The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a
language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...
indigenous to the
Isthmo-Colombian Area
The Isthmo-Colombian Area is defined as a cultural area encompassing those territories occupied predominantly by speakers of the Chibchan languages at the time of European contact. It includes portions of the Central American isthmus like eastern E ...
, which extends from eastern
Honduras to northern
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and includes populations of these countries as well as
Nicaragua
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
,
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, and
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
. The name is derived from the name of an
extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, l ...
called ''
Chibcha
The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan lan ...
'' or ''Muysccubun'', once spoken by the people who lived on the
Altiplano Cundiboyacense
The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...
of which the city of
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
was the southern capital at the time of the Spanish
Conquista
Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions of ...
. However, genetic and linguistic data now indicate that the original heart of Chibchan languages and Chibchan-speaking peoples might not have been in Colombia, but in the area of the
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
-
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
border, where the greatest variety of Chibchan languages has been identified.
External relations
A larger family called ''
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 ...
'', which would contain the
Misumalpan languages
The Misumalpan languages (also Misumalpa or Misuluan) are a small family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples on the east coast of Nicaragua and nearby areas. The name "Misumalpan" was devised by John Alden Mason and is composed of syllable ...
,
Xinca, and
Lenca
The Lenca or Lepawiran "people of the jaguar" are from present day southwest Honduras and eastern El Salvador in Central America. They once spoke many Dialects such as Chilanga, Putun, Kotik etc. Although there were different dialects, they un ...
, was found convincing by Kaufman (1990).
Pache (2018) suggests a distant relationship with the
Macro-Jê languages
Macro-Jê (also spelled Macro-Gê) is a medium-sized language stock in South America, mostly in Brazil but also in the Chiquitanía region in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, as well as (formerly) in small parts of Argentina and Paraguay. It is centered o ...
.
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the
Andaki,
Barbakoa,
Choko,
Duho,
Paez,
Sape, and
Taruma language families due to contact.
Classification
* A
** Waimí (Guaymi)
***
Guaymí (Ngäbere, Movere) – 170,000 speakers, vulnerable in
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
, endangered in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
***
Buglere (Bokotá) – 18,000 speakers, endangered
**
Borũca (Brunca) – 140 speakers, moribund
**
Talamanca
***
Huetar (Güetar) †
***
Bribri
The Bribri are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish.
There are varying estimates from government officials of the group's population. Estimates of the to ...
(Talamanca), 7,000 speakers – vulnerable in
Costa Rica
Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
, endangered in
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
***
Cabécar (Talamanca) – 8,800 speakers, vulnerable
***
Teribe (Norteño) – 3,300 speakers, endangered
* B
**
Pech (Paya) – 990 speakers, endangered
**
Dorasque †
**
Votic
Votic, or Votian (''vaďďa tšeeli'', ''maatšeeli'') vɑːdʔda ˈtʃɨlɨ, mɑːt.ʃɨlɨ is the language spoken by the Votes of Ingria, belonging to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. Votic is spoken only in Krakolye and Luzhits ...
***
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
– 740 speakers, moribund
***
Voto †
***
Maléku (Guatuso) – 750 speakers, endangered
***
Corobicí – northwestern Costa Rica †
** Cuna–Colombian
***
Kuna
Kuna may refer to:
Places
* Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States
** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho
* Kuna Peak, a mountain in California
* , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia
* , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...
(Dulegaya) – 60,600 speakers, vulnerable in
Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...
, endangered in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
*** Chibcha–Motilon
****
Barí (Motilón) – 5,000 speakers, vulnerable
**** Chibcha–Tunebo
*****
Muysccubun - †
*****
Duit
The duit (plural: ''duiten''; en , doit) was a copper Dutch coin worth 2 ''penning'', with 8 duit pieces equal to one ''stuiver'' and 160 duit pieces equal to one ''gulden''. In Dutch Indonesia 4 duit pieces were equal to one ''stuiver''. ...
†
*****
U'wa (Tunebo) – 2,550 speakers, endangered
*****
Guane
Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602.
