kwi ISO 639

Awapit Autonyms

Awa-Cuaiquer

  • Geography

    CO Nariño department: Barbacoas area; Cuaiquer del Alto Albí, Cuambíyaslambi, Cumbal, Mallama, and Ricaurte reservations; Pacific slopes of Andes.
  • Language Cloud

A language of Colombia

kwi
Awa, Awa Pit, Coaiquer, Cuaiquer, Kwaiker, Quaiquer, auapit, Înkal Awa
Awapit
12,000 in Colombia (Civallero 2008), decreasing. No monolinguals. Ethnic population: 44,500 (2018 census). Total users in all countries: 14,100.
Nariño department: Barbacoas area; Cuaiquer del Alto Albí, Cuambíyaslambi, Cumbal, Mallama, and Ricaurte reservations; Pacific slopes of Andes.
Colombia, Ecuador
6b* (Threatened).
Barbacoan, Northern
None known. Distantly related to Chachi [cbi] and Tsafiki [cof].
SOV; 16 consonants and 10 vowels (5 oral, 5 nasal).
Majority are monolingual in Spanish [spa] and no evidence of monolingualism in Awa Cuaiquer. Also use Spanish [spa].
Literacy rate in L2: Below 5%. Literature. Grammar. Texts. NT: 2002.
Latin script [Latn].
The presence of petroleum companies, paramilitary groups, guerrilla forces, the cultivation of illicit crops and subsequent widespread fumigation of their territory has had extremely disruptive effects on the Awa society that currently is coping with a very serious acculturation process. Traditional religion, Christian.
OLAC resources in and about Awa-Cuaiquer
Awa-Cuaiquer
2,100 in Ecuador (Crevels 2012), decreasing. 1,000 monolinguals. Most monolinguals are women or children under age 16. Ethnic population: 3,130 (2012 UNSD).
Carchi and Esmeraldas provinces: extreme north, Andes west slopes, Colombia-Ecuador border, Mira river area.
6b (Threatened)
Many are monolingual in Spanish [spa]. Awa-Cuaiquer want to acculturate ethnically and linguistically (Crevels 2007). Home, religion. Some of all ages. Negative attitudes. Also use Spanish [spa], with high proficiency among men and low proficiency among women and children.
Literacy rate in L2: Less than 1%, but literacy rate in Spanish increasing. 40–50 government-run schools taught in Spanish [spa].
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