Cofán language
Encyclopedia
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 (a tributary
of the Putumayo River
) and the Aguarico River
(a tributary of the Napo River
).
Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their own language. There is extensive bilingualism with Spanish
on both sides of the border. Intermarriage with Siona people
and Secoya people
also promotes bilingualism.
The language is written in the Roman script and has ten vowels (five with and without nasalization) and twenty-eight consonants.
Cofán has been classified as one of the Chibchan languages
, but this appears to be due to borrowed vocabulary.
Cofán
The Cofán people are an indigenous people native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and to southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguaricó River...
people, an indigenous group native to Napo Province
Napo Province
Napo is a province in Ecuador. Its capital is Tena. The province contains the Napo River. The province is low developed without much industrial presence. The thick rainforest is home to many natives that remain isolated by preference, descendents of those who fled the Spanish invasion in the Andes,...
northeast Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and southern 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...
, between the Guamués River (a tributary
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Putumayo River
Putumayo River
The Içá or Putumayo River is one of the tributaries of the Amazon River, west of and parallel to the Yapura. It forms part of Colombia's border with Ecuador, as well as most of the frontier with Peru...
) and the Aguarico River
Aguarico River
The Aguarico River is a river in northern Ecuador. It is the main river of the Sucumbíos province. In the last part of its course it is the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border. It empties into the Napo River...
(a tributary of the Napo River
Napo River
The Napo is a tributary to the Amazon River that rises in Ecuador on the flanks of the volcanoes of Antisana, Sincholagua and Cotopaxi.The total length of 1075 km. Catchment area of 100,518 square kilometers...
).
Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their own language. There is extensive bilingualism with Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
on both sides of the border. Intermarriage with Siona people
Siona people
The Siona people are an indigenous ethnic group living in the Ecuadorian Amazon or Oriente , and in Colombia...
and Secoya people
Secoya people
The Secoya people are an indigenous ethnic group living in the Ecuadorian Amazon or The Oriente region of Ecuador , and in Peru . They speak the Secoya language, part of the Western Tucanoan group...
also promotes bilingualism.
The language is written in the Roman script and has ten vowels (five with and without nasalization) and twenty-eight consonants.
Cofán has been classified as one of the Chibchan languages
Chibchan languages
The Chibchan languages 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...
, but this appears to be due to borrowed vocabulary.
External links
- Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: COFÁNhttp://butler.cc.tut.fi/~fabre/BookInternetVersio/Dic=Cof%e1n.pdf