Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Bain Coca, Sieko Coca, Siona, Sioni, Pioje, Pioche-Sioni, Ganteyabain, Ganteya, Ceona, Zeona, Koka, Kanú, Kokakañú, Pai Coca, Secoya, Sekoya, Airo Pãi
CLASSIFICATION		Tucanoan, Western Tucanoan
LANGUAGE CODE		snn, sey
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Baicoca (Ecuadorian Siona) Colombian Siona Airo Pãi (Peruvian Secoya) Paicoca
DOWNLOAD		As csv
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		Ethnologue distinguishes Siona [snn], Secoya [sey], and Macaguaje [mcl]. Others consider these variants of a single language. Ethnologue acknowledges that "Ethnically [Siona [snn] is] different from the Secoya [sey], but they use the same language."

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Information from: “Language endangerment in South America: The clock is ticking” (167-234) . Crevels, Mily (2012) , Lyle Campbell and Veronica Grondona · Mouton de Gruyter

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,174
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
1,607
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Crevels separates Siona from Secoya:
Secoya: 414 speakers, 569 population.
Siona: 760 speakers, 1,038 population.
Colombia: Siona 500 speakers, 734 populations. Ecuador: Secoya 85 speakers, 240 population; Siona 260 speakers, 304 population. Peru: Secoya 329 speakers and population.

DATE OF INFO: Peru 1993 for Secoya; Ecuador 2003 speakers, 2001 population

PLACES: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
1,240
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Ethnologue distinguishes Secoya [sey], Siona [snn], and Macaguaje [mcl]. Others consider these variants of a single language.
Siona: 550 speakers (1982), 737 population.
Secoya: 690.

DATE OF INFO: 1982 Siona

PLACES: Ecuador; Colombia; Peru;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Siona: Both sides of Putumayo River, Colombia and Ecuador. Secoya: in Ecuador in Northeastern jungle, Aguarico, Cuyabeno, and Eno rivers, near Colombian border. Also in Peru.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Siona: Putumayo Department, along the Putumayo River and its tributaries, between Poñuna Blanca and Poñuna Negra, in the Resguardo Buenavista, as well as in El Tablero.
Secoya: Northeastern jungle, Aguarico, Cuyabeno, and Eno rivers, near the Colombian border.

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
934
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
As Ethnologue, WOLP distinguishes Siona and Secoya where others consider them variants of a single language.
Siona 550. Secoya 434.

PLACES: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<200
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Less than 200 (Ecuadorian Siona)

PLACES: eastern Ecuador

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: 6 communities in the Cuyabeno reserve and on the banks of the Aguarico, the Eno and the Aguas Negras

More on Orthography: The Ministry of Education approved an official alphabet for the language in 2013 (Resolución Directoral No 0106-2013-ED).

PLACES: Peru

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Spoken in the basins of the Yubineto, Angusilla, Curuya, and Putumayo rivers, in the region of Loreto, in Peru.

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available
25
Native speakers worldwide
ELDERS
25
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
An estimated 20-25 fluent Bain Coca [snn] speakers in Colombia; an unknown number in Ecuador. (Langdon, 2021)

DATE OF INFO: 2021

DOMAINS OF USE

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Bain Coca [snn] used in rituals by elders, and in songs by some in the community who have passive understanding. (Langdon, 2021)

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

There is a sense of loss and a strong will to keep Bain Coca [snn] alive. (Langdon, 2021)

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Spanish

PLACES: Buenavista, Nuevo Amanecer, and Mocoa in Colombia; unknown in Ecuador. (Langdon 2021)

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
638
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
700

DATE OF INFO: 2017

LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: 5 of the 7 Secoya communities in Peru have a bilingual or culturally-friendly preschool and elementary school. (INEI, 2017)

PLACES: 7 Secoya communities in Peru, located in Torres Causana District (Maynas Province), and Putamayo & Teniente Manuel Clavero Districts (Putamayo Province). (INEI, 2017)

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

DOMAINS OF USE

SPEAKER NUMBER TRENDS

TRANSMISSION

MORE ON VITALITY

Transmission varies by community. In Sototsiaya, almost all children acquire Baicoca (Ecuadorian Siona) as their first language, then acquire Spanish in school and use that in public. In Puerto Bolívar, most children acquire Spanish at home, and only a few are raised in Baicoca. In Tarabëaya, only people above fifty years old still speak Baicoca. (Bruil, 2014)

SPEAKER ATTITUDE

Oil companies, international tourism, missionaries, migration, and intermarriage with other indigenous groups and with mestizos have increased the presence of Spanish in the Ecuadorian Siona villages. These contribute to the critical state of the language. However, people have realized the seriousness of the situation and are developing revitalization policies. (Bruil, 2014)

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY

Spanish

PLACES: Baicoca (Ecuadorian Siona) is spoken by the Bai (Siona) people who live in the Sucumbios Province in eastern Ecuador. The speakers live among six small villages (Puerto Bolívar and Tarabëaya on the Cuyabeno Rivera; and Sototsiaya, Orahuëaya, Aboquëhuira, and Bi'aña on the Aguarico River), and in the provincial capital Lago Agrio. (Bruil, 2014)

1670
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
Siona [snn]: 200 in Colombia (2008); ethnic population 730 (2001); 300 in Ecuador (2000); total users in all countries: 500.
Secoya [sey]: 490 in Ecuador (2012); 680 in Peru (2007); ethnic population 680 (2007); total users in all countries: 1170.

