| Eperara | |
|---|---|
| Saija | |
| Epena | |
| Native to | Colombia |
| Native speakers | 3,600 in Colombia and Ecuador (2004–2012) plus an unknown number in Panama |
| Language family | Chocoan
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sja |
| Glottolog | epen1239 |
| ELP | Epena |
 | |
Eperara a.k.a. Epena (Southern Embera) is an Embera language of Colombia, with about 250 speakers in Ecuador.
Geographic Distribution
Epena is spoken on the Pacific coastal rivers of the departments of Nariño, Cauca, and Valle del Cauca in Colombia. A major grouping of the Epena is found in Cauca along the Saija River and three of its major tributaries: the Guangüí, Infí, and Cupí. Social contact and intermarriage with the neighboring Wounaan is commonplace.
The Basuradó dialect is spoken on the Basuradó River in the Department of the Chocó, near the Docampadó River. This is the only Epena dialect that differs significantly from the others.
Orthography
- a -
- ã -
- b -
- ch -
- d -
- e -
- ẽ -
- ë -
- ë̃ -
- g -
- i -
- ĩ -
- ï - (also written as ɨ in some texts)
- ï̃ -
- j -
- k -
- kꞌ -
- m -
- n -
- o -
- õ -
- p -
- pꞌ -
- r -
- s -
- t -
- tꞌ -
- u -
- ũ -
- w -
- y -
Glottal stops are represented with hyphens.
Long vowels are doubled.
C, f, h, l, ñ, q, v, x, z are used in foreign words and names.
Phonology
The phonology consists of the following:
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | plain | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ | |||||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Liquid | trill | r | ||||
| tap | ɾ | |||||
| Glide | w | j | ||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i ĩ iː | ɨ ɨ̃ ɨː | u ũ uː |
| Mid | e ẽ eː | ə ə̃ əː | o õ oː |
| Low | a ã aː |
Notes
- ^ Eperara at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Harms, Phillip Lee (1994). "Epena Pedee syntax: Studies in the languages of Colombia 4" (PDF).
- Eperara language and pronunciation, Omniglot.
- Harms, Philip Lee (1984). Fonología del epena pedee (saija).
Bibliography
- Harms, Phillip Lee. 1994. Epena Pedee Syntax. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington.
External links
| Choco languages | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Choco |
| ||
| Italics indicate extinct languages | |||
| Languages of Colombia | |||||||||||||||||
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| Official languages | |||||||||||||||||
| Indigenous languages |
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