Cabécar language explained

Cabécar
Script:Latin
Region:Turrialba Region (Cartago Province)
Ethnicity:Cabécar people (2011 census)
Date:2011
Ref:e25
Speakers2:2,000 monolingual (2015)
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Chibchan
Fam2:Core-Chibchan
Fam3:Isthmic
Fam4:Western Isthmic
Fam5:Viceitic
Iso3:cjp
Glotto:cabe1245
Glottorefname:Cabécar

The Cabécar language is an indigenous American language of the Chibchan language family spoken by the Cabécar people in the inland Turrialba Region, Cartago Province, Costa Rica. As of 2007, 2,000 speakers were monolingual. It is the only indigenous language in Costa Rica with monolingual adults. The language is also known by its dialect names Chirripó, Estrella, Telire, and Ujarrás.

History

Cabécar is considered to be one of a few "Chibcha-speaking tribes", categorized by similarities in the languages that they speak. Other Chibcha speaking tribes include the Bribri and the Boruca, also of Costa Rica. It is believed that the languages of the Chibcha speaking tribes shared a common ancestor around 8,000 years ago. However, differences in the languages are thought to have come about from the influence of outside people, including influences from Mesoamerica.[1]

Geographic distribution

Cabécar is an endangered language spoken in Costa Rica. It is spoken by the Cabécar people, an indigenous group located near the Talamancan mountains of Costa Rica.

Dialects and varieties

There are two different dialects of Cabécar, each of which has more narrow dialects within it. One of these is spoken in the north, while the other is spoken in southern parts of Costa Rica.[2]

Phonology

Cabécar uses a Latin alphabet with umlauts for (ë, ö), and tildes for (ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ).[3] Cabécar has twelve vowels, five of which are nasalized.

Consonants

BilabialDentalAlveolarRetroflexPostalveolarVelarGlottal
Plosiveplainpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Fricativepronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Affricatepronounced as /t͡k/ pronounced as /link/
Flappronounced as /link/
Nasalpronounced as /link/

Vowels

!Front!Central!Back
Highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Near-highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Mid-highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Lowpronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/
[4]

Grammar

Cabécar has a canonical word order of subject–object–verb.

Resources

External links

Notes and References

  1. Barrantes. R.. Smouse. P.E.. Mohrenweiser. H.W.. Gershowitz. H.. Azofeifa. J.. Arias. T.D.. Neel. J.V.. Microevolution in Lower Central America: Genetic Characterization of the Chibcha-Speaking Groups of Costa Rica and Panama, and a Consensus Taxonom Based on Genetic and Linguistic Affinity. American Journal of Human Genetics. 1990. 43. 63–84.
  2. Web site: Margery-Peña. Enrique. Constenla-Umaña. Adolfo. Cabécar, Costa Rica. University of Costa Rica. 16 February 2010. 1 May 2017. 25 May 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190525140501/https://mpi-lingweb.shh.mpg.de/numeral/Cabecar.htm. dead.
  3. http://www.native-languages.org/cabecar_guide.htm Native-languages.org
  4. Book: Peña, Enrique Margery. Diccionario cabécar-español, español-cabécar. Editorial Universidad de Costa Rica. 1989. 9789977671000.

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