Minica Huitoto language

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Minica (Mɨnɨka) Huitoto is one of three indigenous American Huitoto languages of the Witotoan family spoken by a few thousand speakers in western South America.[1]

Minica Huitoto
Mɨnɨka
Native toColombia, Perú
Native speakers
1,500 (2008)[1]
Bora–Witoto
Language codes
ISO 639-3hto
Glottologmini1256
ELPMinica Huitoto

It is spoken in the Upper Igara-Paraná river area, along the Caquetá River at the Isla de los Monos, and the Caguán River near San Vicente del Caguán. There is 75% literacy in Colombia and 85% are literate in Spanish; most are bilingual. There is a dictionary and grammar rules.[1]

There are only five speakers in Perú, where it has official standing within its community.[1]

Phonology

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Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i ɯ u
Mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Fricative voiceless ɸ θ x
voiced β
Tap ɾ
  • Stops /b, d, ɡ/ may also be prenasalized as [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ] in word-initial position.
  • Labial consonants /b, ɸ, m/ may also be heard as labialized [bʷ, ɸʷ, mʷ] before the back-close vowel /ɯ/.[2]

Writing system

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Minica Huitoto alphabet[3]
a b c ch d e f g h i j ll m n ñ ng o p q r t u v ɨ z

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d Minica Huitoto at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Ávila, Youlín (2018). Las vocales en sílabas CV orales acentuadas del mɨnɨka hablado en Bogotá: una descripción fonética acústica. Bogotá, Colombia: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. pp. 16–17.
  3. ^ "Vocabulario bilingüe: huitoto-español, español-huitoto (dialecto mɨnɨca)". SIL International. 24 January 2013.