Ocaina is an indigenous American language spoken in western South America.
Classification Ocaina belongs to the Witotoan language family. It is its own group within the Huitoto-Ocaina sub-family.
Geographic distribution Ocaina is spoken by 54 people in northeastern Peru and by 12 more in the Amazonas region of Colombia. Few children speak the language.
Dialects There are two dialects of Ocaina: Dukaiya and Ibo'tsa.
Phonology Consonants + Ocaina consonant phonemes Bilabial Alveolar Postalveolar/Palatal Velar GlottalNasal lenis fortisPlosive Affricate Fricative
Vowels + Ocaina vowel phonemes Front Central Back High , , Low , ,
Tone Syllables in Ocaina may be marked with one of two tones: high or low.
Syllables Syllables in Ocaina consist of a vowel; single consonants may appear on either side of the vowel: (C)V(C).
Writing system Ocaina is written using a Latin alphabet. A chart of symbols with the sounds they represent is as follows:
LatinIPAabc - chdsdyefg(u) - hijkllmm̈nn̈ññ̈opqursshtztyuvxy
Because the Ocaina alphabet is based on Spanish, c is used to indicate before a, o, and u, qu is used before e and i, and k is used in loan words, such as "kerosene". Nasalization is indicated by inserting n after a vowel. Compare: "hang it" vs. "clean it". High tone is indicated with the acute accent: á, é, í, ó, ú.
References
Citations
es:Ocaina