Geography
The municipality is divided into the barrios of Cabo de San Antonio y La Fe, Catalina, Cortés, Hato de Guane, Isabel Rubio (Paso Real d ...
† – Colombia
*** Arwako–Chimila
****
Chimila – 350 speakers, endangered
**** Arwako
*****
Wiwa (Malayo, Guamaca) – 1,850 speakers, endangered
*****
Kankuamo †
*****
Arhuaco
The Arhuaco are an indigenous people of Colombia. They are Chibchan-speaking people and descendants of the Tairona culture, concentrated in northern Colombia in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Name
The Arhuaco are also known as the Aruaco, ...
(Ika) – 8,000 speakers, vulnerable
*****
Kogi
Kogi State is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the west by the states of Ekiti and Kwara, to the north by the Federal Capital Territory, to the northeast by Nasarawa State, to the northwest by Niger State, to th ...
(
Cogui) – 9,910 speakers, vulnerable
The extinct languages of
Antioquia,
Old Catío and
Nutabe
The Nutabe (or "Nutabae") are an indigenous people who inhabit the region of Antioquia in Colombia. Their numbers began to plummet around the first half of the 16th century due to the European colonization of the Americas. Spanish records indicat ...
have been shown to be Chibchan (Adelaar & Muysken, 2004:49). The language of the
Tairona
Tairona (or Tayrona) was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted in a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which g ...
is unattested, apart from a single word, but may well be one of the Arwako languages still spoken in the Santa Marta range. The
Zenú
The ''Zenú'' or ''Sinú'' is a pre-Columbian culture in Colombia, whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinú and San Jorge rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo. These lands lie within t ...
Sinú language of northern Colombia is also sometimes included, as are the
Malibu languages
The Malibu languages are a poorly attested group of dead languages once spoken along the Magdalena River in Colombia. Material exists only for two of the numerous languages mentioned in the literature: Malibú and Mocana.
Classification
The Mal ...
, though without any factual basis.
Adolfo Constenla Umaña argues that
Cueva, the extinct dominant language of Pre-Columbian Panama long assumed to be Chibchan based on a misinterpreted Kuna vocabulary, was actually
Chocoan
The Choco languages (also Chocoan, Chocó, Chokó) are a small family of Native American languages spread across Colombia and Panama.
Family division
Choco consists of six known branches, all but two of which are extinct.
*The Emberá langu ...
, but there is little evidence.
The
Cofán language
''Aingae'', commonly known as Cofán or Kofán, is the primary language of the Ai (Cofán) people, an indigenous group whose ancestral territory lies at the interface between the Andean foothills and Amazonia in the northeast of Ecuador (Sucumb ...
(Kofán, Kofane, A'i) of Ecuador and Colombia has been erroneously included in Chibchan due to borrowed vocabulary.
Jolkesky (2016)
Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016):
[Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho De Valhery. 2016. ]
Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas
'. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Brasília
The University of Brasília ( pt, Universidade de Brasília, UnB) is a federal public university in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. It was founded in 1960 and has since consistently been named among the top five Brazilian universities and the ...
.
(† = extinct)
;Chibcha
*''
Pech''
*Votic
**''
Maleku''
**''
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
''
**''
Wetar
Wetar is a tropical island which belongs to the Indonesian province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Maluku Barat Daya Islands (literally ''Southwest Islands'') of the Maluku Islands. It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands, which i ...
''
*Isthmus
**Boruka-Talamanca
***''
Boruka''
***Talamanca
****''
Teribe''
****Bribri-Kabekar
*****''
Bribri
The Bribri are an Indigenous people in eastern Costa Rica and northern Panama. Today, most Bribri people speak the Bribri language or Spanish.
There are varying estimates from government officials of the group's population. Estimates of the to ...
''
*****''
Kabekar''
**Doraske-Changena
***''
Changena'' †
***''
Doraske''
**Guaymi
***''
Buglere''
***''
Ngäbe
The Ngäbe are an indigenous people within the territories of present-day Panama and Costa Rica in Central America. The Ngäbe mostly live within the Ngäbe-Buglé comarca in the Western Panamanian provinces of Veraguas, Chiriquí and Bocas del ...
