Language Snapshots

A’ingae (Ecuador and Colombia) - Language Snapshot 

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Abstract

A’ingae (or Cofán) is a severely under-documented language isolate spoken by about 1,500 Cofán people in the Ecuadorian and Colombian Amazon. The origin of the Cofán can be traced to the Eastern Andean Cordilleras, where they ranged over a large territory. A’ingae reflects the history of the Cofán migration, showing a mixture of typical Andean and Amazonian features (AnderBois et al. 2019). The language is relatively vital in Ecuador and severely endangered in Colombia. Illegal mining operations and poaching have exerted ecological and economic pressures on the Cofán, putting their way of life in danger. There is little support for the language outside of traditional communities. Despite the challenges, language attitudes surrounding A’ingae are uniformly positive. The A’ingae language is the cornerstone of the Cofán ethnic identity (Cepek 2012). 

Keywords: Ecuador, Colombia, Amazon, language isolate, traditional communities

How to Cite:

Dabkowski, M., (2021) “A’ingae (Ecuador and Colombia) - Language Snapshot ”, Language Documentation and Description 20, 1-12. doi: https://doi.org/10.25894/ldd28