Capanahua language
Language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Capanahua or Kapanawa [kapaˈnawa] is a moribund[2] Panoan language spoken in western South America by 50 of the 400 Capanahua people, around the area of the Tapiche-Buncuya river.
Usage
If a Capanahua speaker talks to another Capanahua speaker in Spanish, it is considered insulting and the application of the stigmatizing label of outsider. The language is in decline since there are few speakers and almost no children can speak it. Capanahua is used in two bilingual schools and, to some degree, in other primary schools, but not in secondary schools. Capanahua speakers and people are referred to derogatorily as "Capachos".
Classification
There is one dialect called Pahenbaquebo; the closest related language is Shipibo, with which is shared 50 to 60 percent comprehensibility.
Phonology
/h/ is placed in a "Pharyngeal" column separate from "Laryngeal" in the source. It is unclear if it is meant to represent /ħ/ instead.
Since /h/ occurs only in word initial position before vowels and vowels never occur initially unpreceded by /h/ or another consonant, /h/ can be regarded as a predictable redundancy. [sic]
/o/ ranges from mid close to high open, unconditioned. [sic]
The source uses "High/Low" instead of "Close/Open".
Orthography
There is 5 to 10 percent literacy in Spanish compared to 10 percent literacy in the native mother tongue. The language has a written grammar, a dictionary, and uses Latin script when written.
