Huambisa language

Huambisa
Native toPeru
EthnicityHuambisa people
Native speakers
8,000 (2012)[1]
Jivaroan
  • Huambisa
Language codes
ISO 639-3hub
Glottologhuam1247
ELPHuambisa

Huambisa, Huambiza, Wambiza, Jíbaro, Xívaro, Wampis, Maina, or Shuar-Huampis is an indigenous language of the Huambisa people of Peru. Spanish colonizers first generated the name Xívaro in the late 16th century as a way of overgeneralizing several ethnicities of similar sociopolitical statuses within the region and referring to them as savages.[2] It is an established language spoken in the extreme north of Peru. It is closely related to the Achuar-Shiwiar, Shuar, and Aguaruna languages, all of which belong to the Jivaroan language family.[3] It has official standing in the area it is spoken.[1]

  1. ^ a b Huambisa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Vales, Miroslav (2013). "Relaciones de la lenguas en el sector occidental de la familia lingüistica jívaro". Études Romanes de Brno. 34: 171–181.
  3. ^ Berlin, Brent; O'Neill, John P. (1981). "The pervasiveness of onomatopoeia in Aguaruna and Huambisa Bird Names" (PDF). Journal of Ethnobiology. 2: 238–261.