Cuiba language

Cuiba or Cuiva is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 2,300 people in Colombia and additional 650 in Venezuela. More than half of Cuiba speakers are monolingual, and in Colombia there is a 45% literacy rate. Cuiva is also referred to as Cuiba, Cuiba-Wámonae, Kuiva, Chiricoa, Hiwi, and Maiben. In Colombia, Cuiva is spoken among those who live and who are born surrounding the Colombian rivers, Meta Casanare and Capanaparo. The Cuiba ethnic group is often found in the Casanare Department. In Venezuela the language is spoken in the state of Apure, one of the states that border with Colombia, and which is found alongside the Capanaparo river.

History of Cuiba

The term Cuiba is usually used to describe the ethnic group itself, although they do not refer to themselves as Cuiba. Most of those who speak the Cuiba language are monolingual, which is why the language is threatened seeing as the ethnic population itself is only approximately 2,950 and continues to decrease. The Cuiba ethnic group are characterized as being hunter-gatherers, who live a nomadic lifestyle in small bands along the borders of Colombia and Venezuela. Before 1967, the Cuiba were spread across the Meta River tributaries: Casanare, Agua Clara, Ariporo, Unchadia, Arauca, and Capanaparo. For the most part although the groups of Cuiba today are much smaller, they continue to occupy what is left of the areas around the rivers.

The banks of the Casanare, Agua Clara, Ariporo, Unchadia, Arauca, and Capanaparo are for the most part known as Cuiba territory and there has been no evidence stating that the Cuiba have occupied other territory but their own. The Cuiba have gone through many wars and invasions, which have slightly influenced Cuiba political and cultural practices at some point. Although the Europeans have left, some Spanish words survived. There is no evidence showing where the Spanish words were originated. There have been many attempts after 1533 invasion attempting to remove the Cuiba from their territory, but although the Cuiba have a small population their culture has largely remained unchanged.

Dialect/varieties

There are 8 dialects in Colombia and Venezuela known as:

• Chiricoa
• Masiware (Masiguare)
• Chiripo (Siripu, Wapiwi)
• Yara huuraxi-Capanapara
• Mayayero
• Monchuelo-Casanare-Cuiba
• Tampiwi (Mariposas)
• Amarawa (Amorua)

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	Tenuis	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
	Aspirated	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
	Voiced	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Affricate			Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Fricative			Template:IPAlink			Template:IPAlink
Nasal		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Approximant				Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Close-mid	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Open-mid			Template:IPAlink
Near-open	Template:IPAlink
Open	Template:IPAlink

Examples

• . People j.: There are people.
• : A story j the buzzard: This is a story about the buzzard.