Damana (also known as Malayo, Wiwa, Arosario, Arsario, Guamaca, Guamaka, Maracasero, Marocasero, Sancá, Sanja, Sanka, Wamaka)
is a
Chibchan language
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, Costa ...
spoken by the indigenous
Wiwa people Wiwa may refer to:
People
;Given name
* Wiwa Korowi (born 1948), sixth Governor-General of Papua New Guinea
;Surname
*Jim Wiwa (1904–2005), chief of the Ogoni people of southern Nigeria, and the chairman of the Council of Chiefs of Bane
* Ken Wiw ...
on the southern and eastern slopes of
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 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 ...
. According to ''Ethnologue'', it was spoken by 1,850 people in 2007;
however, according to the Colombian Ministry of Culture, there were 13,627 Wiwa people in 2010, of whom some 60% speak Damana well.
Phonology
Vowels
There are seven phonemic vowels in Damana:
Consonants
Damana has 19 phonemic consonants:
References
{{Chibchan languages
Chibchan languages
Languages of Colombia