Choco languages

Not to be confused with Xocó language.

The Choco languages (also Chocoan, Chocó, Chokó) are a small family of Indigenous languages spread across Colombia and Panama.

Chocoan
Geographic distribution	Colombia and Panama
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions	Emberá Waunana
Language codes
Glottolog	choc1280

Poet and politician Eduardo Cote Lamus on his journey in Río San Juan (Choco, Colombia) in 1958 with some of the people speaking Choco languages

Family division

Choco consists of six known branches, all but two of which are extinct.

• The Emberá languages (also known as Chocó proper, Cholo)
• Noanamá (also known as Waunana, Woun Meu)
• Sinúfana (Cenufara) † ?
• Anserma †
• Caramanta †
•  ? Arma † (unattested)

At least Anserma, Arma, and Caramant are extinct.

The Emberá group consists of two languages mainly in Colombia with over 60,000 speakers that lie within a fairly mutually intelligible dialect continuum. Ethnologue divides this into six languages. Kaufman (1994) considers the term Cholo to be vague and condescending. Noanamá has some 6,000 speakers on the Panama-Colombia border.

Jolkesky (2016)

Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016):^[1]

(† = extinct)

• Choko
  • Waunana
  • Embera
    • Southern
      • Embera Baudo
      • Embera Chami
      • Epena
    • Northern
      • Embera Katio
      • Embera Darien

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Guahibo, Kamsa, Paez, Tukano, Witoto-Okaina, Yaruro, Chibchan, and Bora-Muinane language families due to contact.^[1]

Genetic links between Choco and Chibchan had been proposed by Lehmann (1920).^[2] However, similarities are few, some of which may be related to the adoption of maize cultivation from neighbors.^[1]: 324

Genetic relations

Choco has been included in a number of hypothetical phylum relationships:

• within Morris Swadesh's Macro-Leco
• Antonio Tovar, Jorge A. Suárez, and Robert Gunn: related to Cariban
• Čestmír Loukotka (1944): Southern Emberá may be related to Paezan, Noanamá to Arawakan
• within Paul Rivet and Loukotka's (1950) Cariban
• Constenla Umaña and Margery Peña: may be related to Chibchan
• within Joseph Greenberg's Nuclear Paezan, most closely related to Paezan and Barbacoan
• with Yaruro according to Pache (2016)^[3]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Chocó languages.^[4]

gloss	Sambú	Chocó Pr.	Citara	Baudo	Waunana	Tadó	Saixa	Chamí	Ándagueda	Catio	Tukurá	N'Gvera
one	haba	abá			aba	aba	haba	aba	abbá	abba	abá
two	ome	ume			dáonomi	umé	homé	umé	ómay	tea	unmé
three	ompea	umpia			dáonatup	kimaris	hompé	umpea	ompayá	umbea	unpia
head	poro	poro		achiporo	púro	boró	tachi-púro	boró	bóro	buru	porú
eye	tau	tau	tabú	tau	dága	tau	tau	dáu	tow	dabu	tabú	tapü
tooth		kida		kida	kida	kidá	xidá	kidá		chida		chida
man	amoxina	mukira	umakira		emokoida	mukira	mukína	mugira	mohuná	mukira
water	pañia	paniá	pania	pania	dó	pania	panía	banía	puneá	panea	pánia
fire		tibua		tibuá	xemkavai	tupuk		tupu	tubechuá	tübü
sun	pisia	pisiá	umantago	vesea	edau	vesea	áxonihino	umata	emwaiton	humandayo	ahumautu
moon	edexo	édexo	hidexo	xedeko	xedego	edekoː	átoní	edexo	heydaho	xedeko	xedéko	hedeko
maize	pe	pe	paga		pedeu	pe	pe	bé		pe
jaguar	imama	ibamá	ibamá	imama	kumá	pimamá	imama	imamá		imamá
arrow	enatruma	halomá	halomá	sia	chókiera	umatruma	sía	ukida		enentiera

Proto-language

For reconstructions of Proto-Chocó and Proto-Emberá by Constenla and Margery (1991),^[5] see the corresponding Spanish article.

See also

• Embera-Wounaan, who speak the Choco languages, Embera and Wounaan
• Quimbaya language