Tinigua (Tiniguas) is an endangered Tiniguan language spoken in Colombia that used to form a small language family with the now-extinct Pamigua language.
The name "Tinigua" comes from the words 'old' and 'as, like' and thus means 'language of the old'.
As of 2000, Tinigua had only two remaining speakers, Sixto Muñoz (Tinigua name: âÂÂknifeâÂÂ) and his brother, Criterio. Criterio died around 2005, leaving behind Sixto as the last remaining speaker of Tinigua. Formerly a resident of the SerranÃÂa de la Macarena in Meta Department, Sixto Muñoz currently resides in Jiw village of Barrancón, near the main town of Guaviare Department. There may have been more speakers located elsewhere, as a farmer remprtedly met others who spoke the same language as Sixto. They lived in Meta Department, between the Upper Guayabero and Yari rivers.
Muñoz also speaks Spanish and is thought to have been born somewhere from 1924 to 1929. He has five children, but he chose not to teach them Tinigua because they would not have any use for it.
The following phonological description of Tinigua is tentative due to the scarce documentation of the language. There are likely inaccuracies and missing phonological contrasts.
Below is a comparison of Tinigua forms elicited from Sixto Muñoz in 2019 compared with Tinigua and Pamigua words recorded in Castellvà(1940).
Below is the 100-word Swadesh list for Tinigua.