Atanque language
Atanque, also known as Atanques or Kankuamo, is an extinct Chibchan language of Colombia, once spoken in the area of Sierra [Nevada de Santa Marta].
Vocabulary
There is very little information about the language, in particular with regard to grammar. Before its speakers switched to Spanish, Celedón managed to compile a brief dictionary. The following table shows a sample of the lexicon.| gloss | Atanque |
| one | ijkua |
| two | moga |
| three | ména |
| head | chakúku |
| eye | úma |
| nose | michiuña |
| ear | kukkuá |
| tooth | köhka |
| man | ferúa |
| woman | amia |
| water | dita |
| fuego | guié |
| earth | nebinyàku |
| fish | uáka |
| tree | kandina |
| sun | koköbúnyo |
| moon | sakaméru |
Despite being so poorly attested, Atanque clearly belongs to the Arwako subgroup of Chibcha. In particular, it appears to be very close to Wiwa in terms of phonetic innovations.