| Geographic location: | Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia |
| Number of Languages: | 113 |
| Number of Genetic Units: | 45 |
| Genetic Index: | .398 (very high) |
| Endangerment Index: | 2.94 (moderate high) |
| Research Index: | low |
| Threat Level: | severe |
Description:
This may be the most critical hotspot, with extremely high diversity, very little documentation, and immediate threats of endangerment. The hotspot runs along the Andes Mountains, but also dips down into the Amazon basin. Indigenous languages are being replaced by Spanish or more dominant indigenous languages in most of the Hotspot, and by Portuguese in Brazil. The more robust indigenous languages lie along the west edge of the hotspot: Quechua in the north and Aymara in the south.
On our expedition to Central South America, we spoke with the Kallawaya, a group who have been herbalist healers since the time of the Inka empire. The Kallawaya use Spanish or Aymara in daily life, but maintain their own secret language, which is only passed down from father to son (or grandfather to grandson). This language is used mostly to encode information about the thousands of medicinal plants they use as healers, though it can also be used to express everyday thoughts. How and why this language has survived for over 400 years after the fall of the Inka empire, while being spoken by very few (now under 100) people, is a mystery. For more on our Bolivia expedition, go here.
Languages and genetic units in this hotspot:
- Andoque
- Arauan
- Arawakan
- Aymaran
- Cahuapanan
- Candoshi
- Canichana (may be extinct)
- Cayuvava (may be extinct)
- Chapacuran
- Chibchan
- Chiquito
- Germanic
- Harakmbet
- Hibito-Cholon (may be extinct)
- Itonama
- Jivaroan
- Katukinan (may be extinct)
- Leco
- Monde
- Movima
- Muniche
- Nambiquaran
- Panoan
- Peba-Yaguan
- Purubora
- Quechuan
- Romance
- Tacanan
- Taushiro
- Ticuna
- Tsimané
- Tucanoan
- Tupari
- Tupi-Guaraní
- Urarina
- Uru-Chipaya (may be extinct)
- Waorani
- Witotoan
- Yabuti
- Zaparoan
- Mixed (Kallawaya)
- Unclassified (4: Carabayo, Korubo, Papavô, Uru-Pa-In)
- Achuar-Shiwiar
- Aguaruna
- Amahuaca
- Amarakaeri
- Amundava
- Andoque
- Arabela
- Araona
- Arikapu
- Aruá
- Baure
- Bora
- Central Aymara
- Cahuarano
- Candoshi-Shapra
- Canichana (may be extinct)
- Carabayo
- Cashinahua
- Cavineña
- Cayuvava (may be extinct)
- Chácobo
- Chamicuro
- Chayahuita
- Chiquitano
- Cholon (may be extinct)
- Cocama-Cocamilla
- Cofan
- Culina
- Cusco Quechua
- Ese Ejja
- Huachipaeri
- Huambisa
- Ignaciano
- Iñapari
- Iquito
- Itene (Moré)
- Itonama
- Jabutí
- Jebero
- Jora (Hora)
- Kallawaya
- Karipuná
- Katukina
- Kaxararí
- Korubo
- Leco
- Machiguenga
- Machinere
- Makuráp
- Marubo
- Mascho Piro
- Matis
- Matsés
- Minica Huitoto
- Mondé
- Movima
- Muinane
- Muniche
- Murui Huitoto
- N. Bolivian Quechua
- N. Pastaza Quichua
- Nambiquara, Northern
- Nanti
- Napo Lowlad Quechua/Quichua
- Nomitsaguenga
- Nüpode Huitoto
- Ocaina
- Omagua
- Orejón
- Oro-Win
- Pacahuara
- Pacaasnovos
- Pano Katukina
- Papavô
- Plautdietsch
- Portuguese
- Poyanáwa
- Puno Quechua
- Puruborá
- Resígaro
- Reyesano
- Southern Pastaza Quechua
- Sabanês
- Sakirabia
- San Martin Quechua
- Secoya
- Sharanahua
- Shipibo-Conibo
- Siona
- Siriono
- Spanish
- Tacana
- Taushiro
- Tena Lowland Quichua
- Ticuna
- Toromono
- Tubarão
- Trinitario
- Tsimané [Mosetén]
- Tuparí
- Ucayali
- Urarina
- Uru
- Uru-Pa-In
- Waorani
- Wayoró
- Yagua
- Yaminahua
- Yawanawa
- Yucuna
- Yuqui
- Yuracare
- Zaparo
Endangered languages include:
- Cayuvava (under 10 speakers, isolate, spoken in Bolivia)
- Chipaya (under 100 speakers, Uru-Chipaya, spoken in Bolivia)
- Leco (20-40 speakers, isolate, spoken in Bolivia)
- Muniche (under 10 speakers, isolate, spoken in Peru)
- Ocaina (under 70 speakers, Witotoan, spoken in Peru and Bolivia)
- Resígaro (under 20 speakers, Arawakan, spoken in Peru)
- Taushiro (under 20 speakers, isolate, spoken in Peru)
- Wayoró (80 speakers, Tupian, spoken in Brazil)
Some features of languages include:
- mild to extensive agglutinative word structure
- nasalization contrasts
- men's vs. women's language varieties
Revitalization efforts include:
- Aymara (in Spanish): http://www.aymara.org/
- Enlhet (Lengua) (in Spanish and German): http://www.enlhet.org/indice.htm
Trivia:
Ch'anchay means 'to chew noisily' in Quechua (Peru, 500,000 monolinguals)
Media:
Click here to hear a recording of Max Chura, a speaker of Kallawaya.
Click here to hear a recording of Chipaya, a language of Bolivia.
Antonio Condori, Kallawaya speaker and herbalist
Photo: Antonio Condori (left), with his son Illaryon Ramos Condori (center), both Kallawaya healers, talking with David Harrison (right) in Chary village, northern Bolivia, June 2007 (Photo Greg Anderson, 2007)
Illaryon Ramos Condori, Kallawaya healer, discusses medicinal uses of local plants.
The languages of Bolivia. Click to see a larger version.
Sources:
Aguilo, Federico (1991) Diccionario Kallawaya. La Paz: MUSEF.
Bastien, Joseph William (1975). Qollahuaya Rituals: an Ethnographic Account of the Symbolic Relations of Man and Land in an Andean Village. Ann Arbor: Xerox University Microfilms.
— (1987) Healers of the Andes: Kallawaya Herbalists and their Medicinal Plants. Salt Lake City: Univ. of Utah Press
Girault, Louis (1989) Kallawaya: El Idioma Secreto de los Incas. La Paz: UNICEF-OPS-OMS.
Mondaca, Jaime (1987) La Lengua Callawaya: Apuntes de un Cuaderno de Campo. St. Andrews: Centre for Latin American Linguistic Studies, Working Paper no. 18.
Poblete, Enrique O. (1968) La Lengua Secreta de los Incas. La Paz: Los Amigos del Libro.
— (1978) Cultura Callawaya. La Paz: Ediciones Populares Camarlinghi.
Saignes, Thierry (1983) ¿Quiénes Son los Kallawaya? Nota Sobre un Enigma Etnohistórico. Revista andina 1 (2): 357-377.