''
**
Kuna
Kuna may refer to:
Places
* Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States
** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho
* Kuna Peak, a mountain in California
* , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia
* , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...
***''Kuna Paya-Pukuro''
***''Kuna San Blas''
*Magdalena
**''
Barí''
**''
Chimila''
**''
Nutabe
The Nutabe (or "Nutabae") are an indigenous people who inhabit the region of Antioquia in Colombia. Their numbers began to plummet around the first half of the 16th century due to the European colonization of the Americas. Spanish records indicat ...
'' †
**''
Tunebo''
**Muisca
***''
Guane
Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602.
Geography
The municipality is divided into the barrios of Cabo de San Antonio y La Fe, Catalina, Cortés, Hato de Guane, Isabel Rubio (Paso Real d ...
'' †
***''
Muisca
The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...
''
**Sierra de Santa Marta
***''
Kaggaba''
***''
Tairona
Tairona (or Tayrona) was a Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted in a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar, Magdalena and La Guajira Departments of Colombia, South America, which g ...
'' †
***Wiwa-Ika
****''
Ika''
****''
Kankuamo'' †
****''
Wiwa''
Varieties
Below is a full list of Chibchan language varieties listed by
Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.
;Rama group
*Rama - language spoken around
Bluefields
Bluefields is the capital of the South Caribbean Autonomous Region in Nicaragua. It was also the capital of the former Kingdom of Mosquitia, and later the Zelaya Department, which was divided into North and South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Regi ...
Lagoon and on the
Rama River, Nicaragua.
*Melchora - extinct language once spoken on the
San Juan Melchoras River, Nicaragua. (Unattested.)
;Guatuso group
*Guatuso - spoken on the
Frío River, Costa Rica, now perhaps extinct.
*Guetar / Brusela - extinct language once spoken on the Grande River, Costa Rica.
*Suerre / Camachire / Chiuppa - extinct language once spoken on the
, Costa Rica. (Benzoni 1581, p. 214, only five words.)
*Pocosi - extinct language once spoken on the
and around the modern city of
Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. (Unattested.)
*Voto - extinct language once spoken at the mouth of the
San Juan River, Costa Rica. (Unattested.)
*Quepo - extinct language once spoken in Costa Rica on the
Pacuare River
The Pacuare River, or the Río Pacuare, in Costa Rica has its source in the Cordillera de Talamanca and flows approximately to the Caribbean. It is a popular location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and riverboarding. The rain ...
. (W. Lehmann 1920, vol. 1, p. 238, only one single word.)
*Corobisi / Corbesi / Cueresa / Rama de rio Zapote - spoken by a few individuals in Costa Rica on the
Zapote River. (Alvarez in Conzemius 1930, pp. 96–99.)
;Talamanca group
*Terraba / Depso / Quequexque / Brurán - extinct language once spoken in Costa Rica on the
Tenorio River
The Tenorio River in Costa Rica rises near the Tenorio Volcano where it becomes a fast moving river, with some areas of rapids popular for white-water rafting
Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use ...
.
*Tirub / Rayado / Tiribi - extinct language spoken once in Costa Rica on the
Virilla River.
*Bribri / Lari - spoken on the
Coca River
The Coca River is a river in eastern Ecuador. It is a tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or oc ...
and
Tarire River, Costa Rica.
*Estrella - Spanish name of an extinct language, the original name of which is unknown, once spoken on the
Estrella River
The Estrella River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 tributary river in eastern San Luis Obispo County, California. The river forms at the confluence o ...
, Costa Rica.
*Cabecar - language spoken on the
Moy River, Costa Rica.
*Chiripó - language spoken in Costa Rica on the
and
Chirripó River.
*Viceyta / Abiseta / Cachi / Orosi / Tucurrique - extinct language once spoken on the
Tarire River, Costa Rica.
