Ocaina
Xáfahxajoh
An Ocaina chief in 1924.
Native to	Peru, Colombia
Native speakers	55 (2000–2012)[1]
Language family	Bora–Huitoto Huitoto–Ocaina Ocaina
Language codes
ISO 639-3	oca
Glottolog	ocai1244
ELP	Ocaina
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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.^{[citation needed]}

Dialects/Varieties

There are two dialects of Ocaina: Dukaiya and Ibo'tsa.

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

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:

• Because the Ocaina alphabet is based on Spanish, c is used to indicate /k/ before a, o, and u, qu is used before e and i, and k is used in loan words, such as kerosene "kerosene".
• Nasalization is indicated by inserting n after a vowel. Compare: tya tyója "hang it" vs. tya tyonjan "clean it".
• High tone is indicated with the acute accent: á, é, í, ó, ú.

References

• Agnew, Arlene; Evelyn G. Pike (January 1957). "Phonemes of Ocaina (Huitoto)". International Journal of American Linguistics. 23 (1): 24–27. doi:10.1086/464385.
• Leach, Ilo M. (2008). Mary Ruth Wise (ed.). Vocabulario Ocaina (PDF). Serie Lingüística Peruana (in Spanish). Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Yarinacocha, Peru: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano.