Minica Huitoto language


Minica Huitoto is one of three indigenous American Huitoto languages of the Witotoan family spoken by a few thousand speakers in western South America.
It is spoken in the Upper Igara-Paraná river area, along the Caquetá River at the Isla de los Monos, and the Caguán River near San Vicente del Caguán. There is 75% literacy in Colombia and 85% are literate in Spanish; most are bilingual. There is a dictionary and grammar rules.
There are only five speakers in Peru, where it has official standing within its community.

Phonology

Vowels

However, Ávila's 2018 analysis yields a different chart.
FrontCentralBack
Close
Mid
Open

Consonants

  • Stops,, and may be prenasalized as,, and in word-initial position.
  • Labial consonants,, may also be heard as labialized,, and before the back-close vowel.

Accent

Minica Huitoto has a mobile accent that falls on either the first or second syllable in a word with more than two syllables. This accent does not move when a suffix is added. The syllables of bisyllabic roots are either both accented, or the first is.