*Brunca / Boruca / Turucaca - extinct language of Costa Rica, spoken on the Grande River and in the
Boruca
The Boruca (also known as the Brunca or the Brunka) are the indigenous people living in Costa Rica. The tribe has about 2,660 members, most living on a reservation in the Puntarenas Province in southwestern Costa Rica, a few miles away from the ...
region.
*Coto / Cocto - extinct language once spoken between the sources of the
Coto River and Grande River, Costa Rica. (Unattested.)
;Dorasque group
*Chumulu - extinct language once spoken in
El Potrero, Veraguas
El Potrero is a corregimiento in Calobre District, Veraguas Province, Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part ...
(Potrero de Vargas), Panama.
*Gualaca - extinct language once spoken on the
Chiriqui River, Panama.
*Changuena - once spoken in Panama, on the
Changuena
Dorasque, which has the dialects Chumulu, Changuena (Changuina), and Gualaca, is an extinct Chibchan language of Panama
Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcont ...
River.
;Guaymi group
*Muoi - extinct language once spoken in the Miranda Valley of Panama.
*Move / Valiente - now spoken on the
Guaymi River and in the
Veragua {{unreferenced, date=January 2015
Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five Spanish colonial territorial entities in Central America, beginning in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The term was based on a Central Amer ...
Peninsula.
*Norteño - dialect without an aboriginal name, spoken on the northern coast of Panama, now perhaps extinct.
*Penonomeño - once spoken in the village of
Penonemé.
*Murire / Bucueta / Boncota / Bogota - spoken in the Serranía de
Tabasara by a few families.
*Sabanero / Savaneric / Valiente - extinct dialect without aboriginal name, once spoken on the plains south of the Serranía de
Tabasara.
*Pariza - extinct dialect spoken in the Conquest days on the
Veragua {{unreferenced, date=January 2015
Veragua or Veraguas was the name of five Spanish colonial territorial entities in Central America, beginning in the 16th century during the Spanish colonization of the Americas.
The term was based on a Central Amer ...
Peninsula. (G. Espinosa 1864, p. 496, only one single word.)
;Cuna group
*Coiba - extinct language once spoken on the
Chagres River, Panama. (W. Lehmann 1920, vol. I, pp. 112–122; A. Santo Tomas 1908, pp. 124–128, only five words.)
*Cuna / Bayano / Tule / Mandingo / San Blas / Karibe-Kuna / Yule - language spoken in eastern Panama, especially on the
Bayano River
Bayano River is a river of Panama in the Panamá Province. It is an alternative name for the upper part of the Chepo River.
It is named after Bayano, the leader of a slave revolt and ruler of a kingdom of former slaves in 16th century Panama.
...
, in
San Blas and the small islands on the northern coast.
*Cueva / Darien - extinct language Once spoken at the mouth of the
Atrato River
The Atrato River () is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá (or Gulf of Darién), where it forms a large, swampy delta. Its course crosses the ...
, Colombia.
*Chochama - extinct language once spoken on the
Suegro River, Panama. (Unattested.)
;Antioquia group
*Guazuzú - once spoken in the Sierra de
San Jerónimo, department of Antioquia, Colombia. (Unattested.)
*Oromina / Zeremoe - extinct language once spoken south of the
Gulf of Urabá
The Gulf of Urabá is a gulf on the northern coast of Colombia. It is part of the Caribbean Sea. It is a long, wide inlet located on the coast of Colombia, close to the connection of the continent to the Isthmus of Panama. The town of Turbo, Co ...
, Antioquia, Colombia. (Unattested.)
*Catio - once spoken in the region of
Dabaiba, Colombia. (only a few words.)
*Hevejico - once spoken in the
Tonusco and
Ebéjico
Ebéjico () is a town and municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The ...
Valleys. (Unattested.)
*Abibe - once spoken in the Sierra de Abibe. (Unattested.)
*Buritaca - once spoken at the sources of the
Sucio River. (Unattested.)
*Caramanta - once spoken around the city of
Caramanta.
