Cubeo
Encyclopedia
The Cubeo are an ethnic group of the Colombia
n Amazon
. Cubeo is a generic name that is used in local Spanish
and appears in the literature in reference to a social and linguistic group. Although the term does not have any meaning in their language
, the Cubeo refer to themselves by that name in interactions with others. There is no common native name, aside from referring to themselves as "people" (pâmiwâ) or, more precisely, "my people" (jiwa). An individual's social identification is based on his or her adscription to a mythical clan forebear whose name is used as an eponym.
has been classified as belonging to Eastern Tukano. Recently, however, a reclassification has been suggested to Middle Tukano, a subdivision of a possible Proto-Tukano. This language is one of the rare OVS languages in the world.
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...
n Amazon
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
. Cubeo is a generic name that is used in local 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...
and appears in the literature in reference to a social and linguistic group. Although the term does not have any meaning in their language
Cubeo language
The Cubeo language is a SOV language spoken by the Cubeo people and is a member of the central branch of the Tukano language. It has many lexical loans from the Nadahup languages and has a grammar which was apparently influenced by Arawak...
, the Cubeo refer to themselves by that name in interactions with others. There is no common native name, aside from referring to themselves as "people" (pâmiwâ) or, more precisely, "my people" (jiwa). An individual's social identification is based on his or her adscription to a mythical clan forebear whose name is used as an eponym.
Location
The Cubeo live in the area of the Colombian Vaupés, near the center of the Northwestern Cultural Area of the Amazon. Their villages are distributed along the median course of the Vaupés and, above all, alongside its affluents the Cuduyari and Querari rivers.Population
Reports of the population vary between 3,000 and 5,000 individuals. The national census of 1985 established the number of inhabitants at 4,368.Language
The language of the CubeoCubeo language
The Cubeo language is a SOV language spoken by the Cubeo people and is a member of the central branch of the Tukano language. It has many lexical loans from the Nadahup languages and has a grammar which was apparently influenced by Arawak...
has been classified as belonging to Eastern Tukano. Recently, however, a reclassification has been suggested to Middle Tukano, a subdivision of a possible Proto-Tukano. This language is one of the rare OVS languages in the world.