Chipaya language

Spoken in

• Uru Chipaya languages Chipaya

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Cap

Chipaya is an indigenous South American language of the Uru - Chipaya - language family. The other language in this family, which already extinct in the colonial era language of the Urus on Lake Titicaca, is considered by some linguists as a pure sub- dialect of Chipaya language.

Some linguists see connections between the Chipaya language and the Arawak languages ​​or even the Mayan languages ​​, but these theories are very controversial. The published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics compilation Ethnologue refers to the dynamics of the Chipaya language as " strong" ( vigorous ), with 1,200 native speakers in an ethnic group of 1,800 people. Chipaya has been significantly influenced and shaped by Aymara and Quechua, in more modern times, the Spanish language so that, according to expert estimates today dates back only 67 % of the Chipaya - vocabulary on the original Chipaya language.

It is believed that the Uru - Chipaya languages ​​spoken in the area of Lake Titicaca, and between this and the Poopó lake. In most places, the language, starting in pre-Hispanic times, was replaced by the Aymara. At the beginning of the 20th century there were enclaves both in Peru and in Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, Poopó Lake and in the municipality of Chipaya. Meanwhile, these enclaves are, with two exceptions to be extinct: At the beginning of the 21st century lived in Irohito in the Bolivian municipality Ingavi nor a spokesman for the Uru. In the municipality of Chipaya the Chipaya is still the predominant language, which is also passed on to children, although most residents also speak Spanish and many also Aymara.

Chipaya -native speakers refer to their language as Puquina or Uchun Maa Taqu ("our mother tongue "). The Chipaya should not be confused with the historical Puquina language, however, with which it is not related.

Uru Chipaya (such as the language is commonly referred to ) is an agglutinative language, but has some peculiarities that distinguish them from most agglutinative languages ​​.

Currently, the language is documented under the project management of the linguist Sabine Dede Brooks Salazar, in the framework of the project series documentation of endangered languages ​​( DoBeS ), funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.