Uwa language

Last updated
Uwa
Tunebo
Uw Cuwa
Native to Colombia, formerly in Venezuela
Regionthe largest groups live on the northern slopes of the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy, Boyacá Department
Ethnicity U'wa
Native speakers
3,550 (2000) [1]
Chibchan
  • Chibcha–Motilon
    • Chibcha–Tunebo
      • Uwa
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
tnd   Angosturas Tunebo/Bahiyakuwa
tbn   Barro Negro Tunebo (Eastern Tunebo/Yithkaya)
tuf   Central Tunebo (Cobaría/Kubaru'wa & Tegría/Tagrinuwa)
tnb   Western Tunebo (Aguas Blancas/Rikuwa)
Glottolog tune1260
ELP Tunebo
U'wa ou Tunebo.png
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The Uwa language, Uw Cuwa, commonly known as Tunebo, is a Chibchan language spoken by between 1,800 and 3,600 of the Uwa people of Colombia, out of a total population of about 7,000. [2]

Contents

Varieties

There are half a dozen known varieties. Communication between modern varieties can be difficult, so they are considered distinct languages.

Adelaar (2004) lists the living

Umaña (2012) lists Cobaría, Tegría, Agua Blanca, Barro Negro.[ needs to be confirmed with footnote in original ]

Berich lists the dialects Cobaría; Agua Blanca (= Uncasía, Tamarana, Sta Marta); Rinconada, Tegría, Bócota, & Báchira

Cassani lists Sínsiga, Tegría, Unkasía (= Margua), Pedraza, Manare, Dobokubí (= Motilón)

Osborn (1989) lists

the latter all extinct

Fabre (2005) lists:

Additional names in Loukotka are Manare and Uncasica (presumably a spelling variant of Unkasía/Uncacía), as well as Morcote, of which nothing is known. Manare, at the source of the Casanare, is Eastern Tunebo.

Phonology

Vowel

Front Back
High iu
Mid eo
Low a

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-velar Glottal
Nasal mn
Stop btkʔ
Fricative sʃh
Vibrant r
Oral semi-vowel wj
Nasal semi-vowel

Morphosyntax

Uwa is an ergative–absolutive language with an SOV word order.

Nouns

All isolated verbs end in -a. Nouns can be divided into three groups: personal nouns, verbal nouns, and other. The plurality of a referent is not explicitly marked on a verb; however, it is possible to mark a group of human referents using the -in suffix. Some kinship terms use a different term instead of using the -in suffix (e.g., wacjá ‘son’; sasa ‘sons’). Verbal nouns are derived from verbs by appending -quib (refers to one actor, e.g., yew̃quib ‘he who carries’), -quin (refers to multiple actors, e.g., yew̃quin ‘those who carry’) or -quey (the action, e.g., raquey ‘the coming’, OR the patient of an action, e.g., rojoquey ‘that which is brought’). Other nouns cannot be affixed with the aforementioned suffixes.

There are four case suffixes: ergative, absolutive, genitive and vocative.

The subject of a transitive clause, i.e., the ergative case, is marked with the -at suffix:

Bónit-at

mouse-ERG

eb

corn

yá-ca-ro.

eat-PRES-DECL

Bónit-at eb yá-ca-ro.

mouse-ERG corn eat-PRES-DECL

A mouse is eating the corn.

The subject of an intransitive clause or the object of a transitive clause, i.e., the absolutive case, takes the null suffix -∅:

As

I

isura

down

be-n-ro.

go-INTEN-DECL.

As isura be-n-ro.

I down go-INTEN-DECL.

I'm going down[stairs].

Ow-at

suitcase-ERG

as

my

cuá-ca-ro.

tire-PRES-DECL

Ow-at as cuá-ca-ro.

suitcase-ERG my tire-PRES-DECL

The suitcase is killing me.

The owner of a referent is marked with the genitive case using the -ay suffix. It can replace the ergative marker -at in the 1st person singular pronoun of transitive sentences.

