Barbacoan (also Barbakóan, Barbacoano, Barbacoana) is a language family spoken in
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 ...
and
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
.
Genealogical relations
The Barbacoan languages may be related to the Páez language. Barbacoan is often connected with the Paezan languages (including Páez); however, Curnow (1998) shows how much of this proposal is based on misinterpretation of an old document of Douay (1888). (See: Paezan languages.)
Other more speculative larger groupings involving Barbacoan include the Macro-Paesan "cluster", the Macro-Chibchan stock, and the Chibchan-Paezan stock.
Umbra
The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source after impinging on an opaque object. Assuming no diffraction, for a collimated beam (such as a point source) of light, only the umbra is cast.
T ...
, and Chibchan (especially between Guaymí and Southern Barbacoan branches) language families due to contact.
Languages
Barbacoan consists of 6 languages:
*Northern
:* Awan (also known as Awa or Pasto)
::* Awa Pit (also known as Cuaiquer, Coaiquer, Kwaiker, Awá, Awa, Telembi, Sindagua, Awa-Cuaiquer, Koaiker, Telembí)
::* Pasto–Muellama
:::* Pasto (also known as Past Awá) ''(†)''
:::* Muellama (also known as Muellamués, Muelyama) ''(†)''
:* Coconucan (also known as Guambiano–Totoró)
::*
Guambiano
Guambiano or Misak are an indigenous people of the department of Cauca in Colombia. he Drama of Life Guambiano Life Cycle Customs , author=Judith Branks, Juan B. Sanchez , publisher- SIL International, date=1978 , pages= 107 Their language is kn ...
(also known as Mogües, Moguez, Mogés, Wam, Misak, Guambiano-Moguez, Wambiano-Mogés, Moguex)
::* Totoró (also known as Polindara)
::* Coconuco (also known as Kokonuko, Cauca, Wanaka) ''(†)''
*Southern ? (Cayapa–Tsafiki)
:* Caranqui (also known as Cara, Kara, Karanki, Imbaya) ''(†)''
:* Cha’palaa (also known as Cayapa, Chachi, Kayapa, Nigua, Cha’palaachi)
:* Tsafiki (also known as Colorado, Tsafiqui, Tsáfiki, Colorado, Tsáchela, Tsachila, Campaz, Colima)
Pasto, Muellama, Coconuco, and Caranqui are now
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
.
Pasto and Muellama are usually classified as Barbacoan, but the current evidence is weak and deserves further attention. Muellama may have been one of the last surviving
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is ...
s of Pasto (both extinct, replaced by Spanish) — Muellama is known only by a short wordlist recorded in the 19th century. The Muellama vocabulary is similar to modern Awa Pit. The Cañari–Puruhá languages are even more poorly attested, and while often placed in a Chimuan family, Adelaar (2004:397) thinks they may have been Barbacoan.
The Coconucan languages were first connected to Barbacoan by Daniel Brinton in 1891. However, a subsequent publication by Henri Beuchat and Paul Rivet placed Coconucan together with a Paezan family (which included Páez and Paniquita) due a misleading "Moguex" vocabulary list. The "Moguex" vocabulary turned out to be a mix of both Páez and Guambiano languages (Curnow 1998). This vocabulary has led to misclassifications by Greenberg (1956, 1987), Loukotka (1968), Kaufman (1990, 1994), and Campbell (1997), among others. Although Páez may be related to the Barbacoan family, a conservative view considers Páez a
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...
pending further investigation. Guambiano is more similar to other Barbacoan languages than to Páez, and thus Key (1979), Curnow et al. (1998), Gordon (2005), and Campbell (2012) place Coconucan under Barbacoan. The moribund Totoró is sometimes considered a dialect of Guambiano instead of a separate language, and, indeed, Adelaar & Muysken (2004) state that Guambiano-Totoró-Coconuco is best treated as a single language.
The Barbácoa (Barbacoas) language itself is unattested, and is only assumed to be part of the Barbacoan family. Nonetheless, it has been assigned an ISO code, though the better-attested and classifiable Pasto language has not.
Loukotka (1968)
Below is a full list of Barbacoan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.
;Barbacoa group
*Barbácoa of Colima - extinct language once spoken on the Iscuandé River and Patia River, Nariño department, Colombia. (Unattested.)
