Languages of Colombia
Encyclopedia
The official language of Colombia
is Spanish
, of which Colombian Spanish
is the local variety. The indigenous languages spoken in Colombia are also official in the territories in which they are spoken.
languages exist today. Among others:
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
is 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...
, of which Colombian Spanish
Colombian Spanish
Colombian Spanish is a term that refers to the varieties of Spanish spoken in Colombia. The term is of more geographical than linguistic relevance, since the dialects spoken in the various regions of Colombia are quite diverse...
is the local variety. The indigenous languages spoken in Colombia are also official in the territories in which they are spoken.
Sign Languages
- Colombian Sign LanguageColombian Sign Language-Description:The development of the signs have influences of Spanish sign language and American Sign Language. Also similarities with El Salvador signs have been noticed.-Teaching:...
- Providence Island Sign LanguageProvidence Island Sign LanguageProvidence Island Sign Language is the sign language used by the deaf community on the small island community of Providence Island in the Western Caribbean, off the coast of Nicaragua but belonging to Colombia...
- Colombian numerals
Indigenous languages
The many languages of the country's ethnic groups are constitutionally recognized as official languages in their territories. In places with non-Spanish linguistic traditions, bilingual education is obligatory. More than 60 aboriginalIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
languages exist today. Among others:
- poopie languages
- BoraBora languageBora is an indigenous American language spoken in western South America. Bora proper has 94% mutual comprehensibility with the Miraña dialect. The majority of its speakers reside in Perú where 2,328 Bora-speakers live in the Northeast Yaguasyacu, Putumayo, and Ampiyacu river areas. Peruvian...
- Cocama-CocamillaCocama-CocamillaCocama is an indigenous language spoken by thousands of native people in western South America. It is spoken along the banks of the Northeastern lower Ucayali, lower Marañón, and Huallaga rivers and in neighboring areas of Brazil and an isolated area in Colombia. There are three dialects...
- Cocoma
- CofánCofán languageThe Cofán language is the language of the Cofán people, an indigenous group native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River .Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their...
- CuibaCuiba languageCuiba is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 2300 people in Colombia and additional 650 in Venezuela. More than half of Cuiba speakers are monoglot, and in Colombia there is a 45% literacy rate....
- GuahiboGuahibo languageGuahibo, the native language of the Guahibo people, is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 23,006 people in Colombia and additional 8,428 in Venezuela. There is a 40% rate of monolingualism, and a 45% literacy rate.-Stress:...
- GuayaberoGuayabero languageGuayabero is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 1200 people in Colombia. Many of its speakers are monoglots, with few fluent Spanish speakers in the population.-External links:*...
- KunaKuna languageThe Guna language, spoken by the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia, belongs to the Chibchan language family.-Vowels:Vowels may be short or long.-Consonants:...
- MacaguánMacaguán languageMacaguán is a Guahiban language that was spoken by about 400 people in Colombia. Many of its speakers are monoglots....
- Minica HuitotoMinica HuitotoMinica Huitoto is one of three indigenous American Huitoto languages of the Witotoan family spoken by a few thousand speakers in western South America....
- Murui HuitotoMurui HuitotoMurui Huitoto - or simply Murui is an indigenous American Huitoto language of the Witotoan family spoken by 2,900 of indigenous people in western South America alongside the Ampiyacu, Putumayo, and Napo rivers....
- Paezan languagesPaezan languagesPaezan may be any of several language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language.-Proposed genealogical relations:...
- PlayeroPlayero languagePlayero is a Guahiban language that is spoken by about 250 people in Colombia. Speakers are somewhat acculterated and bilingual in Spanish....
- PáezPáez languagePáez is a language isolate of Colombia spoken by Páez people in the central Andes region near Popayán...
- San Andrés-Providencia CreoleSan Andrés-Providencia CreoleSan Andrés–Providencia Creole is a Creole language spoken in the San Andrés and Providencia Department of Colombia by the natives , very similar to the Miskito Coastal Creole spoken in Bluefields, the Corn Islands and the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua...
- TicunaTicuna languageTïcuna, or Tïkuna, is a language spoken by approximately 40,000 people in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. It is the native language of the Tïcuna people. Tïcuna is generally classified as a language isolate, but may be related to the extinct Yuri language...
- Uw CuwaUw CuwaThe U'wa language, Uw Cuwa, commonly known as Tunebo, is a Chibchan language spoken by between 1,800 and 3,600 of the U'wa people of Colombia, out of a total population of about 7,000.-Dialects:Dialects at the time of European contact, include –...
- WayuuWayuu languageThe Wayuu language, or Goajiro , is spoken by 305,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela on the Guajira Peninsula....