DATE OF INFO: 2008, 2012

OTHER LANGUAGES USED BY THE COMMUNITY
LANGUAGE CONTEXT COMMENTS: Used as L2 by Cofán in Ecuador.

PLACES: Colombia, Ecuador

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Siona [snn]: In Colombia: Putumayo department: El Tablero and Resguardo Buenavista, between Poñuna Blanca and Poñuna Negra on Putumayo River and tributaries. In Ecuador: Sucumbíos province: Biaña, Puerto Bolívar and Orawaya communities; Putamayo River south bank.
Secoya [sey]: In Ecuador: Sucumbíos province: Cuyabeno canton; Aguarico, Cuyabeno, and Eno rivers, near Colombian border. In Peru: Loreto region: Boca de Angusilla and Santa Marta, a small river off Napo River near Ecuador border.

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
638
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
700
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
638 Airo Pãi (Peruvian Secoya) speakers out of an ethnic population of 700 in Peru; unknown number of Secoya speakers out of an ethnic population of 300 who migrated to Ecuador between 1941-1973. (Vallejos, 2021)

PLACES: Airo Pãi (Peruvian Secoya) speakers live in 9 villages of the Loreto region near the Colombian border: 7 along the Yubineto, Angusilla, and Yaricaya tributaries of the Putumayo River; 1 along the Santa María tributary of the Napo River; 1 within Güeppi-Sekime National Park (Vallejos, 2021)

