Colombian languages

Tucan languages are one of the most language families in Colombia. Points indicate documented language positions; areas, likely extension before the centuryXX.; and color, branches of the family: oriental (green grass), central (green turquoise) and western (green bottle).

Many languages are spoken in Colombia, among which Spanish is the majority language. More than sixty indigenous and creole languages are spoken at local and regional levels, and their exact number is under discussion, since some authors consider as different languages what others consider to be varieties or dialects of the same language. The best estimates count 66 indigenous languages, isolated or grouped into more than 20 families or phylogenetic units, spoken by nearly half a million indigenous people. According to Ethnologue, in Colombia there are a hundred languages or languages, of which 80 are living languages and 20 are extinct.

Language legislation

According to what is proffered in the Constitution, article 10, states the following: " Spanish is the official language of Colombia. the languages and dialects of the ethnic groups are also official in their territories. Teaching provided in communities with their own linguistic traditions will be bilingual."

Spanish language in Colombia

Local variants of Spanish include many distinctive accents, such as cundiboyacense (Cundinamarca and Boyacá), paisa (from Antioquia and the Coffee Region), valluno (from Valle del Cauca and Cauca), the rolo (from Bogotá), the costeño from the Caribbean region, the pastuso (from the Andean region of Nariño), the patojo (from Cauca), the opita (from Tolima and Huila), the santanderean (from Santander and Norte de Santander), the chocoano (from Chocó and the Pacific Region) and the llanero (from Orinoquía: Meta, Casanare, Arauca and Vichada).

Indigenous languages

Bora-wito languages one of the most widespread families in southern Colombia, along with the Tucan languages.

Distribution of inga Quechua. This is the American language with the highest number of speakers and extends over 7 countries

More than 60 Aboriginal languages are still alive. The main families of indigenous languages of Colombia are:

• The arawak languages, such as the wayúu of La Guajira and the achagua and the piapoco in the SE of the country.
• BBQ languages in Nariño and Cauca
• The witoto languages, in the department of Putumayo.
• The Caribbean languages, in Amazonas, Guaviare and Cesar.
• The chibcha languages in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Cocuy.
• The tongues hit, like the embryo and the wounaan.
• The Guahibanian languages, in Los Llanos del Orinoco.
• Maku languages, Vaupés and Guaviare.
• Quechua languages, in the S. of the country.
• Tucan languages, in the SE. and S. of the country.

There are also a significant number of isolated or unclassified languages:

• The ride on the Caquetá River.
• The camsa in the valley of Sibundoy (Putumayo).
• The nasa yuwe in Cauca.
• The sáliba-piaroa in Vichada.
• The ticuna in the triangle of Leticia.

Barbacoan languages are also spoken along the border with Ecuador, Carib languages in the N. of the country, ñe'engatú the extreme SE of the country. Previously, the Betoi languages, isolated languages such as Andakí and Tinigua, and a certain number of unclassified languages were spoken.

Classification

The following table classifies the 80 languages of Colombia, which are grouped into 11 families in addition to more than fifteen isolated or unclassified languages. Extinct languages are indicated by the sign (†).

Creole languages

It is also important to highlight the creole languages of Afro-Colombian and Raizal communities:

1. the Criollo palenquero of the Palenque de San Basilio (Bolívar)
2. English Cryollo sanandresano, Creole or kriolin the San Andrés and Providencia archipelago.
3. the Jamaican Patois Buenaventura (Valle del Cauca)