Secoya language
Secoya is a Western Tucanoan language spoken by the Secoya people of Ecuador and Peru.
Included among the Secoya are a number of people called Angoteros. Although their language comprises only some dialectal differences of Secoya, there are no other communicative obstacles present. The Siona of the Eno River, linguistically different from the Siona of the Putumayo, say there are significant dialectal differences between their language and Secoya, but are still considered a part of them. In ethnographic publications, the Secoya go by other alternate names as well: Encabellado, Pioje, Santa Maria, and Angutera.
Endangerment
The Ecuadorian-Peruvian War in 1941 had a great impact on the life of the Secoya after it created a separation of the local groups by splitting up the region. This division resulted in the obsolescence of many customs and traditions that were once prevalent in their culture. In the early 1970s, the Texaco and Gulf Oil companies converged on Ecuador when massive petroleum reserves were discovered underground. The extensive periods of oil drilling ravaged many of their settlement areas, culminating in disastrous ecological problems like water and soil contamination. Even today, the Secoya still face many problems involving geopolitical feuds, harassment by oil companies, and the colonization and assimilation of Mestizo culture. The language status of the Siona-Secoya group is threatened, with only 550 speakers in Ecuador and 680 in Peru.Phonology
Consonants
Voiceless stops
The voiceless stops /p, t, k, kʷ/ are aspirated. /t/ is pronounced with the tip of the tongue making contact with the upper teeth. The glottal stop /ʔ/ almost disappears when not following a stressed syllable.Voiced stops
In an intervocalic context, the voiced stop /dˀ/ becomes before a nasal vowel, and otherwise a flap.Nasals
The only phonemic nasal consonant is /m/. , which is phonemic in other Western Tucanoan languages, is restricted in Secoya as an allophone of the voiced stop /d/.Sibilants
The two voiceless sibilants, /s/ and /z/, are both alveolar, and can be difficult to distinguish. /s/ is pronounced slightly more strongly and causes voiceless lengthening of a preceding unstressed vowel, as voiceless stops do. /z/ has slight laryngeal tension and causes laryngealization of adjacent vowels.Glides
The glides and are almost equal to the vowels and respectively, but more tightly articulated. When occurs next to a nasal vowel, it becomes nasalized. The is pronounced with slightly more friction than local Spanish /j/. When it occurs next to a nasal vowel, it becomes a nasal.Vowels
Back vowels are made with rounded lips and the others are made with non-rounded lips. Nasalization is distinctive among all vowels, and in orthography is written with an ogonek. Nasal vowels nasalize preceding voiced consonants.| Front | Central | Back | |
| High | |||
| Low |
/ɔ/ freely varies as , depending on the speaker, except after /k/.
All vowels, oral or nasal, have voiceless lengthening when they occur before a non-laryngealized voiceless consonant that starts a stressed syllable.
Vowels are laryngealized before /d z ʔ/, but not before the and allophones of /d/.
When a nasal vowel is followed by a syllable that begins with an approximant or glottal consonant, that syllable is nasalized, and so any syllables after that. A single vowel immediately preceding a nasal vowel is also nasalized, except in the case that the nasal vowel is in the remote-past tense suffix /-ãʔ-/.
Two identical vowels in sequence are merged, though if the result is a monosyllable it will remain long.
Stress
All monosyllabic lexemes are stressed. In such words a simplex vowel is lengthened to the duration of two vowels and has falling pitch.Di- and tri-syllabic words are stressed on their second syllable. If the consonant of that syllable is voiceless and not laryngealized, the preceding vowel has voiceless lengthening.
When affixes are added to the word, or compounding, alternate syllables take stress. This may result in initial or final stress.
Syllable shape
Syllables may be of the forms CV, CVV, and in non-final position CVʔ. Root CVV syllables are stressed on the second vowel, whether in monosyllabic or polysyllabic words. However, when a CVV word contains two morphemes, it is stressed on the first vowel, and this pattern is retained with additional suffixes.The vowels in CVV syllables may not both be rounded. Thus when /uɔ/ would be expected, /ɨɔ/ is found instead.
A /ʔi/ syllable and the /i/ in a /CVi/ syllable drop before several grammatical suffixes.
