Achawa language

Achagua, or Achawa (Achagua: Achawa), is an Arawakan language spoken in the Meta Department of Colombia, similar to Piapoco. It is estimated that 250 individuals speak the language, many of whom also speak Piapoco or Spanish.[1]

Achagua
Achawa
Native toColombia
EthnicityAchagua people
Native speakers
250 (2000)[1]
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3aca Achagua
Glottologacha1250  Achagua
pona1251  Ponares
ELPAchagua[2]

"Achagua is a language of the Maipurean Arawakan group traditionally spoken by the Achagua people of Venezuela and east-central Colombia."[3]

A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Achawa or Piapoco.

There is 1 to 5% literacy in Achagua.[1]

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Dental/
Alveolar		 Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop/
Affricate		 voiceless p t tʃ k
voiced b d
Nasal m n
Fricative s̪ ʝ h
Trill r
Approximant w ɭ
  • /n/ is realized as [ɲ] when preceding palatal consonants.
  • /k/ is palatalized [kʲ] when preceding /i/.
  • Sounds /b, d/ are preglottalized [ˀb, ˀd] within accented syllables or after accented syllables.
  • /b/ is realized as [β] when occurring intervocalically.
  • /w/ is realized as [β] when preceding /i/.
  • /s̪/ is realized as [ʃ] when preceding /i/.
  • /ʝ/ is heard as an affricate [dʒ] in word-initial positions. It can also be realized as a glide [j] freely in intervocalic positions.
  • /ɭ/ can be heard as a flap [ɾ] in free variation before /i/.[4]

Vowels
Front Central Back
High i u
Mid e o
Low a

Notes
  1. Achagua at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Achagua.
  3. Neira, Alonso de. "The Art and Vocabulary of the Achagua Language". World Digital Library. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  4. Lozano, Miguel Ángel Meléndez (2000). Esbozo grammatical de la lengua achagua. Lenguas indígenas de Colombia: una visión descriptiva: Santafé de Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. pp. 625–640.


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