish or Quechua. *Sindagua / Malla - extinct language once spoken on the Tapaje River, Iscuandé River, Mamaonde River, and Patia River, department of Nariño, Colombia. (H. Lehmann 1949; Ortiz 1938, pp. 543–545, each only a few patronyms and toponyms.) *Muellama - extinct language of the Nariño region, once spoken in the village of Muellama. *Pasta - extinct language once spoken in Carchi province, Ecuador, and in the department of Nariño in Colombia around the modern city of
Pasto, Colombia Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the city had appr ...
. *Mastele - extinct language once spoken on the left bank of the Guaitara River near the mouth, department of Nariño. (Unattested.) *Quijo - once spoken on the
Napo River The Napo River ( es, Río Napo) is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the east Andean volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi. The total length is . The river drains an area of . The mean annual disch ...
and
Coca River The Coca River is a river in eastern Ecuador. It is a tributary of the Napo River. The two rivers join in the city of Puerto Francisco de Orellana. The Payamino River The Payamino River is a river of Ecuador. It is a tributary of the Napo River ...
, Oriente province, Ecuador. The tribe now speaks only Quechua. (Ordónez de Ceballos 1614, f. 141-142, only three words.) *Mayasquer - extinct language once spoken in the villages of Mayasquer and Pindical, Carchi province, Ecuador. The present population speaks only Quechua. (Unattested.) ;Coconuco group *Coconuco - language spoken by a few families at the sources of the
Cauca River The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and th ...
, department of Cauca, Colombia. *Guamíca / Guanuco - extinct language once spoken in the village of Plata Vieja in Colombia. *Guambiana / Silviano - spoken in the villages of Ambató, Cucha and partly in Silvia. *Totaró - spoken in the villages of Totoró and Polindara. *Tunía - once spoken on the Tunía River and Ovejas River. (Unattested.) *Chesquio - extinct language once spoken on the Sucio River. (Unattested.) *Patia - once spoken between the Timbío River and Guachicono River. (Unattested.) *Quilla - original and extinct language of the villages of
Almaguer Almaguer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Frank Almaguer (born 1945), United States diplomat * Ilean Almaguer (born 1990), Mexican actress best known for her roles in telenovelas and dozens of TV commercials * Sergio Almague ...
, Santiago, and Milagros. The present population speaks only a dialect of Quechua. (Unattested.) *Timbío - once spoken on the Timbío River. (Unattested.) *Puracé - once spoken around the Laguna de las Papas and
Puracé Puracé is an andesitic stratovolcano located in the Puracé National Natural Park in the Cauca Department, Colombia. It is part of the North Volcanic Zone of the Andean Volcanic Belt. The volcano is located at the intersection of the Coconu ...
Volcano. (Unattested.) *Puben / Pubenano / Popayan - extinct language of the plains of
Popayán Popayán () is the capital of the Colombian department of Cauca. It is located in southwestern Colombia between the Western Mountain Range and Central Mountain Range. It has a population of 318,059 people, an area of 483 km2, is located ...
, department of Cauca. (Unattested.) *Moguex - spoken in the village of Quisgó and in a part of the village of Silvia.


Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items. :


Proto-language

Proto-Barbacoan reconstructions and reflexes (Curnow & Liddicoat 1998):Curnow, Timothy J.; Liddicoat, Anthony J. (1998). The Barbacoan languages of Colombia and Ecuador. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', ''40'' (3). :


See also

*
Paezan languages Paezan (also Páesan, Paezano, Interandine) may be any of several hypothetical or obsolete language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language. Proposals Currently, Páez (Nasa Yuwe) is best considered either a langu ...
*
Páez language Páez (also Paez, Paes; or the autonym Nasa Yuwe 'Nasa language') is a language of Colombia, spoken by the Páez people. Crevels (2011) estimates 60,000 speakers out of an ethnic population of 140,000. The language is spoken by the second larg ...


References


Bibliography

* Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). ''The languages of the Andes''. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press. * Brend, Ruth M. (Ed.). (1985). ''From phonology to discourse: Studies in six Colombian languages'' (p. vi, 133). Language Data, Amerindian Series (No. 9). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. * Beuchat, Henri; & Rivet, Paul. (1910). Affinités des langues du sud de la Colombie et du nord de l'Équateur. ''Le Mouséon'', ''11'', 33-68, 141-198. * Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press. . * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1981). Comparative Chibchan phonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania). * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1991). ''Las lenguas del área intermedia: Introducción a su estudio areal''. San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica. * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1993). ''La familia chibcha''. In (M. L. Rodríguez de Montes (Ed.), ''Estado actual de la clasificación de las lenguas indígenas de Colombia'' (pp. 75–125). Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. * Curnow, Timothy J. (1998). Why Paez is not a Barbacoan language: The nonexistence of "Moguex" and the use of early sources. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''64'' (4), 338-351. * Curnow, Timothy J.; & Liddicoat, Anthony J. (1998). The Barbacoan languages of Colombia and Ecuador. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', ''40'' (3). * Douay, Léon. (1888). Contribution à l'américanisme du Cauca (Colombie). ''Compte-Rendu du Congrès International des Américanistes'', ''7'', 763-786. * Gerdel, Florence L. (1979). Paez. In ''Aspectos de la cultura material de grupos étnicos de Colombia 2'', (pp. 181–202). Bogota: Ministerio de Gobierno and Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. * Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), ''Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages'' (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. . * Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), ''Atlas of the world's languages'' (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge. * Key, Mary R. (1979). ''The grouping of South American languages''. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. * Landaburu, Jon. (1993). Conclusiones del seminario sobre clasificación de lenguas indígenas de Colombia. In (M. L. Rodríguez de Montes (Ed.), ''Estado actual de la clasificación de las lenguas indígenas de Colombia'' (pp. 313–330). Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. * Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). ''Classification of South American Indian languages''. Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California. * Slocum, Marianna C. (1986). ''Gramática páez'' (p. vii, 171). Lomalinda: Editorial Townsend. * Stark, Louisa R. (1985). Indigenous languages of lowland Ecuador: History and current status. In H. E. Manelis Khan & L. R. Stark (Eds.), ''South American Indian languages: Retrospect and prospect'' (pp. 157–193). Austin: University of Texas Press.


External links

* Proel
Familia Barbacoana
* Proel
Sub-tronco Paezano
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbacoan Languages Languages of Ecuador Languages of Colombia Macro-Paesan languages Language families