Ocaina is an indigenous American language spoken in western South America.

Classification

Ocaina belongs to the Witotoan language family. It is its own group within the Huitoto-Ocaina sub-family.

Geographic distribution

Ocaina is spoken by 54 people in northeastern Peru and by 12 more in the Amazonas region of

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 Car ...

. Few children speak the language.

Dialects/Varieties

There are two dialects of Ocaina: Dukaiya and Ibo'tsa.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Tone

Syllables in Ocaina may be marked with one of two tones: high or low.

Syllables

Syllables in Ocaina consist of a vowel; single consonants may appear on either side of the vowel: (C)V(C).

Writing System

Ocaina is written using a Latin alphabet. A chart of symbols with the sounds they represent is as follows: *Because the Ocaina alphabet is based on Spanish, c is used to indicate before a, o, and u, qu is used before e and i, and k is used in loan words, such as "kerosene". *Nasalization is indicated by inserting n after a vowel. Compare: "hang it" vs. "clean it". *High tone is indicated with the acute accent: á, é, í, ó, ú.

References

* * {{Languages of Peru Witotoan languages Languages of Peru Languages of Colombia es:Ocaina