Eb

corn

quehrós

parrot

yay

eat

ay-ti

leave-NEG

quehw̃u-wa.

frighten-IMP

Is-ay-an

our-GEN-EMP

bar

already

ri-jac-cua-no.

plant-PASS-USIT-DECL.

Eb quehrós yay ay-ti quehw̃u-wa. Is-ay-an bar ri-jac-cua-no.

corn parrot eat leave-NEG frighten-IMP our-GEN-EMP already plant-PASS-USIT-DECL.

Shoo away the parrots so that they don't eat the corn. Ours is already planted.

The vocative suffix -u is used to identify a referent being addressed:

Wanis-u

Wanisa-VOC

Wanis-u

Wanisa-VOC

Wanisa!

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns distinguish between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person (which is further divided into proximal and distal), as well as between the singular and plural:

singularplural
1st personasa, asisa, is
2nd personbaha, bahbaa
3rd personproximaluiyauiyina
distaleya, eyeyina, eyin

It is possible to use personal pronouns as possessive pronouns by placing them before the relevant noun (for comparison—adjectives are placed after the noun). However, there exist distinct forms of possessives, which will be discussed later.

The demonstrative pronouns make a two-way distinction: ucha (proximal, ‘this’) and eya (distal, ‘that’).

Additionally, there exists an intensifier-reflexive pronoun that is analogous to the English ‘oneself’ or ‘alone’. The pronoun itself is subject to inflection:

singularplural
1st personajmar, amarijmár
2nd personbehmarbemar
3rd personimaimar

The possessive pronouns in Uwa, just like the personal pronouns, make a proximal-distal distinction in the 3rd person. These are:

singularplural
1st personajáyisay
2nd personbahaybay
3rd personproximaluiyayuiyinay
distaleyayeyinay

Numerals

The Uwa language uses a base-10 (decimal) number system.

Adjectives

In general, adjectives are placed after the noun, although there are instances where they can be placed before it. Nevertheless, the majority of the time, adjectives are utilized in the verbal form:

cúmac-ro

big-DECL

cúmac-ro

big-DECL

It is big.

Carson

pants

bacsoy

black

racat-ro.

want-DECL

Carson bacsoy racat-ro.

pants black want-DECL

I want black pants.

In noun phrases, the adjective tends to take the -a suffix. [3]

Verbs

Verbs in Uwa language can be divided into the following categories: transitive, intransitive, bitransitive, impersonal, objective clause, auxiliary and copular.

Asa

I

rícara

day

wiqui-n-ro

return-INTEN-DECL

Asa rícara wiqui-n-ro

I day return-INTEN-DECL

I will return by day.

  • Transitive verbs take two arguments, thus implying two participants:

Aj-át

I-ERG

bajít

machete

wá-ro-ra.

buy-DECL-CNTR

Aj-át bajít wá-ro-ra.

I-ERG machete buy-DECL-CNTR

I bought a machete.

  • Bitransitive verbs take three arguments, which means three participants are involved in the action:

Babcar

Babcara

ac

DEST

cuncuari

calabash

bacáy

leave

bi-ca-ro.

go-PRES-DECL

Babcar ac cuncuari bacáy bi-ca-ro.

Babcara DEST calabash leave go-PRES-DECL

I'm going to leave the calabash for Babcara.

  • Impersonal verbs express involuntary actions or states that befall a person; those include verbs like to bleed, to vomit, to be tired. Due to their inherent non-agentivity, impersonal verbs lack full conjugation.

As

I

bar

already

seo-jac-ro.

tire-PST-DECL

As bar seo-jac-ro.

I already tire-PST-DECL

I'm tired [of it]. / I've had enough.

  • There are certain verbs that refer to the act of speaking, perceiving, or thinking, and these verbs are often followed by a dependent clause that provides more information about the action. These dependent clauses are called objective clauses . In Uwa, examples of such verbs include séhlw̃anro ‘to think’ and waquinro ‘to say’.

“As-ra

[I-CONT

bar

already

be-n-ro,”

go-INTEN-DECL]

wa-no-ra.

say-DECL-CONT

“As-ra bar be-n-ro,” wa-no-ra.