	2018	Secoya	III Censo de Comunidades Nativas 2017 Resultados Definitivos		2017 Census of Indigenous Communities III Finalized Results	Lérida García Pizarro, Isabel Valladares Alcántara, Rómulo Cerda Martínez				1	Lima, Peru	Instituto Nacional de Estadistica e Informatica [de la Republica del Peru]		https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib1598/TOMO_01.pdf				700	638	2017	100-999					5 of the 7 Secoya communities in Peru have a bilingual or culturally-friendly preschool and elementary school. (INEI, 2017)	Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						7 Secoya communities in Peru, located in Torres Causana District (Maynas Province), and Putamayo & Teniente Manuel Clavero Districts (Putamayo Province). (INEI, 2017)
	2021	Nominal classification without grammatical agreement: Evidence from Secoya			The issue in which this article appears has not been published yet (as of February, 2021). Article was shared by the author.				International Journal of American Linguistics						Rosa Vallejos			700	638		100-999	638 Airo Pãi (Peruvian Secoya) speakers out of an ethnic population of 700 in Peru; unknown number of Secoya speakers out of an ethnic population of 300 who migrated to Ecuador between 1941-1973. (Vallejos, 2021)					Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						Airo Pãi (Peruvian Secoya) speakers live in 9 villages of the Loreto region near the Colombian border: 7 along the Yubineto, Angusilla, and Yaricaya tributaries of the Putumayo River; 1 along the Santa María tributary of the Napo River; 1 within Güeppi-Sekime National Park (Vallejos, 2021)
		Base de Datos de Pueblos Indígenas u Originarios									Lima, Peru			http://bdpi.cultura.gob.pe/	Ministerio de Cultura																		Peru	Spoken in the basins of the Yubineto, Angusilla, Curuya, and Putumayo rivers, in the region of Loreto, in Peru.
16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)				M. Paul Lewis		SIL International			Dallas, TX			http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		1,240	1982 Siona	1000-9999	Ethnologue distinguishes Secoya [sey], Siona [snn], and Macaguaje [mcl]. Others consider these variants of a single language. Siona: 550 speakers (1982), 737 population. Secoya: 690.					Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)					Siona: Putumayo Department, along the Putumayo River and its tributaries, between Poñuna Blanca and Poñuna Negra, in the Resguardo Buenavista, as well as in El Tablero. Secoya: Northeastern jungle, Aguarico, Cuyabeno, and Eno rivers, near the Colombian border.	Ecuador; Colombia; Peru;	Siona: Both sides of Putumayo River, Colombia and Ecuador. Secoya: in Ecuador in Northeastern jungle, Aguarico, Cuyabeno, and Eno rivers, near Colombian border. Also in Peru.
	2011	"Documenting and describing Ecuadorian Siona" HRELP Abstract												http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=229	Martine Bruil	Bruil, Martine. 2011. ""Documenting and Describing Ecuadorian Siona" HRELP Abstract." Online: http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=229.			<200		100-999	Less than 200 (Ecuadorian Siona)					Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						eastern Ecuador	6 communities in the Cuyabeno reserve and on the banks of the Aguarico, the Eno and the Aguas Negras
3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger						UNESCO Publishing			Paris			http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)	ll_pub																		-0.5712, -74.8828
	2014	Clause-typing and evidentiality in Ecuadorian Siona									Leiden		Universiteit Leiden	https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/handle/1887/23938	Bruil, Martine									Spanish	Oil companies, international tourism, missionaries, migration, and intermarriage with other indigenous groups and with mestizos have increased the presence of Spanish in the Ecuadorian Siona villages. These contribute to the critical state of the language. However, people have realized the seriousness of the situation and are developing revitalization policies. (Bruil, 2014)		Severely Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	14	Transmission varies by community. In Sototsiaya, almost all children acquire Baicoca (Ecuadorian Siona) as their first language, then acquire Spanish in school and use that in public. In Puerto Bolívar, most children acquire Spanish at home, and only a few are raised in Baicoca. In Tarabëaya, only people above fifty years old still speak Baicoca. (Bruil, 2014)	14	14		Baicoca (Ecuadorian Siona) is spoken by the Bai (Siona) people who live in the Sucumbios Province in eastern Ecuador. The speakers live among six small villages (Puerto Bolívar and Tarabëaya on the Cuyabeno Rivera; and Sototsiaya, Orahuëaya, Aboquëhuira, and Bi'aña on the Aguarico River), and in the provincial capital Lago Agrio. (Bruil, 2014)
	2021	Personal communication regarding Bain Coca													Esther Jean Langdon				25	2021	10-99	An estimated 20-25 fluent Bain Coca [snn] speakers in Colombia; an unknown number in Ecuador. (Langdon, 2021)	25	Spanish	There is a sense of loss and a strong will to keep Bain Coca [snn] alive. (Langdon, 2021)		Critically Endangered (80 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	15	Bain Coca [snn] used in rituals by elders, and in songs by some in the community who have passive understanding. (Langdon, 2021)	15			Buenavista, Nuevo Amanecer, and Mocoa in Colombia; unknown in Ecuador. (Langdon 2021)
		World Oral Literature Project												http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			934		100-999	As Ethnologue, WOLP distinguishes Siona and Secoya where others consider them variants of a single language. Siona 550. Secoya 434.					Endangered (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
	2016	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 19th Edition (2016)				Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig	online	SIL International			Dallas, Texas			http://www.ethnologue.com		Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2016. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Nineteenth edition (2016). Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com.			1670	2008, 2012		Siona [snn]: 200 in Colombia (2008); ethnic population 730 (2001); 300 in Ecuador (2000); total users in all countries: 500. Secoya [sey]: 490 in Ecuador (2012); 680 in Peru (2007); ethnic population 680 (2007); total users in all countries: 1170.		Spanish		Used as L2 by Cofán in Ecuador.							Colombia, Ecuador	Siona [snn]: In Colombia: Putumayo department: El Tablero and Resguardo Buenavista, between Poñuna Blanca and Poñuna Negra on Putumayo River and tributaries. In Ecuador: Sucumbíos province: Biaña, Puerto Bolívar and Orawaya communities; Putamayo River south bank. Secoya [sey]: In Ecuador: Sucumbíos province: Cuyabeno canton; Aguarico, Cuyabeno, and Eno rivers, near Colombian border. In Peru: Loreto region: Boca de Angusilla and Santa Marta, a small river off Napo River near Ecuador border.
	2012	Language endangerment in South America: The clock is ticking	The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide	167-234		Lyle Campbell and Veronica Grondona		Mouton de Gruyter			Berlin				Crevels, Mily	Crevels, Mily. 2012. "Language Endangerment in South America: The Clock Is Ticking." In The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide, edited by Hans Henrich Hock et al.. 167-234. Mouton de Gruyter.		1,607	1,174	Peru 1993 for Secoya; Ecuador 2003 speakers, 2001 population	1000-9999	Crevels separates Siona from Secoya: Secoya: 414 speakers, 569 population. Siona: 760 speakers, 1,038 population. Colombia: Siona 500 speakers, 734 populations. Ecuador: Secoya 85 speakers, 240 population; Siona 260 speakers, 304 population. Peru: Secoya 329 speakers and population.					Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)						Colombia, Ecuador, Peru

Baicoca-Siecoca

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,174

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,240

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

934

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<200

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

638

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1670

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

638

Discussion

Baicoca-Siecoca

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,174

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1,240

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

934

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

<200

Critically endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

25

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

638

Severely endangered

80 percent certain, based on the evidence available

1670

Endangered

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

638

Discussion

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