Chibchan languages
Encyclopedia
The Chibchan languages (also Chíbchan, 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 Rica
, and Panama
. The name is derived from the name of an extinct language
called Chibcha or Muisca
cubun, once spoken by the people who lived in the city of Bogotá
at the time of the Europe
an invasion. However, genetic and linguistic data now indicate that the original heart of Chibchan languages and Chibchan-speaking peoples may not have been in Colombia at all, but in the area of the Costa Rica
-Panama
border, where one finds the greatest variety of Chibchan languages.
The Costa Rica
n linguist Adolfo Constenla Umaña (1981, 1991, 1995) has created a detailed classification of Chibchan languages. Most of these fall into the Southern Chibchan subgroupings of Votic, Isthmic, and Magdalenic. The following list is a slight modification of Constenla's groupings.
The extinct languages of Antioquia, Old Catío and Nutabe, have been shown to be Chibchan (Adelaar & Muysken, 2004:49). The language of the Tairona
is unattested, but may well be one of the Arwako languages still spoken in the Santa Marta range. The Zenú
Sinú language of northern Colombia is also sometimes included, as are the Malibu languages
, though without any factual basis.
Constenla 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, but there is little evidence.
The Cofán language
(Kofán, Kofane, A'i) of Ecuador and Colombia has been erroneously included in Chibchan due to borrowed vocabulary.
(to the north) and the Choco languages
(to the south). A larger family called Macro-Chibchan
, which would contain the Misumalpan languages
, Xinca
, and Lenca
, was found convincing by Kaufman (1990). Dennis Holt
(1986) claimed evidence for possible distant relationships with the Uto-Aztecan
and Pano–Takanan.
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian
Isthmo-Colombian
The Isthmo-Colombian area is defined as a cultural area encompassing those territories occupied by speakers of the Chibchan languages at the time of European contact...
area, which extends from eastern Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
to northern Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. The name is derived from the name of an extinct language
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
called Chibcha or Muisca
Muisca
Muisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...
cubun, once spoken by the people who lived in the city of Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
at the time of the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an invasion. However, genetic and linguistic data now indicate that the original heart of Chibchan languages and Chibchan-speaking peoples may not have been in Colombia at all, but in the area of the Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
-Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
border, where one finds the greatest variety of Chibchan languages.
The Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
n linguist Adolfo Constenla Umaña (1981, 1991, 1995) has created a detailed classification of Chibchan languages. Most of these fall into the Southern Chibchan subgroupings of Votic, Isthmic, and Magdalenic. The following list is a slight modification of Constenla's groupings.
Classification
- A
- Waimí (Guaymi)
- NgäbereNgäbereGuaymi , also known as Movere , is a native American language spoken by the Ngäbe or Guaymí people. There are 133,092 Guaymí in Central America, predominantly in Panama ....
(Movere), Costa Rica and Panama - BuglereBuglere languageBuglere , also known as Murire or Muoy, is a Chibchan language of Panama spoken by the Guaymi people. There are two dialects, Sabanero and Bokotá ....
(Bogotá), Panama
- Ngäbere
- BorũcaBoruca languageThe Boruca language is the native language of the Boruca people of Costa Rica. It is one of the Chibchan languages. It is nearly extinct; it was spoken fluently by only five women in 1986, while 30 to 35 others spoke it nonfluently. The rest of the tribe's 1,000 members speak Spanish...
(Brunca), Costa Rica, nearly extinct - TalamancaTalamanca languagesThe Talamanca languages are a well-defined branch of Chibchan languages spoken in central–southern Costa Rica and northern Panama. They are:...
- Huetar (Güetar), Costa Rica, extinct
- BribriBribri languageThe Bribri language is a tonal SOV language spoken by the Bribri people from Costa Rica. It belongs to the Chibchan language family and there are about 11,000 speakers.-External links:* * * *...
(Talamanca), Costa Rica and Panama - CabécarCabécar languageThe Cabécar language is an indigenous American language of the Chibchan language family which is spoken in Costa Rica. Specifically, it is spoken in the inland Turrialba Region of the Cartago Province. According to Ethnologue there were only 8,840 Cabécar speakers in 2000 with 80% of these...
(Talamanca), Costa Rica - Chánguena Costa Rica & Panama, extinct
- TeribeTeribe languageTeribe is a language spoken by the Naso or Teribe Indians; it is used primarily in the Bocas del Toro Province of northwestern Panama and in the southern part of Costa Rica's Puntarenas Province, but is almost extinct in the latter. It is part of the Chibchan language family, in the Talamanca...
(Norteño), Panama and Costa Rica
- Waimí (Guaymi)
- B
- PechPaya languagePaya or Pech is a Chibchan language spoken in Honduras. According to Ethnologue there were only 990 speakers in 1993. It is also known as Seco or Bayano. Specifically, it is spoken near the...
(Paya) northeastern Honduras, endangered - Dorasque Panama, extinct
- Votic
- RamaRama languageRama is one of the indigenous languages of the Chibchan family spoken by the Rama people on the island of Rama Cay and south of lake Bluefields on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua. Other indigenous languages of this region include Miskito and Sumu . Rama is one of the northernmost languages of the...
southeastern Nicaragua, extinct or nearly so - Voto Costa Rica, extinct
- MalékuMaléku languageThe Maléku Jaíka language, also called Guatuso, is an indigenous language of north central Costa Rica. It is a Chibchan language spoken by around 750 indigenous Maléku people.- Sample Vocabulary :...
