Kallawaya language explained

Kallawaya
States:	Bolivia
Region:	La Paz Department Charazani; highlands north of Lake Titicaca
Speakers:	none
Ref:	e18
Speakers2:	10–20 as 2nd language
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Puquina
Nation:	^[1]
Iso3:	caw
Glotto:	call1235
Glottorefname:	Callawalla

Kallawaya, also Callahuaya or Callawalla, is an endangered, secret, mixed language in Bolivia; another name sometimes used for the language is Pohena. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes in their medicinal healing practice living in Charazani, the highlands north of Lake Titicaca,^[2] and Tipuani.^[3]

Characteristics

Kallawaya is a mixed language. The grammar is partially Quechua in morphology, but most of its words are from either unknown sources or from an otherwise extinct language family, Pukina. Pukina was abandoned in favor of Quechua, Aymara, and Spanish.^[4]

Kallawaya is also a secret language, passed only by father to son, or grandfather to grandson, or rarely, to daughters if a practitioner has no sons. It is not used in normal family dialogue. Although its use is primarily ritual, used secretly for initiated men, Kallawaya may be a part of everyday conversation between those familiar with it.^[5]

Kallawaya was one of the subjects of Ironbound Films' 2008 American documentary film The Linguists, in which two linguists attempted to document several moribund languages.^[6]

Bolivians refer to the region where the speakers live as "Qollahuayas," meaning "place of the medicines", because the Kallawaya are renowned herbalists. Since they treat or cure with plants, minerals, animal products, and rituals, peasants refer to the speakers as "Qolla kapachayuh", meaning "lords of the medicine bag".

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	aspirated	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	ejective	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative			pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Trill			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant	lateral		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /link/
	central	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/
Open		pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/

^[7]

Further reading

• Book: Aguiló, Federico . Diccionario kallawaya . MUSEF . 1991 . La Paz, Bolivia . 29245388 . es.
• Bastien . Joseph W. . January 1989 . Differences between Kallawaya-Andean and Greek-European humoral theory . Social Science & Medicine . 28 . 1 . 45–51 . 10.1016/0277-9536(89)90305-5 . 2648593 . en.
• Book: Girault, Louis . Kallawaya: el idioma secreto de los incas: Diccionario . UNICEF . 1989 . 22491858 . es.
• Encyclopedia: 2009 . Lenguas de Bolivia . Plural editores . La Paz . Muysken . Pieter . Crevels . Mily . I: Ámbito andino . 147–167 . es . 556975228 . Kallawaya . Pieter . Muysken.
• Book: Oblitas Poblete, Enrique . Lexico Kallawaya . Szemiński . Jan . 1994 . 56010096 . es.

External links

• Kallawaya language project and photos of language speakers
• Other ways to spell Kallawaya

Notes and References

1. Web site: Constitución política del Estado . Gaceta Oficial de Bolivia . 23 November 2022 . 2 . es-BO . PDF . 2009-02-07 . Artículo 5.1: Son idiomas oficiales del Estado el castellano y todos los idiomas de las naciones y pueblos indígena originario campesinos, que son el aymara, [...], machajuyai-kallawaya, [...] y zamuco..
2. Web site: Bolivia languages . Ethnologue

   Languages of the World

   . 22nd . Eberhard . David M. . Simons . Gary F. . Fennig . Charles D. . 2019 . Dallas . SIL International.
3. Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.
4. Web site: The Puquina and Leko languages . 2007-09-19 . Willem Adelaar . Simon van de Kerke . Symposium: Advances in Native South American Historical Linguistics, July 17–18, 2006, at the 52nd International Congress of Americanists, Seville, Spain.
5. Web site: The Kallawaya Language Project . 2007-09-19 . online . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070929224417/http://www.livingtongues.org/kallawaya.html . 2007-09-29 .
6. Web site: The Linguists . . Honeycutt . Kirk . 18 January 2008 . 22 February 2009 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20081121013020/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/fest_reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=10471 . November 21, 2008 .
7. Muysken (2009)