Umbra language

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Anserma
Umbra
Native toColombia
RegionAntioquia Department
EthnicityUmbrá
Native speakers
c.100 (2011)[1]
Chocoan
  • Anserma
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3ans
Glottologanse1238

Anserma (Anserna, Umbra) is a Chocoan language of Colombia, spoken by the Umbrá people.[1] Dialects included Caramanta and Cartama.[2] The language was thought to be extinct until 7 families were found to speak it in 2011.[1][3][4]

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Barbacoan languages due to contact.[5]

Vocabulary

Below are listed some of the known words of the Anserma language.[6]

Gloss Anserma
salt anzer, anserm, ancer
Spanish tamaraca
devil xixarama
herb added to chicha to make it stronger tabaque
market tianguez

References

  1. Rendón-García, Guillermo (2011). La lengua umbra: Descubrimiento- Endolingüística- Arqueolingüística. Manizales: Zapata-Molano-Londoño e hijos. ISBN 978-958-57127-0-6.
  2. Campbell, Lyle, and Verónica Grondona (eds). 2012. The indigenous languages of South America: a comprehensive guide. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
  3. González, Simón (2025-12-29). "¿Es el umbra una lengua chocó?: un primer acercamiento desde la lingüística comparada". Lengua y Sociedad. 24 (2) e27921. doi:10.15381/lengsoc.v24i2.27921. ISSN 2413-2659.
  4. https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/server/api/core/bitstreams/110d072a-f035-4105-8561-b1733e8f3bb5/content
  5. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  6. Rivet, Paul (1943). "Nouvelle contribution à l'étude de l'ethnologie précolombienne de Colombie". Journal de la société des américanistes. 35 (1): 25–39. doi:10.3406/jsa.1943.2342.