(Guatuso) north-central Costa Rica, endangered - Corobicí northwestern Costa Rica, extinct
- Rama
- Kuna–Colombian
- KunaKuna languageThe Guna language, spoken by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia, belongs to the Chibchan language family.-Vowels:Vowels may be short or long.-Consonants:...
(Cuña, San Blás Kuna), Panama and Colombia - Chibcha–Motilon
- BaríBarí languageBarí is a Chibchan language spoken in Northwestern South America by the Baris . Motilones are sometimes called "dobocubi", but this is a pejorative term.There were 850 speakers in Colombia in 1990 and 850 speakers in Venezuela in 2000....
(Motilón), Colombia and Venezuela - Chibcha–Tunebo
- ChibchaChibcha languageChibcha, also known as Muisca or Mosca, is an extinct Chibchan language of Colombia, formerly spoken by the Muisca people, a complex indigenous civilization of South America and the present-day Colombian region. Scholars believe the Chibcha language arose in South America and then migrated with...
and Duit (MuiscaMuiscaMuisca was the Chibcha-speaking tribe that formed the Muisca Confederation of the central highlands of present-day Colombia. They were encountered by the Spanish Empire in 1537, at the time of the conquest...
) Colombia, extinct - Tunebo (U'wa) Colombia
- GuaneGuanesThe Guanes were a South American people that lived mainly in the area of Santander and north of Boyacá, both modern departments of Colombia. They were farmers cultivating cotton, pineapple and other crops, and skilled artisans working in cotton textiles....
- Chibcha
- Barí
- Arwako–Chimila
- Chimila Colombia
- Arwako
- WiwaWiwa languageDamana is a Chibchan language spoken by around 2000 Wiwa south and east of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in northern Colombia....
(Malayo, Guamaca) Colombia - Kankuamo Colombia, extinct
- ArhuacoArhuaco languageArhuaco, oommonly known as Ika, is an Indigenous American language of the Chibchan language family, spoken in South America.It has 14,800 speakers, all in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta region of Colombia, 90% of whom are monolingual. Literacy is 1 to 5% in their native language. Some speak...
(Ika) Colombia - KogiKogi languageKogi , or Kagaba , is a Chibchan language of Colombia. The Kogi people are almost entirely monolingual, and maintain the only unconquered Andean civilization....
(Cogui) Colombia
- Wiwa
- Kuna
- Pech
The extinct languages of Antioquia, Old Catío and Nutabe, have been shown to be Chibchan (Adelaar & Muysken, 2004:49). The language of the Tairona
Tairona
Tairona was 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 goes back at least to the 1st century AD and had significant demographic growth around the 11th century.The Tairona people...
is unattested, but may well be one of the Arwako languages still spoken in the Santa Marta range. The Zenú
Zenú
The Zenú or Sinú are an Amerindian tribe in Colombia whose ancestral territory comprises the valleys of the Sinu and San Jorge rivers as well as the coast of the Caribbean around the Gulf of Morrosquillo...
Sinú language of northern Colombia is also sometimes included, as are the Malibu languages
Malibu languages
The Malibu languages are a poorly attested group of extinct 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:...
, though without any factual basis.
Constenla argues that Cueva
Cueva language
Cueva is a poorly attested and often misclassified extinct indigenous language of Panama. The Cueva were exterminated between 1510 and 1535 during Spanish colonization...
, the extinct dominant language of pre-Columbian Panama long assumed to be Chibchan based on a misinterpreted Kuna vocabulary, was actually Chocoan, but there is little evidence.
The Cofán language
Cofán language
The Cofán language is the language of the Cofán people, an indigenous group native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River .Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their...
(Kofán, Kofane, A'i) of Ecuador and Colombia has been erroneously included in Chibchan due to borrowed vocabulary.
External relations
The most significant neighboring linguistic groups, with which there are important relationships, are the Misumalpan languagesMisumalpan languages
The Misumalpan languages are a small family of Native American 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 syllables from the names of the family's three members Miskitu, Sumu and...
(to the north) and the Choco languages
Choco languages
The Choco languages are a small family of Native American languages spread across Colombia and Panama.-Family division:Choco consists of perhaps ten languages, half of them extinct....
(to the south). A larger family called Macro-Chibchan
Macro-Chibchan
Macro-Chibchan is a proposal linking languages of Colombia and Nicaragua. These languages were once included in the Chibchan family itself, but were excluded pending further evidence as that family became well established...
, which would contain the Misumalpan languages
Misumalpan languages
The Misumalpan languages are a small family of Native American 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 syllables from the names of the family's three members Miskitu, Sumu and...
, Xinca
Xinca language
The Xinca language is a Mesoamerican language spoken by the indigenous Xinca people from communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador and in the mountainous region to the north...
, and Lenca
Lenca language
The Lenca language is one of the indigenous Mesoamerican languages. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Central America in the early 16th century, it was spoken by the Lenca people in a region that incorporates northwestern and southwestern Honduras, and neighboring eastern El Salvador, east of...
, was found convincing by Kaufman (1990). Dennis Holt
Dennis Holt
Dennis Graham Holt is an American poet and linguist.Born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, Holt graduated from Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles in 1960. Holt subsequently attended the California Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley, and UCLA, from which he...
(1986) claimed evidence for possible distant relationships with the Uto-Aztecan
Uto-Aztecan languages
Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family consisting of over 30 languages. Uto-Aztecan languages are found from the Great Basin of the Western United States , through western, central and southern Mexico Uto-Aztecan or Uto-Aztekan is a Native American language family...
and Pano–Takanan.