Achagua, or Achawa ( aca, Achawa), is an Arawakan language spoken in the

Meta Department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known a ...

of Colombia, similar to

Piapoco Piapoco is an Arawakan language of Colombia and Venezuela. A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Piapoco or Achagua. History Piapoco is a branch of the Arawak language, which also includes Achagua and Tariana. P ...

. It is estimated that 250 individuals speak the language, many of whom also speak Piapoco or

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

. "Achagua is a language of the Maipurean Arawakan group traditionally spoken by the Achagua people of Venezuela and east-central Colombia." A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Achawa or Piapoco. There is 1 to 5% literacy in Achagua.

Phonology

Consonants

* /n/ is realized as when preceding palatal consonants. * /k/ is palatalized when preceding /i/. * Sounds /b, d/ are preglottalized within accented syllables or after accented syllables. * /b/ is realized as when occurring intervocalically. * /w/ is realized as when preceding /i/. * /s̪/ is realized as when preceding /i/. * /ʝ/ is heard as an affricate in word-initial positions. It can also be realized as a glide freely in intervocalic positions. * /ɭ/ can be heard as a flap in free variation before /i/.

Vowels

Notes

External links

* *
OLAC resources in and about the Achagua language

Listen to a sample of Achagua from Global Recordings Network
* The Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America https://www.ailla.utexas.org/islandora/search/Achagua?type=dismax Languages of Colombia Arawakan languages {{Arawakan-lang-stub