*Pius - extinct language once spoken around the Laguna Piusbi, in the Nariño region. (Unattested.)
*Iscuandé - extinct language once spoken on the Iscuandé River in the Nariño region. (Unattested.)
*Tumaco - extinct language once spoken around the modern city of Tumaco, department of Nariño. (Unattested.)
*Guapi - extinct language once spoken on the
Guapi River
The Guapi River ( es, Río Guapi) is a river of Colombia that flows into the Pacific Ocean near the town of Guapi, Cauca.
The mouth of the river has extensive stands of mangroves, part of the Esmeraldes-Pacific Colombia mangroves ecoregion.
See ...
, department of Cauca. (Unattested.)
*Cuaiquer / Koaiker - spoken on the Cuaiquer River in Colombia.
*Telembi - extinct language once spoken in the Cauca region on the Telembi River. (Andre 1884, pp. 791–799.)
*Panga - extinct language once spoken near the modern city of Sotomayor, Nariño department. (Unattested.)
*Nulpe - extinct language once spoken in the Nariño region on the Nulpe River. (Unattested.)
*Cayápa / Nigua - language spoken now by a few families on the
Cayapas River
The Cayapas River is in northern Ecuador, flowing northward from the Andes and emptying into the Pacific Ocean near San Lorenzo. The Santiago River is a principal tributary.
Fauna
Fish
*'' Andinoacara sapayensis'' - A Cichlid.
See also
* ...
, Esmeraldas province, Ecuador.
*Malaba - extinct language once spoken in Esmeraldas province on the Mataje River. (Unattested.)
*Yumbo - extinct language once spoken in the Cordillera de Intag and the Cordillera de Nanegal, Pichincha province, Ecuador. The population now speaks only Quechua. (Unattested.)
*Colorado / Tsachela / Chono / Campaz / Satxíla / Colime - language still spoken on the Daule River, Vinces River, and Esmeraldas River, provinces of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas and Los Ríos, Ecuador.
*Colima - extinct language once spoken on the middle course of the Daule River, Guayas province. (Unattested.)
*Cara / Caranqui / Imbaya - extinct language once spoken in the province of Imbabura and on the
Guayllabamba River
The Guayllabamba is a river that originates in the east of Pichincha in northern Ecuador and flows into the Esmeraldas River
The Esmeraldas River is a river in northwestern Ecuador that flows into the Pacific Ocean at the city of Esmeraldas. ...
, Ecuador. The population now speaks Spanish or Quechua.
*Sindagua / Malla - extinct language once spoken on the
Tapaje River
The Tapaje River is a river which flows through Colombia. It empties into the Pacific Ocean.
An 1853 watercolor by Manuel María Paz (1820−1902) depicts three Indians by the Tapaje River, located in what was then the Province of Barbacoas: a ...
, Iscuandé River, Mamaonde River, and Patia River, department of Nariño, Colombia. (H. Lehmann 1949; Ortiz 1938, pp. 543–545, each only a few patronyms and toponyms.)
*Muellama - extinct language of the Nariño region, once spoken in the village of Muellama.
*Pasta - extinct language once spoken in Carchi province, Ecuador, and in the department of Nariño in Colombia around the modern city of
Pasto, Colombia
Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the city had appr ...
.
*Mastele - extinct language once spoken on the left bank of the Guaitara River near the mouth, department of Nariño. (Unattested.)
*Quijo - once spoken on the
Napo River
The Napo River ( es, Río Napo) is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the east Andean volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.
The total length is . The river drains an area of . The mean annual di ...
and
Coca River
The Coca River is a river in eastern Ecuador. It is a tributary of the Napo River. The two rivers join in the city of Puerto Francisco de Orellana. The Payamino River
The Payamino River is a river of Ecuador. It is a tributary of the Napo River ...
, Oriente province, Ecuador. The tribe now speaks only Quechua. (Ordónez de Ceballos 1614, f. 141-142, only three words.)
*Mayasquer - extinct language once spoken in the villages of Mayasquer and Pindical, Carchi province, Ecuador. The present population speaks only Quechua. (Unattested.)
;Coconuco group
*Coconuco - language spoken by a few families at the sources of the
Cauca River
The Cauca River () is a river in Colombia that lies between the Occidental and Central cordilleras. From its headwaters in southwestern Colombia near the city of Popayán, it joins the Magdalena River near Magangue in Bolivar Department, and ...
