Kamëntšá language
Kamëntšá, commonly rendered Camsá or Sibundoy in old sources, is a language isolate and native language of the Kamëntšá people who primarily inhabit the Sibundoy Valley of the Putumayo Department in the south of Colombia.
Classification
Kamëntšá appears to be a language isolate. Researchers have tried connecting it to the Chibchan languages without success. Fabre reports that the Kamëntšá are descended, at least in part, from the, whose language is unattested.Language contact
Jolkesky notes that there are lexical similarities with the Choco languages due to contact.Varieties
lists the following names as Coche varieties.- Sebondoy
- Quillacinga
- Patoco
Phonology
Consonants
Howard and O'Brien call the retroflex phonemes in the above table retroflex, while Huber & Reed use the alveolo-palatal symbols. More specifically, Howard uses and, O'Brien uses and, and Huber & Reed use and.Vowels
Huber & Reed, Howard, and O'Brien all analyze six vowel phonemes in Kamëntšá:,,,,, and. O'Brien notes that has a limited distribution and is rarely found at the beginnings of words, and that in many cases may be an allophone of before palatal consonants. Howard found that and fluctuate in some morphemes, as do and.| Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | |||
| Mid | |||
| Open |