[I-CONT already go-INTEN-DECL] say-DECL-CONT

I said, “I'm leaving [now].”

The verb séhlw̃anro is most frequently preceded by the intentional form of the verb without the declarative suffix:

As

I

ucasi

ten

ac

DEST

be-n

go-INTEN

séhlw̃a-ro.

think-DECL

As ucasi ac be-n séhlw̃a-ro.

I ten DEST go-INTEN think-DECL

I plan on going for ten days.

  • Auxiliary verbs follow the verb or adjective and carry the tense and mood suffixes. These include: yajquinro ‘to do’, cháquinro ‘to put’, tenro ‘to overcome’, rehquinro ‘to be’, rauwinro ‘to enter’ and óraro ‘to suppose’.
  • There is only one copular verb , rehquinro, which comes from the word for ‘to be’.

Cuc

thirst

wini

give

reh-ca-ro.

be-PRES-DECL

Cuc wini reh-ca-ro.

thirst give be-PRES-DECL

[He] is thirsty.

Cue

sad

reh-ti

be-NEG

ja-w̃i.

AUX-IMP

Cue reh-ti ja-w̃i.

sad be-NEG AUX-IMP

Don't be sad.

There are a number of different affixes that can appended to the verb.

The intentional suffixes -in and -n indicate the intention to be fulfilled by the action of the verb. The action occurs in the future.

Bacat

four

ubach

house

tuw̃-in-ro.

clean-INTEN-DECL

Bacat ubach tuw̃-in-ro.

four house clean-INTEN-DECL

In four days I'm going to do the house.

Negation can be marked three ways. Future, ability or obligation, and stative verbs are negated with the word bár. Inability or impossibility is marked with -ajar/-ajat in the main verb and with an interrogative word in the same clause, plus an -i suffix on the focused word of focus. The -ti suffix is used on the main verb:

Ahajira

still

bahnaqu-i

everything-EMP.NEG

sín-ti-ro.

learn-NEG-DECL

Ahajira bahnaqu-i sín-ti-ro.

still everything-EMP.NEG learn-NEG-DECL

I have not yet learned everything.

Ability or obligation is indicated in the verb by the suffix -ata. It indicates that something can or must be done. It can also function as a way to express command without using the imperative.

The inability is indicated by appending the suffix -ajar:

Is

we

oya

clothing

bár

not

bin-at-ra

who-ERG-CONT

ay

good

éy-in-ra

3-COL-CONT

yéhw̃-ajar-cua-no.

marry-IMPOSS-USIT-DECL

Is oya bár bin-at-ra ay éy-in-ra yéhw̃-ajar-cua-no.

we clothing not who-ERG-CONT good 3-COL-CONT marry-IMPOSS-USIT-DECL

We poor people cannot marry the good ones.


Four tenses can be distinguished: present, past, immediate past and immediate future.

TenseSuffix
past-jac/-jec/-joc
immediate past-ira/-iri
present-ca [lower-alpha 1]
immediate future-ayquira
  1. One of the exceptions is the word tew̃ro ‘is speaking’.

The suffixes -ca/-qui and -ya/-yi are used to mark questions in the present and past tenses, respectively.

Adverbs

Adverbs are positioned immediately following the verb:

In

fast

ra-w̃i.

come-IMP

In ra-w̃i.

fast come-IMP

Come quick.

Notes

  1. Angosturas Tunebo/Bahiyakuwa at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Barro Negro Tunebo (Eastern Tunebo/Yithkaya) at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Central Tunebo (Cobaría/Kubaru'wa & Tegría/Tagrinuwa) at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
    Western Tunebo (Aguas Blancas/Rikuwa) at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. Adelaar & Muysken (2004:109)
  3. Márquez, María Elena; Berichá; Zubiri, Jesús Olza (1988). Gramática de la lengua tuneba: morfosintaxis del cobaría (in Spanish). Universidad Católica del Tachira.

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References