Kamëntšá language

Kamëntšá appears to be a language isolate. Researchers have tried connecting it to the Chibchan languages without success. Fabre reports that the Kamëntšá are descended, at least in part, from the , whose language is unattested. ==Language contact==

Jolkesky notes that there are lexical similarities with the Choco languages due to contact. ==Varieties==

Mason lists the following names as Coche (Mocoa) varieties. • Sebondoy • Quillacinga • Patoco ==Phonology==

Consonants Howard and O'Brien call the retroflex phonemes in the above table retroflex, while Huber & Reed use the alveolo-palatal symbols. More specifically, Howard uses and , O'Brien uses and , and Huber & Reed use and . Vowels Huber & Reed, Howard, and O'Brien all analyze six vowel phonemes in Kamëntšá: , , , , , and . O'Brien notes that has a limited distribution and is rarely found at the beginnings of words, and that in many cases may be an allophone of before palatal consonants. Howard found that and fluctuate in some morphemes, as do and . ==Grammar==

Kamëntšá is a polysynthetic language with prefixes and suffixes. It also has dual number, which is unusual for languages around it. ==Vocabulary==

Huber & Reed's book provides a comparison between 68 indigenous languages of Colombia. The following table provides the order of words in the book, along with glosses in English and Spanish. The Kamëntšá words follow their orthography, i.e., using and instead of and . : ==Notes==