Atanque language

Last updated
Atanque
Cancuamo
Native to Colombia
Ethnicity Kankuamo, Atanque
Extinct (date missing)
Chibchan
  • Arwako–Chimila
    • Arwako
      • Atanque
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
qji
Glottolog kank1244

Atanque, also known as Atanques or Kankuamo, is an extinct Chibchan language of Colombia, [1] once spoken in the area of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.

Contents

Vocabulary

There is very little information about the language, in particular with regard to grammar. Before its speakers switched to Spanish, Celedón (1892) managed to compile a brief dictionary. The following table shows a sample of the lexicon.

glossAtanque
oneijkua
twomoga
threeména
headchakúku
eyeúma
nosemichiuña
earkukkuá
toothköhka
manferúa
womanamia
waterdita
fuegoguié
earthnebinyàku
fishuáka
treekandina
sunkoköbúnyo
moonsakaméru

Despite being so poorly attested, Atanque clearly belongs to the Arwako subgroup of Chibcha. In particular, it appears to be very close to Wiwa in terms of phonetic innovations. [2]

Toponyms

Traces of Atanque are also preserved in toponyms recorded in the region of Sierra Nevada. [3] Suffixes like -ka "place, site" (e.g. in Susungá-ka, Chingá-ka, Kankuá-ka) or -kua "bower" (e.g. in Birintu-kua, Risátu-kua, Kamíntu-kua) are diagnostic of an Atanque source. [4]

Notes

  1. Shafer, Robert (1962). "Aruakan (Not Arawakan)". Anthropological Linguistics. 4 (4): 31–40. ISSN   0003-5483. JSTOR   30022363.
  2. Jackson (1996 , pp. 66–67).
  3. Salas (2020 , pp. 162–164).
  4. Salas (2020 , pp. 164–167).

References