Secoya language
The Secoya language has been classified as a member of the Tucanoan linguistic family and the sub-family, Western Tucanoan, in Ecuador and Peru. The remaining sub-families are Eastern Tucanoan and Central Tucanoan, comprising at least fourteen languages spoken in the region of the Vaupés River in Colombia and Brazil. Included among the Secoya are a number of people called Angoteros. Although their language comprises only some dialectal differences of Secoya, there are no other communicative obstacles present. The Siona of the Eno River, linguistically different from the Siona of the Putumayo, say there are significant dialectal differences between their language and Secoya, but are still considered a part of them. In ethnographic publications, the Secoya go by other alternate names as well: Encabellado, Pioje, Santa Maria, and Angutera.
Phonology
Voiceless Stops
The voiceless stops /p, t, k, kʷ/ are the same as Spanish, however the aspiration is more articulated in Secoya. The phoneme /t/ is pronounced with the tip of the tongue making contact with the upper teeth. The velar-labialized /kʷ/ is pronounced similarly to /k/, but with rounding of the lips. The glottal stop /ʔ/ almost disappears when strong stress on the previous syllable does not occur.Voiced Stops
In intervocalic context, the voiced stop /d/ is performed by the simple variant , equal to the Spanish intervocalic /r/. Nasal speech is performed with the nasal consonant .Aspiration
The voiceless phonemes /sʰ/ and /h/ are both articulated in the alveolar position, making them difficult to distinguish. The /s/ is pronounced a little harder and determines a dull elongation prior to an unstressed vowel. The phoneme /zʰ/ has some laryngeal stress and expresses the laryngealization on adjacent vowels.Nasals
The nasal consonant /m/ is pronounced the same as in Spanish. The sound n, which is phonemic in other Western Tucanoan languages, is contained in Secoya as a variant of the voiced stop /d/.Glides
The glides /w/ and /y/ are almost equal to the vowels /u/ and /i/ respectively, but more tightly articulated. The /w/ resembles the hu in the Spanish "huevo". When it occurs at an adjacent nasal vowel, becomes nasalized. The /y/ is pronounced almost like that in Spanish, but the Secoya articulate it with slightly more friction. When it occurs contiguous to a nasal vowel, the result becomes nasalized and sounds like the Spanish ñ.Consonants & Vowels
Consonants
The symbol in Secoya grammar corresponds to the symbol in the I.P.A. system.Vowels
Back vowels are made with rounded lips and the others are made with non-rounded lips.Morphology
Nouns
The noun in Secoya is distinguished, in most forms, through the general category and the specific unit. The basic form of a noun, without suffixes, indicates the general category without specifying a definite number of elements. To indicate the singular or plural, that is, a number of specific elements, suffix classifiers or gender suffixes are added. To indicate a definite number of inanimate objects, a plural suffix is added to a noun. When the word refers to a number of specific elements, we use the definite article in the Spanish translation. However, it can also be translated with the indefinite article.| Category | Unit | Units | ||
| pa̱i | pa̱i-o | pa̱i-o hua'i | ||
| "person" | "person, woman" | "people" | ||
| tse̱'a | tse̱'a-quë | tse̱'a-co hua'i | ||
| "owners" | "owner" | "owners" | ||
| yo | yo-huë | yo-huë-a | ||
| "canoe" | "canoe" | "canoes" | ||
| quëna | quëna-me | quëna-me-a̱ | ||
| "wire" | "wire" | "wires" | ||
| huea | huea-pa | huea-pa-a̱ | ||
| "corn" | "cornfield" | "cornfields" | ||
| hue̱quë | hue̱quë-o | hue̱quë-o hua'i | ||
| "tapir" | "tapir, female" | "tapirs" |
Animate Nouns
Animals
The nouns denoting animals appear in their basic form without suffix to indicate the generic type. To indicate the singular, the suffix -e or -o is added. To form the plural noun, the specifier hua'i is added to any of the two forms.Supernatural and Spiritual
The nouns denoting supernatural beings and celestial bodies appear in their basic form to indicate both the generic as the singular. To form the plural, add -o and hua'i. All of these beings appear as characters in the animistic legends of the Secoya.Person/Number/Gender
Person
The nouns denoting people typically lead gender suffixes with a masculine or feminine singular. To form the plural noun, the specifier hua'i is added. The nouns whose basic form is a verb or adjective gender carry the suffix -ë for singular masculine or -o for singular female. After the vowel /o/, the masculine ending becomes -u and after the vowels /e/ and /i/, becomes -i.Number
The number describes the head noun in the same way it does the adjective. Their order in the noun phrase is before the adjective, when both appear.To emphasize a number, express the same grammatical agreement suffix classifiers in the case of the adjective.
