The Uwa language, Uw Cuwa, commonly known as Tunebo, is a Chibchan language spoken by between 1,800 and 3,600 of the Uwa people of Colombia, out of a total population of about 7,000.

Varieties

There are half a dozen known varieties. Communication between modern varieties can be difficult, so they are considered distinct languages. Adelaar (2004) lists the living Umaña (2012) lists Cobaría, Tegría, Agua Blanca, Barro Negro. Berich lists the dialects Cobaría; Agua Blanca (= Uncasía, Tamarana, Sta Marta); Rinconada, Tegría, Bócota, & Báchira Cassani lists Sínsiga, Tegría, Unkasía (= Margua), Pedraza, Manare, Dobokubí (= Motilón) Osborn (1989) lists the latter all extinct Fabre (2005) lists: Additional names in Loukotka are Manare and Uncasica (presumably a spelling variant of Unkasía/Uncacía), as well as Morcote, of which nothing is known. Manare, at the source of the Casanare, is Eastern Tunebo.

Phonology

Vowel

Consonants

Morphosyntax

Uwa is an ergative–absolutive language with an SOV word order.

Nouns

All isolated verbs end in -a. Nouns can be divided into three groups: personal nouns, verbal nouns, and other. The plurality of a referent is not explicitly marked on a verb; however, it is possible to mark a group of human referents using the -in suffix. Some kinship terms use a different term instead of using the -in suffix (e.g., wacjá ‘son’; sasa ‘sons’). Verbal nouns are derived from verbs by appending -quib (refers to one actor, e.g., yew̃quib ‘he who carries’), -quin (refers to multiple actors, e.g., yew̃quin ‘those who carry’) or -quey (the action, e.g., raquey ‘the coming’, OR the patient of an action, e.g., rojoquey ‘that which is brought’). Other nouns cannot be affixed with the aforementioned suffixes. There are four case suffixes: ergative, absolutive, genitive and vocative. The subject of a transitive clause, i.e., the ergative case, is marked with the -at suffix: Bónit-at eb yá-ca-ro. mouse-ERG corn eat-PRES-DECL A mouse is eating the corn. The subject of an intransitive clause or the object of a transitive clause, i.e., the absolutive case, takes the null suffix -∅: As isura be-n-ro. I down go-INTEN-DECL. I'm going down[stairs].Ow-at as cuá-ca-ro. suitcase-ERG my tire-PRES-DECL The suitcase is killing me. The owner of a referent is marked with the genitive case using the -ay suffix. It can replace the ergative marker -at in the 1st person singular pronoun of transitive sentences. Eb quehrós yay ay-ti quehw̃u-wa. Is-ay-an bar ri-jac-cua-no. corn parrot eat leave-NEG frighten-IMP our-GEN-EMP already plant-PASS-USIT-DECL. Shoo away the parrots so that they don't eat the corn. Ours is already planted. The vocative suffix -u is used to identify a referent being addressed: Wanis-u Wanisa-VOC Wanisa!

Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns distinguish between the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person (which is further divided into proximal and distal), as well as between the singular and plural: It is possible to use personal pronouns as possessive pronouns by placing them before the relevant noun (for comparison—adjectives are placed after the noun). However, there exist distinct forms of possessives, which will be discussed later. The demonstrative pronouns make a two-way distinction: ucha (proximal, ‘this’) and eya (distal, ‘that’). Additionally, there exists an intensifier-reflexive pronoun that is analogous to the English ‘oneself’ or ‘alone’. The pronoun itself is subject to inflection: The possessive pronouns in Uwa, just like the personal pronouns, make a proximal-distal distinction in the 3rd person. These are:

Numerals

The Uwa language uses a base-10 (decimal) number system.

Adjectives

In general, adjectives are placed after the noun, although there are instances where they can be placed before it. Nevertheless, the majority of the time, adjectives are utilized in the verbal form: cúmac-ro big-DECL It is big.Carson bacsoy racat-ro. pants black want-DECL I want black pants. In noun phrases, the adjective tends to take the -a suffix.

Verbs

Verbs in Uwa language can be divided into the following categories: transitive, intransitive, bitransitive, impersonal, objective clause, auxiliary and copular. Asa rícara wiqui-n-ro I day return-INTEN-DECL I will return by day. Aj-át bajít wá-ro-ra. I-ERG machete buy-DECL-CNTR I bought a machete. Babcar ac cuncuari bacáy bi-ca-ro. Babcara DEST calabash leave go-PRES-DECL I'm going to leave the calabash for Babcara. As bar seo-jac-ro. I already tire-PST-DECL I'm tired [of it]. / I've had enough. “As-ra bar be-n-ro,” wa-no-ra. [I-CONT already go-INTEN-DECL] say-DECL-CONT I said, “I'm leaving [now].” The verb séhlw̃anro is most frequently preceded by the intentional form of the verb without the declarative suffix: As ucasi ac be-n séhlw̃a-ro. I ten DEST go-INTEN think-DECL I plan on going for ten days. Cuc wini reh-ca-ro. thirst give be-PRES-DECL [He] is thirsty.Cue reh-ti ja-w̃i. sad be-NEG AUX-IMP Don't be sad. There are a number of different affixes that can appended to the verb. The intentional suffixes -in and -n indicate the intention to be fulfilled by the action of the verb. The action occurs in the future. Bacat ubach tuw̃-in-ro. four house clean-INTEN-DECL In four days I'm going to do the house. Negation can be marked three ways. Future, ability or obligation, and stative verbs are negated with the word bár. Inability or impossibility is marked with -ajar/-ajat in the main verb and with an interrogative word in the same clause, plus an -i suffix on the focused word of focus. The -ti suffix is used on the main verb: Ahajira bahnaqu-i sín-ti-ro. still everything-EMP.NEG learn-NEG-DECL I have not yet learned everything. Ability or obligation is indicated in the verb by the suffix -ata. It indicates that something can or must be done. It can also function as a way to express command without using the imperative. The inability is indicated by appending the suffix -ajar: Is oya bár bin-at-ra ay éy-in-ra yéhw̃-ajar-cua-no. we clothing not who-ERG-CONT good 3-COL-CONT marry-IMPOSS-USIT-DECL We poor people cannot marry the good ones. Four tenses can be distinguished: present, past, immediate past and immediate future. The suffixes -ca/-qui and -ya/-yi are used to mark questions in the present and past tenses, respectively.

Adverbs

Adverbs are positioned immediately following the verb: In ra-w̃i. fast come-IMP Come quick.