Achagua
Achawa
Native to	Colombia
Ethnicity	Achagua people
Native speakers	250 (2000)[1]
Language family	Arawakan Northern Upper Amazon Western Nawiki Piapoko Achagua
Language codes
ISO 639-3	aca Achagua
Glottolog	acha1250  Achagua pona1251  Ponares
ELP	Achagua

Achagua, or Achawa (Achagua: Achawa), is an Arawakan language spoken in the Meta Department of Colombia, similar to Piapoco. It is estimated that 250 individuals speak the language, many of whom also speak Piapoco or Spanish.^[1]

"Achagua is a language of the Maipurean Arawakan group traditionally spoken by the Achagua people of Venezuela and east-central Colombia."^[2]

A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Achawa or Piapoco.

There is 1 to 5% literacy in Achagua.^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

• /n/ is realized as [ɲ] when preceding palatal consonants.
• /k/ is palatalized [kʲ] when preceding /i/.
• Sounds /b, d/ are preglottalized [ˀb, ˀd] within accented syllables or after accented syllables.
• /b/ is realized as [β] when occurring intervocalically.
• /w/ is realized as [β] when preceding /i/.
• /s̪/ is realized as [ʃ] when preceding /i/.
• /ʝ/ is heard as an affricate [dʒ] in word-initial positions. It can also be realized as a glide [j] freely in intervocalic positions.
• /ɭ/ can be heard as a flap [ɾ] in free variation before /i/.^[3]

Vowels