Kallawaya language

Kallawaya
Kallawaya
Pohena, Qollahuaya
Machaj juyay
Native to	Bolivia
Region	La Paz Department: Charazani; highlands north of Lake Titicaca
Ethnicity	Kallawaya
Native speakers	L1: none; L2: 10–20[citation needed]
Language family	Puquina Kallawaya;
Official status
Official language in	Bolivia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	caw
Glottolog	call1235
ELP	Kallawaya

Kallawaya, also Callahuaya or Callawalla (Callawalla: Machaj Juyai, meaning 'folk language'^[3]), is an endangered, secret, mixed language in Bolivia; another name sometimes used for the language is Pohena. It is spoken by the Kallawaya people, a group of traditional itinerant healers in the Andes in their medicinal healing practice living in Charazani, the highlands north of Lake Titicaca,^[4] and Tipuani.^[5]

Characteristics

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.^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8]

Bolivians refer to the region where the speakers live as "Qollahuayas,"^{[what language is this?]} 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",^{[what language is this?]} meaning "lords of the medicine bag".

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	tʃ	k	q
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ	tʃʰ	kʰ	qʰ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	tʃʼ	kʼ	qʼ
Fricative			s	ʃ	x
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Trill			r
Approximant	lateral		l	ʎ
Approximant	central	w		j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː		u uː
Mid	e eː		o oː
Open		a aː

^[9]

References

^ Kallawaya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ "Constitución política del Estado" (PDF) (in Spanish). Gaceta Oficial de Bolivia. February 7, 2009. p. 2. Retrieved November 23, 2022. Artículo 5.1: Son idiomas oficiales del Estado el castellano y todos los idiomas de las naciones y pueblos indígena originario [sic] campesinos, que son el aymara, [...], machajuyai-kallawaya, [...] y zamuco.
^ "The secrets of Machaj Juyai-Kallawaya". Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
^ Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Bolivia languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.
^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
^ Willem Adelaar; Simon van de Kerke. "The Puquina and Leko languages". Symposium: Advances in Native South American Historical Linguistics, July 17–18, 2006, at the 52nd International Congress of Americanists, Seville, Spain. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
^ "The Kallawaya Language Project". Archived from the original (online) on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2007.
^ Honeycutt, Kirk (January 18, 2008). "The Linguists". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2009.
^ Muysken (2009)

External links

[e18-1] Kallawaya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Consti-2] "Constitución política del Estado" (PDF) (in Spanish). Gaceta Oficial de Bolivia. February 7, 2009. p. 2. Retrieved November 23, 2022. Artículo 5.1: Son idiomas oficiales del Estado el castellano y todos los idiomas de las naciones y pueblos indígena originario [sic] campesinos, que son el aymara, [...], machajuyai-kallawaya, [...] y zamuco.

[3] "The secrets of Machaj Juyai-Kallawaya". Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved January 30, 2025.

[Ethnologue22-Bolivia-4] Eberhard, David M.; Simons, Gary F.; Fennig, Charles D., eds. (2019). "Bolivia languages". Ethnologue: Languages of the World (22nd ed.). Dallas: SIL International.

[Loukotka-5] Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

[Advances-6] Willem Adelaar; Simon van de Kerke. "The Puquina and Leko languages". Symposium: Advances in Native South American Historical Linguistics, July 17–18, 2006, at the 52nd International Congress of Americanists, Seville, Spain. Retrieved September 19, 2007.

[secret-7] "The Kallawaya Language Project". Archived from the original (online) on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2007.

[hollywood-8] Honeycutt, Kirk (January 18, 2008). "The Linguists". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008. Retrieved February 22, 2009.

[9] Muysken (2009)

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