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The
Kallawaya Language Project
The Kallawaya Language Project is the first in a series of
different projects that have been begun in Bolivia in 2007
by Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages.
Bolivia is one of the most endangered and diverse language
areas in the world. Two different Language Hotspots are
found in this area.
Kallawaya is a secret mixed language spoken by a group of
traditional itinerant healers that date back as such at
least to the private retinue of the Inka in the early
fifteenth century and is one of the southernmost remaining
languages of this Hotspot.
How is Kallawaya a mixed language?
Kallawaya is a mixed language in the sense that its grammar
is a kind of Quechua, but most of its words are from either
unknown sources or from a language of a now otherwise
extinct language family called Pukinan once spoken in the
region but abandoned in favor of Quechua, Aymara or Spanish.
How is Kallawaya a secret language?
Kallawaya is a secret language in the sense that it is
passed only from father to son or grandfather to grandson
(perhaps rarely to daughters if a practitioner is without
sons), but not transmitted in normal family situations. It is
therefore a language only for the initiated (men) and thus
secret. Although used in a ritual context primarily,
Kallawaya also serves the purpose of everyday conversation
between users.
Video
From The Kallawaya Language Project
Soon to be added
Sound Files
From The Kallawaya Project
(Click
play button once or twice to open in your default audio
player. Some files are larger and may take longer to load)
Photos
From The Kallawaya Language Project
The Kallawaya
Language Project Team
The Kallawaya Language Project is currently funded solely by
donations to Living Tongues Institute for Endangered
Languages. Fieldwork to Kallawaya in 2007 was funded by
Ironbound Films.
Photo credits: David Harrison, Greg Anderson, William
Faulkner, Jose Lara Yapita |