*Cartama - once spoken around the modern city of
Cartama. (Unattested.)
*Pequi - once spoken in the
Pequi
''Caryocar brasiliense'', known as pequi (, ) or "souari nut", like its congeners, is an edible fruit popular in some areas of Brazil, especially in Centerwestern Brazil.
Taxonomy
The pequi tree grows up to 10 m (30 ft) tall. It i ...
region. (Unattested.)
*Arma - once spoken on the
Pueblanco River. (Unattested.)
*Poze - once spoken on the
Pozo River and
Pacova River. (Cieza de Leon 1881, p. 26, only one single word.)
*Nutabé - once spoken in the San Andrés Valley.
*Tahami - once spoken on the
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of ...
and
Tora River. (Unattested.)
*Yamesi - once spoken at the mouth of the
Nechi River
Nechi may refer to:
* Nechí
Nechi is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia.
Climate
Nechí has a tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropic ...
and on the
Porce River. (Simon 1882-1892, vol. 5, p. 80, only one single word.)
*Avurrá - once spoken in the
Aburrá Valley. (Piedrahita (Fernandez de Piedrahita) 1688, cap. 2, f. 9, only one single word.)
*Guamoco - once spoken around the modern city of
Zaragoza, Antioquia
Zaragoza () is a Municipalities of Colombia, municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia.
Climate
Zaragoza has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-rou ...
. (Unattested.)
*Anserma / Humbra / Umbra - once spoken on 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 ...
around the city of
Anserma, Caldas
Anserma is a town and municipality in the Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacif ...
. (J. Robledo 1865, pp. 389 and 392, only a few words.)
*Amachi - once spoken in the San Bartolomé Valley. (Unattested.)
;Chibcha group
*Chibcha / Muisca / Mosca - extinct language once spoken on the upper plateau of Bogotá and
Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
, department of Cundinamarca, Colombia.
**Duit dialect - once spoken on the
Tunja
Tunja () is a city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 it had a population of 172,548 inhabitants. It is the capital of Boyacá departmen ...
River and
Tundama
Tundama or Saymoso (15th century - Duitama, late December 1539) was a '' cacique'' of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands ( Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of the C ...
River.
*Tunebo / Tame - language now spoken by many tribes living in the area east of the Chibcha tribe. Dialects:
**Tegría - spoken on the
Tegría River, department of Boyaca. (Rochereau 1926-1927, 1946-1950, 1959.)
**Pedraza - spoken on the
Pedraza River Pedraza may refer to:
Places
* Pedraza, Magdalena, Colombia
* Pedraza, Segovia, Spain
* Pedraza de Campos, Palencia, Spain
* Pedraza de Alba, Salamanca, Spain
* Pedraza Municipality, Barinas, Venezuela
People
* Ángel Pedraza (1962–2011), ...
.
**Boncota - spoken on the
Boncota River.
**Manare - spoken on the
Manare River.
**Sinsiga / Chita - spoken in the village of
Chita, Boyacá
Chita is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Valderrama Province a subregion of Boyaca in Colombia.
Municipalities of Boyacá Department
{{Boyacá-geo-stub ...
and on the
Chisca River.
**Uncasica - spoken in the
Sierra Librada.
**Morcote - spoken on the
Tocaría River and in the village of
Morcote
Morcote is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Ticino situated about 10 kilometres from Lugano in the district of Lugano on the shore of Lake Lugano.
History
Morcote is first mentioned historically in 926 as ''Murcau'', which comes from the ...
. (Unattested.)
*Chitarero - extinct language once spoken around the modern city of
Pamplona
Pamplona (; eu, Iruña or ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. It is also the third-largest city in the greater Basque cultural region.
Lying at near above ...
, department of Santander. (Unattested.)
*Lache - extinct language once spoken on the
Chicamocha River and in the Sierra de
Chita, department of Boyacá. (Unattested.)
;Motilon group
*Dobocubí / Motilon - spoken on the
Tarra River and around the old mission of
Atacarayo, department of Norte de Santander, Colombia.
