Cofán language

Cofán
A'ingae
Native to Ecuador, Colombia
Region Oriente or Ecuadorian Amazon
Ethnicity Cofán people
Native speakers
 2,400 (2001–2008)[1]
Official status
Official language in
 Ecuador: indigenous languages official in own territories
Language codes
ISO 639-3 con
Glottolog cofa1242[2]

The Cofán language (also Kofan or Kofane; autonym: A'ingae) 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 had been classified as a Chibchan language, but this appears to be due to borrowed vocabulary.

References

  1. ↑ Cofán at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Cofán". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

External links


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