Where are the Barbacoan languages spoken?

These languages are South American native languages, spoken in Colombia and Ecuador.

Total number of speakers (estimates)

Around 15,000 according to the UNESCO

Around 34,000 according to ethnologue.com (SIL)

Classification

To this day, the Barbacoan language family counts 3 active languages.

Northern group

Awane branch

Coaoquer (alternative name: Awa Pit): 9,400 speakers according to the UNESCO, 22,000 according to the SIL

Muellama: extinct

Pasto: extinct

Coconucane branch

Coconuco: extinct

Namstik (alternative names: Namtrik, Namstrik), divided into 3 main variants:

Guambiano, 23,000 speakers according to the UNESCO, 23,500 according to the SIL

Totoró, 4 speakers according to the UNESCO and the SIL

Quizgo, no estimates at this point.

Southern group

Cayapa (alternative names: Chachi, Cha’palaachi): 4,000 speakers according to the UNESCO, 9,500 according to the SIL

Caranqui: extinct

Tsáfiki: (alternative names: Colorado, Colima, Campaz): 2,000 speakers according to the UNESCO, 2,300 according to the SIL

Notes on the Barbacoan languages classification

We hereby follow Campbell’s cassification (1997).

The Barbacoan family has sometime been associated with the Páez, but according to Campbell this connection isn’t really supported anymore.

Are the Barbacoan languages endangered?

Yes, all the Barbacoan languages are endangered.

Half of the family’s languages are extinct, and according to the UNESCO, Coaiquer and Totoró are about to disappear. All the family’s other languages are seriously endangered.

Sources

Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1997).

Curnow, Timothy & Liddicoat, Anthony (1998). The Barbacoan Languages of Colombia and Ecuador, Anthropological Linguistics, 40:3

Trivino Lilia, 2004-2005. « Los verbos de posicion en la lengua guambiana Quizgo » in landaburu y Ospina Bozzi (resp) Amerindia 29/30 AEA-CNRS, Paris.