*Bartra / Cunaguasáya - spoken by a tribe on the
Oro River,
Rincón River, and Lora River in the
Norte de Santander
North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities.
North Santander is bordered by Vene ...
region.
*Mape - spoken by a little known tribe on the
Catatumbo River
The Catatumbo River ( es, Río Catatumbo) is a river rising in northern Colombia, flowing into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela. The Catatumbo River is approximately long. It forms a part of the international boundary between the two countries. The ...
and
Agua Blanca River
Agua means water in Spanish.
Agua may also refer to:
Places
* ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia
* Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...
in the
Norte de Santander
North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the country, bordering Venezuela. Its capital is Cúcuta, one of the country's major cities.
North Santander is bordered by Vene ...
region and in the state of Zulia, Venezuela.
;Arhuaco (Arwako) group
*Tairona / Teyuna - extinct language once spoken on the
Frio River
The Frio River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. The word ''frío'' is Spanish for ''cold'', a clear reference to the spring-fed coolness of the river.
Geography
The Frio River has three primary tributaries; the East, West, and Dry Frio Ri ...
and on the Caribbean coast,
department of Magdalena, Colombia, now a secret language of the priests in the Cagaba tribe.
*Zyuimakane - extinct language once spoken on the
Volador River in the same region. (Unattested.)
*Bungá - extinct language once spoken on the Santa Clara River. (Unattested.)
*Ulabangui - once spoken on the
Negro River Río Negro (Spanish and Portuguese, 'Black River') may refer to:
Rivers
Brazil
* Rio Negro (Amazon), tributary of the Amazon River
* Rio Negro (Mato Grosso do Sul)
* Rio Negro (Paraná)
* Rio Negro (Rio de Janeiro)
* Rio Negro (Rondônia)
* ...
, in the Santa Clara River region. (Unattested.)
*Cashingui - once spoken on the
Palomino River. (Unattested.)
*Masinga - once spoken on the Bonda River, in the
Palomino River region. (Unattested.)
*Bonda / Matuna - once spoken on the Bonda River and Santa María River. (Holmer 1953a, p. 313, only one single word; Preuss 1927, only a few toponyms.)
*Cágaba / Köggaba / Kaugia / Koghi - language spoken in the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...
in the villages of San Andrés, San Miguel, San José, Santa Rosa, and Pueblo Viejo.
*Guamaca / Nábela / Sanha / Arsario - spoken in the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...
region in the villages of El Rosario,
Potrerito, and
Marocaso.
*Bintucua / Ijca / Ika / Iku / Machaca / Vintukva - spoken in the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...
region in the village of San Sebastián (near
Atanquez
Atanquez or San Sebastian is a Colombian town and corregimiento of Valledupar in the Department of Cesar. Atanquez is located on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range at approximately 2,000 m over sea level. Atanquez is known for being p ...
).
*Atanque / Campanaque / Busintana / Buntigwa / Kallwama - spoken in the
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...
, in the village of
Atanquez
Atanquez or San Sebastian is a Colombian town and corregimiento of Valledupar in the Department of Cesar. Atanquez is located on the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range at approximately 2,000 m over sea level. Atanquez is known for being p ...
.
*Upar / Eurpari / Giriguana - extinct language once spoken on the
César River
The Cesar River ( es, Río Cesar) is a river in northern Colombia which is a part of the Magdalena Basin. It flows through the Cesar-Ranchería Basin and separates the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta from the mountain ranges of the Serranía del Pe ...
. (Unattested.)
*Cariachil - once spoken between the
Molino River and
Fonseca River. (Unattested.)
*Ocanopán / Itoto - once spoken around
Cerro Pintado. (Unattested.)
;Paya group
*Paya / Poyuai / Seco - language spoken on the
Guayape River
The Guayape River (Spanish: Río Guayape) is a major river that drains much of the Department of Olancho and central Honduras. The largest tributary to the Guayape is the Río Jalán, which joins it at El Plomo, not far from the town of Jutical ...
and between the
Patuca River
The Patuca is a river in northeastern Honduras, formed southeast of Juticalpa by the merger of the Guayape and Guayambre rivers. It is the second largest river in Central America and the longest river of Honduras, measuring almost long and dra ...
and
Sico River, Honduras.
