Kogi language

Kogi
Kággaba
Native toColombia
RegionSierra Nevada de Santa Marta
EthnicityKogi
Native speakers
9,900 (2004)[1]
nearly all monolingual
Chibchan
  • Arwako–Chimila
    • Arwako
      • Kogi
Language codes
ISO 639-3kog
Glottologcogu1240
ELPCogui

Kogi (Cogui), or Kagaba (Cágaba) (Cogui: Kággaba), is a Chibchan language of Colombia. The Kogi people are almost entirely monolingual, and maintain the only unconquered Andean civilization.

Phonology[edit]

Vowels[2]
Front Central Back
Close i ĩ ɨ ɨ̃ u ũ
Mid e ʌ o
Open a ã
  • /e, ẽ/ can also be heard as [ɛ, ɛ̃] when in unstressed syllables.
Consonants
Bilabial Dental/Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain geminated plain geminated plain geminated
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d g
Fricative voiceless s ʃ ⟨sh⟩ x ⟨j⟩ h
voiced z ʒ ⟨zh⟩
Lateral l
Nasal m n ŋ ⟨ñ⟩
Approximant w j ⟨y⟩
  • Affricate sounds [ts, dz, tʃ, dʒ] are heard when sibilant sounds /s, z, ʃ, ʒ/ precede /n/. If /t, d/ precede /i/ then they are realized as affricates [tʃ, dʒ].
  • /n/ before /i/ may be realized as a palatal [ɲ].[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kogi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Gawthorne, Linda A.; Hensarling, Grace E. (1984). Fonología del cogui. Sistemas fonológicos de idiomas colombianos (V.G.Waterhouse, comp.): Lomalinda: Editorial Townsend.