Language quiz 29 March 2015 By Simon Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken?
The consonant inventory is small, but þ and ñ don’t fit with Polynesian, and neither do the nasal vowels. Or so I believe, anyway. There’s another cluster of languages with few consonants in Amazonia and thereabouts. But that’s as close as I get. Reply
The answer is Záparo, a member of the Zaparoan language family, spoken in northern Peru and southern Ecuador. The recording comes from the GRN. Reply
To start the ball rolling, I guess that this is a Polynesian language.
I’d say something in Latin America.
The consonant inventory is small, but þ and ñ don’t fit with Polynesian, and neither do the nasal vowels. Or so I believe, anyway. There’s another cluster of languages with few consonants in Amazonia and thereabouts. But that’s as close as I get.
The answer is Záparo, a member of the Zaparoan language family, spoken in northern Peru and southern Ecuador.
The recording comes from the GRN.