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Kogi language

( Languages Of Colombia )

Kogi Rowspan Subject Vowel

Rank: 100%

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Kogi (Cogui), or Kagaba (Cágaba) (), is a Chibchan language of Colombia. It forms a separate Arwako branch along with the Iku and Damana languages.

Willem F. H. Adelaar (2025). 9780521362757, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521362757

The Kogi people are almost entirely monolingual, and maintain the only unconquered Andean civilization.

Phonology

+Vowels ! !Front vowel !Central vowel !Back vowel

/e, ẽ/ can also be heard as ɛ, when in unstressed syllables.

+Consonants ! colspan="2" rowspan="2"

! colspan="2"Bilabial ! colspan="2"

Dental consonant/Alveolar ! rowspan="2"

Palatal ! colspan="2"

Velar consonant ! rowspan="2"

Glottal

Affricate sounds ts, are heard when sibilant sounds /s, z, ʃ, ʒ/ precede /n/. If /t, d/ precede /i/ then they are realized as affricates tʃ,.
/n/ before /i/ may be realized as a palatal ɲ.

Grammar

The language is mostly verb-final, with the dominant word order subject–object–verb. Adjectives follow the nouns they modify. Verbs are inflected for subject (either a prefix or a suffix) and for object (a prefix). Non-subject personal reference can also express a beneficiary, as illustrated in the following example:

Nouns and nominals can receive case markers; however, the nominative or subject suffix -hã is not obligatory and cannot be attached to personal pronouns. Other four cases are: dative – alative ( -k), accusative ( -ø), genitive ( -ti), locative ( -li). Possession can be expressed either through a genitive construction or by using possessive prefixes. Possessive pronouns distinguish between inclusive and exclusive plural.Ortíz Ricaurte, Carolina (2000). La Lengua Koguí: fonología y morfosintaxis nominal. In González de Pérez, María Stella and Rodríguez de Montes, María Luisa (eds.), Lenguas indígenas de Colombia: una visión descriptiva, 757-788. Santafé de Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo.