Capanahua language

Capanahua or Kapanawa [kapaˈnawa] is a moribund^[2] indigenous American language of the Panoan family spoken in western South America by a few hundred aboriginal people. The language is spoken by the 400 strong Capanahua people [es], around the area of the Tapiche-Buncuya river, where it is the official language.^{[citation needed]}

Capanahua
Kapanawa
Native to	Peru
Ethnicity	400 Capanahua
Native speakers	50 (2007)[1]
Language family	Pano–Tacanan Panoan Shipibo Capanahua
Language codes
ISO 639-3	kaq
Glottolog	capa1241

Usage

If a Capanahua speaker talks to another Capanahua speaker in Spanish, it is considered insulting, and applying of the stigmatizing label of outsider. The language is in decline, since there are few speakers and almost no children can speak it. Capanahua is used in two bilingual schools, and to some degree in other primary schools, but not in secondary schools. Capanahua speakers and people are referred to derogatorily as "Capachos".

Classification

There is one dialect called Pahenbaquebo; the closest related language is Shipibo, with which is shared 50 to 60 percent comprehensibility.

Phonology

Consonants

^[3]

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Alveolopalatal	Palatal	Velar	Pharyngeal	Glottal
Stop		p	t			k		ʔ
Continuant	voiceless		s	ʃ ʂ			h
	voiced	β
Affricate			ts	tʃ
Flap			ɾ
Nasal		m	n
Semiconsonant		w			j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
			unrounded	rounded
High	i		ɯ	o
Mid
Low		a

Orthography

There is 5 to 10 percent literacy in Spanish compared to 10 percent literacy in the native mother tongue. The language has a written grammar, a dictionary, and uses Roman script when written.

References

1. Capanahua at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)  
2. Fleck, David W. (2013-10-10). "Panoan languages and linguistics". Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History: 1–112. doi:10.5531/sp.anth.0099.
3. "The phonology of Capanahua and its grammatical basis". SIL International. 2013-01-24. Archived from the original on 2024-04-02. Retrieved 2025-06-06.