Capanahua language

Capanahua or Kapanawa is a moribund Panoan language spoken in western South America by 50 of the 400, around the area of the Tapiche-Buncuya river.

Usage

If a Capanahua speaker talks to another Capanahua speaker in Spanish, it is considered insulting, and applying of the stigmatizing label of outsider. The language is in decline, since there are few speakers and almost no children can speak it. Capanahua is used in two bilingual schools, and to some degree in other primary schools, but not in secondary schools. Capanahua speakers and people are referred to derogatorily as "Capachos".

Classification

There is one dialect called Pahenbaquebo; the closest related language is Shipibo, with which is shared 50 to 60 percent comprehensibility.

Orthography

There is 5 to 10 percent literacy in Spanish compared to 10 percent literacy in the native mother tongue. The language has a written grammar, a dictionary, and uses Latin script when written.