Tinigua language

Tinigua (Tiniguas) is an endangered Tiniguan language spoken in Colombia that used to form a small language family with the now-extinct Pamigua language. It is spoken by only one person.

The name "Tinigua" comes from the words tiní 'old' and gwá 'as, like' and thus means 'language of the old'.^[2]

As of 2000, Tinigua had only two remaining speakers, Sixto Muñoz (Tinigua name: Sɨsɨthio ‘knife’) and his brother, Criterio. Criterio died around 2005, leaving behind Sixto as the last remaining speaker of Tinigua.^[3] Formerly a resident of the Serranía de la Macarena in Meta Department, Sixto Muñoz currently resides in Jiw village of Barrancón, near the main town of Guaviare Department. There may have been more speakers located elsewhere, as a farmer reportedly met others who spoke the same language as Sixto.^[4]: 1029 They lived in Meta Department, between the Upper Guayabero and Yari rivers.^[5]

Muñoz also speaks Spanish and is thought to have been born somewhere from 1924 to 1929. He has five children, but he chose not to teach them Tinigua because they would not have any use for it.^[3]

The following phonological description of Tinigua is tentative due to the scarce documentation of the language. There are likely inaccuracies and missing phonological contrasts.^[4]: 1037

/g/ is not attested word-initially and has a limited distribution. /t͡ʃ/ and /t͡s/ sometimes alternate with each other, but also contrast with each other.^[4]

Tinigua syllable structure is typically CV or CVC, where C represents any consonant and V any vowel. CVV structure is due to the phonetic lengthening of vowels word-finally.^[4]

The noun phrase in Tinigua may contain pronouns, modifiers, quantifiers, and demonstratives, among others, and is structured as follows:^[4]

Nominal morphology in Tinigua is restricted to classifier and plural-marking endoclitics, the latter of which (=ha) may occur outside of the noun phrase, and the associative plural suffix.^[4]

The morpheme handá (also endi ~ anda ~ andej) is used to mark subject noun phrases in clauses.^[4]

Below is a comparison of Tinigua forms elicited from Sixto Muñoz in 2019 compared with Tinigua and Pamigua words recorded in Castellví (1940).^[2][4]

English gloss	Tinigua (Sixto Muñoz)	Tinigua (Castellví)	Pamigua (Castellví)
eye	sɨ́ti	zőti, zə̀ti	sete, xete
water	ɲikʷájtʃi	ñikwáiši	nikagé
fire	hikʰítsa	ičísa	ekísa
woman	ɲísa	ñíza, ñísä	nixtá
dog	hanó	xamno, xámiu	xannó
jaguar	kʰíɲa ~ tʃíɲa	číña, ǰíña, xiña	xiñaga
corn	jóʔhá	t’óka, tióka	xukxá
manioc	komáha	xaačá	xoayoa
let's go	minahá	manaxǎí	menáxa
chili pepper	tsákʰa	ţáxa	saxa 'salt'
good	hajohási	ayuxáǐ	ayoxagua ‘good morning’
plantain	mandótʰa	madóxa	mandotá
spirit	hamajiéha	pan-kianóso	kinoxá ‘enemy’
man	tsɨtsía	psäţeyá	piksiga
five	tsátokʷahá (tsátho-kʷaʔa ‘left.side-hand’)	xopa-kuáxa	saksu-kuaxa
eleven	tapásaɲóha	čimatóse-kiésä	čipsé ipa-kiaxi

Below is the 100-word Swadesh list for Tinigua.

• Brenzinger, Matthias (2007). Language diversity endangered. 181. Vol. Trends in Linguistics: Studies and monographs. Walter de Gruyter. p. 23. ISBN 978-3-11-017050-4. Retrieved 2009-08-28.
• Moseley, Christopher (2007). Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages. Routledge. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7007-1197-0. Retrieved 2009-09-19.