Chipaya language

Chipaya is a native South American language of the Uru–Chipaya language family. The only other language in the grouping, Uru, is considered by some to be a divergent dialect of Chipaya. Ethnologue lists the language vitality as "vigorous," with 1200 speakers out of an ethnic population of around 1800. Chipaya has been influenced considerably by Aymara, Quechua, and more recently, Spanish, with a third of its vocabulary having been replaced by those languages.

The Chipayan language is spoken in the area south of Lake Titicaca along the Desaguadero River in the mountains of Bolivia and mainly in the town of Chipaya located in the Sabaya Province of the Bolivian department of Oruro north of Coipasa Salt Flats. Native speakers generally refer to it as Puquina or Uchun Maa Taqu ("our mother language"), but is not the same as the extinct Puquina language. Chipaya is an agglutinative language, though it has features uncommon to most agglutinative languages, according to preliminary research by the organization DOBES.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant clusters

Multiple possibilities are separated by slashes, and optional elements are enclosed in parentheses.

Possible syllable onsets are:

• (s/š) + p + (h)
• (s/š/sh) + k/q + (h/hʷ/x/xʷ)
• s/š + p/k/kʷ/q/qʷ/h/hʷ/m/n
• t + h/hʷ/x/xʷ
• ¢/č/ch/l + h

Possible syllable codas are:

• h/x + p/t/k/q/l/lʲ/r + (t)
• hʷ/xʷ + k/q + (t)
• Consonant + t

Vowels

• Vowels have continental values for a, [a], e [e], i [i], o, [o], and u [u]. Each vowel can be short, e.g., a [a], or long, e.g., a• [aː].

References

External links

• DOBES - Chipaya Language
• DOBES - Uru-Chipaya
• Lilian Porterie Etudes, Audios and Transcriptions of the Chipaya Language

Languages of Bolivia
National language	Spanish
Indigenous languages	Arawakan Baure Iñapari Moxo Pauna Reyesano Yine Pano–Tacanan Araona Cavineño Chácobo Ese Ejja Tacana Toromona Yaminawa Quechua Cusco–Collao Quechua North Bolivian Quechua South Bolivian Quechua Tupian Guaraní Eastern Bolivian Guarayu Sirionó Yuki Other Aymara Ayoreo Chiquitano Canichana Cayubaba Chimán Chipaya Itonama Leco Kallawaya Moré Movima Pauserna Puquina Weenhayek Yuracaré
Sign languages	Bolivian Sign Language
Italics indicate extinct languages still recognized by the Bolivian constitution.