Naso language

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Teribe
Naso
naso
Native toPanama, Costa Rica
RegionIn Panama:
Naso Tjër Di Comarca, Bocas del Toro Province, Chiriquí Province.
In Costa Rica:
Limón Province, Puntarenas Province.
EthnicityNaso people
Native speakers
500 fluent (2018)[1]
Dialects
  • Teribe
  • Térraba
Language codes
ISO 639-3tfr
Glottologteri1250
ELPTeribe
Map of the Naso (Teribe) people and language in Panama

Teribe, also known as Naso, is a Chibchan language of the Talamanca subgroup spoken by the Naso (or Teribe) people. It is spoken primarily in the Naso Tjër Di Comarca and the Bocas del Toro Province of northwestern Panama, with some speakers present in the Limón Province of Costa Rica as well. In the southern part of Costa Rica's Puntarenas Province, a handful of speakers are also present. It is part of the Chibchan language family. There are fewer than 1,000 speakers as of 2018, of which only 500 are fluent, nearly all of whom speak Spanish as well.[1]: 18 

History

The Teribe people were very difficult for the Spaniards to conquer, taking nearly 130 years for them to surrender. This was made possible by the relocation of a Teribe clan, the Térrabas, to modern-day Costa Rica in 1695, who were seemingly favored towards Christianization. Following this, the Teribes of Panama and the Térrabas eventually lost contact; oral tradition maintains that a group of Teribes were lost attempting to cross over to the Pacific. This event led to a significant turning point for the Teribe language. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, the Térrabas gradually assimilated into greater Costa Rican culture, necessitating the death of the Teribe language there. By 2000, only three fluent speakers and "half a dozen" semispeakers remained of the language among the Térrabas.[2]: 3–4 

Status

As elucidated above, the status of the Teribe language among the Térrabas of Costa Rica is one of near language death. The general attitude towards the language was described by Juan Diego Quesada (2000) as one of "neglect", and that "the will [wa]s simply not there" to revitalize the Teribe language there. In contrast, the Teribes of Panama have preserved the language to a much greater extent, due to their isolation from the rest of the country, with 3,000 speakers of the language among them. Indeed, in the primary villages of Sieyic and Sieyking, the language still serves as a "symbol of cultural identity", and bilignualism with Spanish is healthy, whereas in other villages, Teribe has been completely displaced and is no longer spoken there. However, there are a number of signs that the language is threatened even in the larger villages; for instance, only Spanish is taught in schools, and many young people in Teribe communities move out of the language environment. The Teribe have a clear language policy, in that any linguists must obtain a permit from the king, and distribute any published works to the community, but it does not actually guarantee the survival of the language.[2]: 5  As of 2018, "the vast majority of [Naso] children" do not speak Teribe.[1]: 18 

Classification

Teribe is a Chibchan language. It belongs to the Western branch of the Isthmic languages according to Adolfo Constenla Umaña (2012).[3]: 417 

Phonology

Teribe has 23 consonantal and 13 vocalic phonemes.[2]: 15 

Consonants

Teribe consonants[2]: 15 
Bilabial Dento-alveolar Alveopalatal Velar Glottal
unaspirated aspirated unaspirated aspirated unaspirated aspirated
Stop voiceless p pʰ t tʰ k kʰ
voiced b d g
Fricative voiceless s ʃ h
voiced z ʒ
Affricate tʃ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Lateral flap ɺ
Trill r
Glide w j

Vowels

Teribe vowels[2]: 15 
Front Central Back
oral nasal oral nasal oral nasal
High tense i ĩ u ũ
lax ɪ ʊ
Mid e ẽ o õ
Low a ã ɑ

Writing system

Teribe alphabet (Panama)[4]
aãäbchdeẽëggwiĩjkkwl
llmnñoõöprsshtuũwyz

Teribe also uses the ll with diaeresis centered over the letters.[5]

Morphology

Nouns

Numeral classifiers

Similarly to other Chibchan languages of the region, Teribe uses a system of numeral classifiers, which can be numeral, interrogative, or indefinite. There are six classes of classifiers, animate objects, including humans, certain animals, and some body parts, round objects, wide objects, long and wide objects, and objects countable in plots.[2]: 48 

References

  1. Bermúdez, Natalia (August 2018), A description of Naso verbal art, The University Of Texas At Austin, Anthony C. Woodbury, The University of Texas at Austin, doi:10.26153/TSW/1342, retrieved 2026-06-22
  2. Quesada, Juan Diego (2000). A grammar of Teribe. LINCOM studies in native American linguistics. Muenchen: LINCOM Europa. ISBN 978-3-89586-671-5.
  3. Constenla Umaña, Adolfo (2012-01-13), "Chibchan languages", in Campbell, Lyle; Grondona, Verónica (eds.), The Indigenous Languages of South America, DE GRUYTER, pp. 391–440, doi:10.1515/9783110258035.391, ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3, retrieved 2026-05-02
  4. Gamarra A. & Villagra S. 1980, p. 5.
  5. "Font Features for Doulos SIL" (PDF). SIL.org. 2014.

Sources