Morphology
Nouns
The noun in Secoya is distinguished, in most forms, through the general category and the specific unit. The basic form of a noun, without suffixes, indicates the general category without specifying a definite number of elements. To indicate the singular or plural, that is, a number of specific elements, suffix classifiers or gender suffixes are added. To indicate a definite number of inanimate objects, a plural suffix is added to a noun. When the word refers to a number of specific elements, we use the definite article in the Spanish translation. However, it can also be translated with the indefinite article.| Category | Unit | Units |
| pa̱i | pa̱i-o | pa̱i-o hua'i |
| "person" | "person, woman" | "people" |
| tse̱'a | tse̱'a-quë | tse̱'a-co hua'i |
| "owners" | "owner" | "owners" |
| yo | yo-huë | yo-huë-a |
| "canoe" | "canoe" | "canoes" |
| quëna | quëna-me | quëna-me-a̱ |
| "wire" | "wire" | "wires" |
| huea | huea-pa | huea-pa-a̱ |
| "corn" | "cornfield" | "cornfields" |
| hue̱quë | hue̱quë-o | hue̱quë-o hua'i |
| "tapir" | "tapir, female" | "tapirs" |
Animate nouns
Animals
The nouns denoting animals appear in their basic form without suffix to indicate the generic type. To indicate the singular, the suffix -e or -o is added. To form the plural noun, the specifier hua'i is added to any of the two forms.Supernatural and spiritual
The nouns denoting supernatural beings and celestial bodies appear in their basic form to indicate both the generic as the singular. To form the plural, -o and hua'i are added. All of these beings appear as characters in the animistic legends of the Secoya.Person, number, and gender
Person
The nouns denoting people typically lead gender suffixes with a masculine or feminine singular. To form the plural noun, the specifier hua'i is added. The nouns whose basic form is a verb or adjective gender carry the suffix -ë for singular masculine or -o for singular female. After the vowel /o/, the masculine ending becomes -u and after the vowels /e/ and /i/, becomes -i.Number
The number describes the head noun in the same way it does the adjective. Their order in the noun phrase is before the adjective, when both appear.| te'i | one |
| te'o | one |
| te'e | one |
| caya | two |
| toaso̲ | three |
| cajese'e | four |
| te'e jë̱të | five |
| si'a jë̱-ña | ten 'on both hands' |
To emphasize a number, express the same grammatical agreement suffix classifiers in the case of the adjective.
The noun that the number describes can be suppressed when the context permits.
Gender
| General | Masculine | Feminine | Plural |
| yo'je | yo'je-i | yo'je-o | yo'je-o hua'i |
| "to be back" | "little brother" | "little sister" | "little brothers" |
| ai | ai | ai-o | ai-o hua'i |
| "old" | "old man" | "old woman" | "old men" |
| huano | huano-u | huano-o | huano-o hua'i |
| "old" | "old man" | "old woman" | "old men" |
| esa | esa-ë | esa-o | esa-o hua'i |
| "fast" | "rapid" | "rapid" | "rapids" |
| jo'ya | jo'ya-ë | jo'ya-o | jo'ya-o hua'i''' |
| "domesticated" | "domesticated male dog" | "domesticated female dog" | "domesticated male dogs" |
Classifiers
Suffix Classifiers
The suffix classifiers indicate, besides the idea of a specific unit, the form or function of the object, conceptualized by the Secoya perspective.Nouns that function as classifiers
The following inanimate nouns can be freeform in some contexts and can also describe the form or function of an inanimate noun.Inanimate nouns without classifiers
Some inanimate nouns never appear with a suffix classifier; in this case the sense of generality or unit is inferred from the context. However, an adjective or another attribute can change them.Space
Locatives are formed by adding to a basic form, whether it's a noun, verb, adverb, demonstrative, or other, to one of the suffixes indicating space or time.Locative suffix -ro
The locative suffix -ro "place" means a point or region. They don't appear with nouns, but with other grammatical forms to form a noun.Locative suffix -ja̱'a
Locative suffix -ja̱'a "about, near" describes the relationship of a locative component.Demonstratives
The demonstrative pronoun ja "that" occurs with suffixes classifiers, local or temporary, to refer to an object, place or time.The demonstrative pronoun iye "this" occurs with suffix classifiers, local and temporary, as with the separate hua'i for plural words and maca to refer to a person, place, thing. These refer to a specific previously defined nominal element. When a gender suffix is added, the form of the pronoun is uses i-.
Time
Tense
There are times for all people and genders, distinguished in the declarative modes of involvement perspective: the present, the immediate past, the distant past and future. The immediate past is not so much of recent events, but events that the speaker considers to be important in the present. It is distinguished by the immediate past speaker who considers unimportant events in the present. That is, they are already forgotten or outdated events.| Present | Immediate Past | Distant Past | Future | |
| 3sg.m | -ji | -pi/-ji'i | -a̱'-ji'i | -sipi |
| 3sg.f | -co | -co/-co'ë | -a̱'-co'ë | -sio |
| other | -yë | -huë/-'e | -a̱'-huë'ë | -si'i |
The following examples demonstrate the present and immediate past tense and use the root caje "down".
This next example demonstrates the immediate past tense when the basic form of the verb ends in or . It uses the root sa'i "go".
This example demonstrates the distant past. This category is pointed out with the suffix -a̱'- after the basic form of the verb.
This example demonstrates future tense.