Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 17, 2026

Anserma language

Anserma is a Chocoan language of Colombia, spoken by the Umbrá people. Dialects included Caramanta and Cartama. The language was thought to be extinct until 7 families were found to speak it in 2011.

Last revised
Jul 17, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
204 w
Citations
8
Source
Anserma
Umbra
Native toColombia
RegionAntioquia Department
EthnicityUmbrá
Native speakers
c. 100 (2011)1
Chocoan
  • Anserma
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3ans
Glottologanse1238  Anserma

Anserma (Anserna, Umbra) is a Chocoan language of Colombia, spoken by the Umbrá people.1 Dialects included Caramanta and Cartama.2 The language was thought to be extinct until 7 families were found to speak it in 2011.134

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Barbacoan languages due to contact.5

Vocabulary

Below are listed some of the known words of the Anserma language.6

Gloss Anserma
salt anzer, anserm, ancer
Spanish tamaraca
devil xixarama
herb added to chicha to make it stronger tabaque
market tianguez
References

References

  1. Rendón-García, Guillermo (2011). La lengua umbra: Descubrimiento- Endolingüística- Arqueolingüística. Manizales: Zapata-Molano-Londoño e hijos. ISBN 978-958-57127-0-6.
  2. Campbell, Lyle, and Verónica Grondona (eds). 2012. The indigenous languages of South America: a comprehensive guide. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
  3. González, Simón (2025-12-29). "¿Es el umbra una lengua chocó?: un primer acercamiento desde la lingüística comparada". Lengua y Sociedad. 24 (2) e27921. doi:10.15381/lengsoc.v24i2.27921. ISSN 2413-2659.
  4. https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/server/api/core/bitstreams/110d072a-f035-4105-8561-b1733e8f3bb5/content
  5. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  6. Rivet, Paul (1943). "Nouvelle contribution à l'étude de l'ethnologie précolombienne de Colombie". Journal de la société des américanistes. 35 (1): 25–39. doi:10.3406/jsa.1943.2342.