Proto-language
Pache (2018) is the most recent reconstruction of Proto-Chibchan.
[Pache, Matthias J. 2018. ]
Contributions to Chibchan Historical Linguistics
'. Doctoral dissertation, Universiteit Leiden. Other reconstructions include Holt (1986).
Constenla (1981)
Proto-Chibchan reconstructions by
Constenla (1981):
Proto-Chibchan horticultural vocabulary (Constenla 2012):
[Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. 2012. Chibchan languages. In Lyle Campbell and Verónica Grondona (eds.), ''The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide'', 391-440. Berlin: Mouton.]
* *dihke ‘to sow’
* *te
1 ‘cultivated clearing’
* *ike ‘manioc’
* *tuʔ ‘tuber, yam’ (''
Dioscorea'' spp.; ''
Xanthosoma sagittifolium
''Xanthosoma sagittifolium'', the arrowleaf elephant ear, arrowleaf elephant's ear, malanga or American taro, is a species of tropical flowering plant in the genus ''Xanthosoma'', which produces an edible, starchy corm. Cultivars with purple stem ...
'')
* *apì ‘pumpkin, squash’
* *e, *ebe ‘maize’
* *du, *dua
1 ‘tobacco’
* *tã
1 ‘rattles from gourd’
* *toka ‘gourd cup’
Pache (2018)
Proto-Chibchan reconstructions by Pache (2018):
References
Bibliography
* Constenla Umaña, A. (1981). ''Comparative Chibchan Phonology''. (Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia).
* Constenla Umaña, A. (1985). Las lenguas dorasque y changuena y sus relaciones genealógicas. ''Filologia y linguística'', 11.2:81-91.
* Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1991). ''Las lenguas del Área Intermedia: Introducción a su estudio areal''. Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San José.
* Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1995). Sobre el estudio diacrónico de las lenguas chibchenses y su contribución al conocimiento del pasado de sus hablantes. ''Boletín del Museo del Oro'' 38–39: 13–56.
* ''Estudios de Lingüística Chibcha'', a journal of Chibchan linguistics, is published by the Universidad de Costa Rica.
* Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). ''Language in the Americas''. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
* Headland, E. (1997). ''Diccionario bilingüe con una gramatica Uw Cuwa (Tunebo)''. Bogotá: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
* Holt, Dennis (1986). ''The Development of the Paya Sound-System''. (Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Linguistics, University of California, Los Angeles).
* Margery Peña, E. (1982). ''Diccionario español-bribri, bribri-español''. San José: Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica.
* Margery Peña, E. (1989). ''Diccionario Cabécar-Español, Español-Cabécar''. Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica.
* Pinart, A. L. (1890). ''Vocabulario Castellano-Dorasque: Dialectos Chumulu, Gualaca y Changuina''. (Petite Bibliothèque Américaine, 2). Paris: Ernest Leroux.
* Pinart, A. L. (1892). ''Vocabulario Guaymie: Dialectos Move-Valiente Norteño y Guaymie Penonomeño''. (Petite Bibliothèque Américaine, 3). Paris: Ernest Leroux.
* Pinart, A. L. (1897). ''Vocabulario Guaymie: Dialectos Murıre-Bukueta, Mouı y Sabanero''. (Petite Bibliothèque Américaine, 4). Paris: Ernest Leroux.
* Quesada, J. Diego (2007). ''The Chibchan Languages''. Editorial Tecnológica de Costa Rica. .
* Quesada Pacheco, M. A.; Rojas Chaves, C. (1999). ''Diccionario boruca-español, español-boruca''. San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica.
External links
Comparative Chibchan phonology— 1981 dissertation by Adolfo Constenla.
{{authority control
Language families
Indigenous languages of Central America
Indigenous languages of the South American Northeast
Macro-Chibchan languages