Achagua, or Achawa ( aca, Achawa), is an

Arawakan language Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branc ...

spoken in the

Meta Department Meta () is a department of Colombia. It is close to the geographic center of the country, to the east of the Andean mountains. A large portion of the department, which is also crossed by the Meta River, is covered by a grassland plain known as ...

of Colombia, similar to Piapoco. It is estimated that 250 individuals speak the language, many of whom also speak Piapoco or

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

. "Achagua is a language of the Maipurean Arawakan group traditionally spoken by the Achagua people of Venezuela and east-central Colombia." A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Achawa or Piapoco. There is 1 to 5% literacy in Achagua.

Phonology

Consonants

* /n/ is realized as when preceding palatal consonants. * /k/ is palatalized when preceding /i/. * Sounds /b, d/ are preglottalized within accented syllables or after accented syllables. * /b/ is realized as when occurring intervocalically. * /w/ is realized as when preceding /i/. * /s̪/ is realized as when preceding /i/. * /ʝ/ is heard as an affricate in word-initial positions. It can also be realized as a glide freely in intervocalic positions. * /ɭ/ can be heard as a flap in free variation before /i/.

Vowels

Notes

External links

* *
OLAC resources in and about the Achagua language

Listen to a sample of Achagua from Global Recordings Network
* The Archive of Indigenous Languages of Latin America https://www.ailla.utexas.org/islandora/search/Achagua?type=dismax Languages of Colombia Arawakan languages {{Arawakan-lang-stub