Cueva | |
---|---|
Native to | Panama |
Region | Darién |
Ethnicity | Cueva people |
Extinct | 16th century |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | cuev1238 |
Cueva was an Indigenous language of Panama, now extinct, with limited attestation and often misclassified within linguistic studies. [2] The Cueva people experienced a significant population decline between 1510 and 1535 due to conflicts, diseases, and the effects of Spanish colonization. By the 17th and 18th centuries, the Guna had migrated into the former Cueva territory, repopulating the area.
Loukotka [3] mistakenly identified a Guna vocabulary from the Darién as Cueva, leading to confusion of Cueva with Guna in subsequent literature [4] , with some authors reporting that Cueva was a dialect of or ancestral to the Guna language [5] . The Guna language and culture are very different from the Cueva.
Loewren [6] and Constenla Umaña & Margery Peña [7] have suggested a connection between Cueva and the Chocoan family.