Kallawaya language
Encyclopedia
Kallawaya, also Callahuaya or Callawalla is an endangered
, secret, mixed language
in Bolivia
. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people
, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes
in their medicinal healing practice.
Kallawaya is a mixed language. The grammar is partially Quechua in morphology, but most of its words are from either unknown sources or from an otherwise extinct language family, Pukina. Pukina was abandoned in favor of Quechua, Aymara
, and Spanish
.
Kallawaya is also a secret language, passed only by father to son, or grandfather to grandson, or rarely, to daughters if a practitioner has no sons. It is not used in normal family dialogue. Although its use is primarily ritual, used secretly for initiated men, Kallawaya may be a part of everyday conversation between those familiar with it.
Kallawaya was one of the subjects of Ironbound Films
' 2008 American documentary film The Linguists
, in which two linguists attempted to document
several moribund languages.
Bolivians refer to the region where the speakers live as "Qollahuayas," meaning "place of the medicines", because the Kallawaya are renowned herbalists. Since they treat or cure with plants, minerals, animal products, and rituals, peasants refer to the speakers as "Qolla kapachayuh", meaning "lords of the medicine bag".
Endangered language
An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language"....
, secret, mixed language
Mixed language
A mixed language is a language that arises through the fusion of two source languages, normally in situations of thorough bilingualism, so that it is not possible to classify the resulting language as belonging to either of the language families that were its source...
in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people
Kallawaya people
The Kallawaya are an itinerant group of traditional healers living in the Andes of Bolivia. They live in the Bautista Saavedra region, a mountainous area north of La Paz. They are members of the Mollo culture and are direct descendants of Tiwanaku culture. According to the UNESCO Safeguarding...
, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
in their medicinal healing practice.
Kallawaya is a mixed language. The grammar is partially Quechua in morphology, but most of its words are from either unknown sources or from an otherwise extinct language family, Pukina. Pukina was abandoned in favor of Quechua, Aymara
Aymara language
Aymara is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over three million speakers. Aymara, along with Quechua and Spanish, is an official language of Peru and Bolivia...
, and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Kallawaya is also a secret language, passed only by father to son, or grandfather to grandson, or rarely, to daughters if a practitioner has no sons. It is not used in normal family dialogue. Although its use is primarily ritual, used secretly for initiated men, Kallawaya may be a part of everyday conversation between those familiar with it.
Kallawaya was one of the subjects of Ironbound Films
Ironbound Films
Ironbound Films is an independent documentary film production company. Their films often focus on stories of how people succeed and fail to connect. Their 2008 film The Linguists and 2010 film The New Recruits, were about characters whose missteps often undermined their stated intentions but also...
' 2008 American documentary film The Linguists
The Linguists
The Linguists is an independent 2008 American documentary film produced by Ironbound Films about language extinction and language documentation...
, in which two linguists attempted to document
Language documentation
Language documentation is the process by which a language is documented from a documentary linguistics perspective. It aims to “to provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristic of a given speech community”...
several moribund languages.
Bolivians refer to the region where the speakers live as "Qollahuayas," meaning "place of the medicines", because the Kallawaya are renowned herbalists. Since they treat or cure with plants, minerals, animal products, and rituals, peasants refer to the speakers as "Qolla kapachayuh", meaning "lords of the medicine bag".