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Barí is a Chibchan language spoken in Northwestern South America by the Barí (Motilon), by 5,000 people. It is not endangered, as the language is still being taught to children, although the Bari have acculturated to the national culture.
| Barí | |
|---|---|
| Barira, Cunausaya, Dobocubi, Motilón, Motilone | |
| Barí ara | |
| Native to | Colombia, Venezuela |
| Region | Norte de Santander Department, Serranía de los Motilones, Upper Catatumbo and Oro River region, Reserva Indígena Motilón-Barí and Resguardo Indígena Gabarra-Catalaura; also in Cesar Department, Chimichagua, La Gloria, and Pailitas municipalities |
| Ethnicity | Motilon people |
Native speakers | 5,000 (2007–2008)[1] |
Chibchan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mot |
| Glottolog | bari1297 |
| ELP | Barí |
 | |
Status
editThe 18th edition of the Ethnologue, a catalogue of the world's languages, reports a total of 5,000 speakers between 2007 and 2008.[1] As of 2004, 150 speakers of Bari, primarily elderly, were monolingual in the language, meaning they could only speak that language. Children learn Bari as their first language, meaning it is not endangered, although young men between the ages of 20 and 40 tend to use Spanish in their everyday conversation, only using Bari whenever there are strangers. However, the community has assimilated culturally to Venezuelan culture, though keeping a few of their traditional customs. Spanish is taught to the Bari in school.[2]
Phonology
editMorphology
editNouns
editNouns in Bari are composed of roots or nominalized derivations, the latter of which may be derived from a verb and the suffix -bãy, to express the "doer" of the action, or added to perception verbs to create nouns for appliances (e.g. bisjiji 'see' to bisjijibãy 'TV set'). Nouns are not marked for case. Excepting numerals, no distinction exists between mass and count nouns, as quantifiers may be used with both verbs.[2]
Pronouns
editPersonal pronouns in Bari distinguish both number and switch-reference, the latter being distinguished solely in the third person plural.[2]
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nay | chiji | |
| 2 | bay | biji | |
| 3 | same subject | obãy | obãyji |
| different subject | Orachji | ||
Vocabulary
editReferences
edit- 1 2 Barí at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- 1 2 3 4 Quesada, J. Diego (January 2004). "The Barí language of Venezuela: a glimpse at the Chibchan periphery". STUF - Language Typology and Universals. 57 (4). doi:10.1524/stuf.2004.57.4.362. ISSN 2196-7148.
- ↑ Mogollón-Pérez, María Cristina (2000). "Fonología de la lengua barí" (PDF). Lenguas indígenas de Colombia: una visión descriptiva. In González de Pérez, María Stella and Rodríguez de Montes, María Luisa (eds.): Santafé de Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. pp. 719–727.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - ↑ "IDS - Barí". ids.clld.org. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
- Bruce Olson. Bruchko. Charisma House, 1977.