Kakwa language

For the Kakwa dialect of South Sudan, see Bari language.
Kakwa
Native to Colombia (Vaupés), Brazil (Amazonas)
Native speakers
400 (2010)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 cbv
Glottolog cacu1241[2]

The Kakwa or Cacua language is an indigenous language spoken by a few hundred people in Colombia and Brazil. There are many monolinguals, especially children.[1] Apart from being close to or a dialect of Nukak, its classification is uncertain.

Overview

The language is spoken by indigenous American Cacua people that live in Colombian and Brazilian[3] interfluvial tropical forests higher than 200 metres (660 ft) in elevation. The people have traditional livelihoods such as nomadic hunting-gathering and swidden agriculture.[1] There are some non-native speakers of Cacua that are predominantly missionary workers. Their presence has resulted in the translation of religious Christian texts, notably the Christian Bible.[4]

Bilingualism and literacy

Reports gathered by SIL in 1982 stated that many speakers are monolingual, particularly children.[1] Another promising aspect is that even though literacy is low by international standards, it is higher in the aboriginal language, at around 10%, compared to 5% in Spanish, the opposite situation of most indigenous languages of the Americas.[1] Cacua uses a Latin alphabet.[1]

Range

The speakers are located in Wacara (In Cacua: Wacará) which is 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Mitu (In Cacua and Spanish: Mitú) in the lower Vaupes Region.[1] (In Spanish: Departamento del Vaupés).

Grammar

The language uses both subject-object-verb and object-verb-subject word order.[1]

Sample text in Cacua

Ded pah jwiít jwĩ jwíih cãac cha pahatji naáwát[5]

Classification

There are two dialects: Vaupés Cacua and Macú-Paraná Cacua. Cacua is mutually intelligible with Nukak,[1] and is considered a dialect of the latter by Martins (1999). See that article for further classification.

Other names for this language include: Macu de Cubeo, Macu de Guanano, Macu de Desano, Báda.[1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Kakwa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Cacua". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. Cacua entry, Global Recordings
  4. Bogota Explosion!, Kids Ministry International
  5. (Cacua) Ded pah jwiít jwĩ jw... 1997, Ethnologue

Recordings

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, April 18, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.