, department of Cauca, Colombia.
*Guamíca / Guanuco - extinct language once spoken in the village of Plata Vieja in Colombia.
*Guambiana / Silviano - spoken in the villages of Ambató, Cucha and partly in Silvia.
*Totaró - spoken in the villages of Totoró and Polindara.
*Tunía - once spoken on the Tunía River and Ovejas River. (Unattested.)
*Chesquio - extinct language once spoken on the
Sucio River
The Sucio River (Spanish: Río Sucio, ) is a river of Costa Rica. The river gets its name from the sulfur deposits found on the Irazú Volcano, which give the waters a brownish color. It is a tributary of the Río San Juan.Timbío River and Guachicono River. (Unattested.)
*Quilla - original and extinct language of the villages of Almaguer, Santiago, and Milagros. The present population speaks only a dialect of Quechua. (Unattested.)
*Timbío - once spoken on the Timbío River. (Unattested.)
*Puracé - once spoken around the Laguna de las Papas and Puracé Volcano. (Unattested.)
*Puben / Pubenano / Popayan - extinct language of the plains of Popayán, department of Cauca. (Unattested.)
*Moguex - spoken in the village of Quisgó and in a part of the village of Silvia.
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.
:
Proto-language
Proto-Barbacoan reconstructions and reflexes (Curnow & Liddicoat 1998):Curnow, Timothy J.; Liddicoat, Anthony J. (1998). The Barbacoan languages of Colombia and Ecuador. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', ''40'' (3).
:
* Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). ''The languages of the Andes''. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press.
* Brend, Ruth M. (Ed.). (1985). ''From phonology to discourse: Studies in six Colombian languages'' (p. vi, 133). Language Data, Amerindian Series (No. 9). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
* Beuchat, Henri; & Rivet, Paul. (1910). Affinités des langues du sud de la Colombie et du nord de l'Équateur. ''Le Mouséon'', ''11'', 33-68, 141-198.
* Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press. .
* Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1981). Comparative Chibchan phonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania).
* Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1991). ''Las lenguas del área intermedia: Introducción a su estudio areal''. San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica.
* Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1993). ''La familia chibcha''. In (M. L. Rodríguez de Montes (Ed.), ''Estado actual de la clasificación de las lenguas indígenas de Colombia'' (pp. 75–125). Bogotá:
Instituto Caro y Cuervo
The Caro and Cuervo Institute (Spanish: ''Instituto Caro y Cuervo'') is an educative centre specialising in Spanish literature, philology and linguistics, with a focus on research and promotion of reading in Colombia. The institute produces ed ...
.
* Curnow, Timothy J. (1998). Why Paez is not a Barbacoan language: The nonexistence of "Moguex" and the use of early sources. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''64'' (4), 338-351.
* Curnow, Timothy J.; & Liddicoat, Anthony J. (1998). The Barbacoan languages of Colombia and Ecuador. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', ''40'' (3).
* Douay, Léon. (1888). Contribution à l'américanisme du Cauca (Colombie). ''Compte-Rendu du Congrès International des Américanistes'', ''7'', 763-786.
* Gerdel, Florence L. (1979). Paez. In ''Aspectos de la cultura material de grupos étnicos de Colombia 2'', (pp. 181–202). Bogota: Ministerio de Gobierno and Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.
* Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), ''Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages'' (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. .
* Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), ''Atlas of the world's languages'' (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.
* Key, Mary R. (1979). ''The grouping of South American languages''. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag.
* Landaburu, Jon. (1993). Conclusiones del seminario sobre clasificación de lenguas indígenas de Colombia. In (M. L. Rodríguez de Montes (Ed.), ''Estado actual de la clasificación de las lenguas indígenas de Colombia'' (pp. 313–330). Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo.
* Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). ''Classification of South American Indian languages''. Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California.
* Slocum, Marianna C. (1986). ''Gramática páez'' (p. vii, 171). Lomalinda: Editorial Townsend.
* Stark, Louisa R. (1985). Indigenous languages of lowland Ecuador: History and current status. In H. E. Manelis Khan & L. R. Stark (Eds.), ''South American Indian languages: Retrospect and prospect'' (pp. 157–193). Austin: University of Texas Press.