Ocaina language
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Bora–Huitoto language spoken in South America
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| Ocaina | |
|---|---|
| Xáfahxajoh | |
| Black and white photograph of a man in a loincloth and feathers with a pole in one hand and four long sticks in the other. An Ocaina chief in 1924. | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈxaɸaʔxahoʔ] |
| Native to | Peru, Colombia |
| Ethnicity | Ocaina |
Native speakers | (55 cited 2000–2012)[1] |
Bora–Huitoto
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | oca |
| Glottolog | ocai1244 |
| ELP | Ocaina |
| This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. | |
Ocaina is an indigenous American language spoken in western South America.
Classification
[edit ]Ocaina belongs to the Witotoan language family. It is its own group within the Huitoto-Ocaina sub-family.
Geographic distribution
[edit ]Ocaina is spoken by 54 people in northeastern Peru and by 12 more in the Amazonas region of Colombia. Few children speak the language.[citation needed ]
Dialects/Varieties
[edit ]There are two dialects of Ocaina: Dukaiya and Ibo'tsa.
Phonology
[edit ]Consonants
[edit ]| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar/ Palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | lenis | m | n | ɲ | ||
| fortis | mː | nː | ɲː | |||
| Plosive | p b | t r | tj dj | k ɡ | ʔ | |
| Affricate | ts dz | tʃ dʒ | ||||
| Fricative | ɸ β | s | ʃ ʒ | x | h | |
Vowels
[edit ]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i , ĩ | ɨ , ɨ̃ | |
| Low | e | a , ã | o , õ |
Tone
[edit ]Syllables in Ocaina may be marked with one of two tones: high or low.
Syllables
[edit ]Syllables in Ocaina consist of a vowel; single consonants may appear on either side of the vowel: (C)V(C).
Writing system
[edit ]Ocaina is written using a Latin alphabet. A chart of symbols with the sounds they represent is as follows:
| Latin | IPA |
|---|---|
| a | /a/ |
| b | /b/ |
| c | /k/ - /ts/ |
| ch | /tʃ/ |
| ds | /dz/ |
| dy | /dj/ |
| e | /e/ |
| f | /ɸ/ |
| g(u) | /ɡ/ - /h/ |
| h | /ʔ/ |
| i | /i/ |
| j | /h/ |
| k | /k/ |
| ll | /dʒ/ |
| m | /m/ |
| m̈ | /mː/ |
| n | /n/ |
| n̈ | /nː/ |
| ñ | /ɲ/ |
| ñ̈ | /ɲː/ |
| o | /o/ |
| p | /p/ |
| qu | /k/ |
| r | /r/ |
| s | /s/ |
| sh | /ʃ/ |
| t | /t/ |
| z | /ts/ |
| ty | /tj/ |
| u | /ɨ/ |
| v | /β/ |
| x | /x/ |
| y | /ʒ/ |
- Because the Ocaina alphabet is based on Spanish, c is used to indicate /k/ before a, o, and u, qu is used before e and i, and k is used in loan words, such as kerosene "kerosene".
- Nasalization is indicated by inserting n after a vowel. Compare: tya tyója [tjatjóha] "hang it" vs. tya tyonjan [tjatjṍhã] "clean it".
- High tone is indicated with the acute accent: á, é, í, ó, ú.
References
[edit ]- ^ Ocaina at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
- Agnew, Arlene; Pike, Evelyn G. (January 1957). "Phonemes of Ocaina (Huitoto)". International Journal of American Linguistics. 23 (1): 24–27. doi:10.1086/464385.
- Leach, Ilo M. (2008). Mary Ruth Wise (ed.). Vocabulario Ocaina (PDF). Serie Lingüística Peruana (in Spanish). Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Yarinacocha, Peru: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.
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