The noun that the number describes can be suppressed when the context permits.
Gender
| General | Masculine | Feminine | Plural | |||
| yo'je | yo'je-i | yo'je-o | yo'je-o hua'i | |||
| "to be back" | "little brother" | "little sister" | "little brothers" | |||
| ai | ai | ai-o | ai-o hua'i | |||
| "old" | "old man" | "old woman" | "old men" | |||
| huano | huano-u | huano-o | huano-o hua'i | |||
| "old" | "old man" | "old woman" | "old men" | |||
| esa | esa-ë | esa-o | esa-o hua'i | |||
| "fast" | "rapid" | "rapid" | "rapids" | |||
| jo'ya | jo'ya-ë | jo'ya-o | jo'ya-o hua'i''' | |||
| "domesticated" | "domesticated male dog" | "domesticated female dog" | "domesticated male dogs" |
Classification
Suffix Classifiers
The suffix classifiers indicate, besides the idea of a specific unit, the form or function of the object, conceptualized by the Secoya perspective.Nouns that function as classifiers
The following inanimate nouns can be freeform in some contexts and can also describe the form or function of an inanimate noun.Inanimate nouns without classifiers
Some inanimate nouns never appear with a suffix classifier; in this case the sense of generality or unit is inferred from the context. However, an adjective or another attribute can change them.Space
Locatives are formed by adding to a basic form, whether it's a noun, verb, adverb, demonstrative, or other, to one of the suffixes indicating space or time.Locative Suffix -ro
The locative suffix -ro "place" means a point or region. They don't appear with nouns, but with other grammatical forms to form a noun.Locative Suffix -ja̱'a
Locative suffix -ja̱'a "about, near" describes the relationship of a locative component.Demonstratives
The demonstrative pronoun ja "that" occurs with suffixes classifiers, local or temporary, to refer to an object, place or time.The demonstrative pronoun iye "this" occurs with suffix classifiers, local and temporary, as with the separate hua'i for plural words and maca to refer to a person, place, thing. These refer to a specific previously defined nominal element. When a gender suffix is added, the form of the pronoun is uses i-.
Time
Tense
There are times for all people and genders, distinguished in the declarative modes of involvement perspective: the present, the immediate past, the distant past and future. The immediate past is not so much of recent events, but events that the speaker considers to be important in the present. It is distinguished by the immediate past speaker who considers unimportant events in the present. That is, they are already forgotten or outdated events.| Present | Immediate Past | Distant Past | Future | |
| 3sg.m | -ji | -pi/-ji'i | -a̱'-ji'i | -sipi |
| 3sg.f | -co | -co/-co'ë | -a̱'-co'ë | -sio |
| other | -yë | -huë/-'e | -a̱'-huë'ë | -si'i |
The following examples demonstrate the present and immediate past tense and use the root caje "down".
This next example demonstrates the immediate past tense when the basic form of the verb ends in or . It uses the root sa'i "go".
This example demonstrates the distant past. This category is pointed out with the suffix -a̱'- after the basic form of the verb.
This example demonstrates future tense.