The Cabécar language is an indigenous American language of the Chibchan language family which is spoken by the Cabécar people in Costa Rica. Specifically, it is spoken in the inland Turrialba Region of the Cartago Province. 80% of speakers are monolingual; as of 2007, it is the only indigenous language in Costa Rica with monolingual adults. The language is also known by its dialect names Chirripó, Estrella, Telire, and Ujarrás.
History
Cabécar is considered to be one of a few "Chibcha-speaking tribes," categorized by similarities in the languages that they speak. Other Chibcha speaking tribes include the Bribri and the Boruca, also of Costa Rica. It is believed that the languages of the Chibcha speaking tribes shared a common ancestor around 8,000 years ago. However, differences in the languages are thought to have come about from the influence of outside people, including influences from Mesoamerica.
Geographic Distribution
Cabécar is an endangered language spoken in Costa Rica. It is spoken by the Cabécar people, an indigenous group located near the Talamancan mountains of Costa Rica.
Dialects/Varieties
There are two different dialects of Cabécar, each of which has more narrow dialects within it. One of these is spoken in the north, while the other is spoken in southern parts of Costa Rica.
Phonology
Cabécar uses a Latin alphabet with umlauts for, and tildes for. Cabécar has twelve vowels, five of which are nasalized.
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