Counting in the Caquetá-Putumayo Region of Northwest Amazonia

Abstract

This article examines numerals in the languages of the Caquetá-Putumayo (CP) region of Northwest Amazonia. Drawing on data from Witotoan, Boran, Arawak (Resígaro), and the isolate Andoke, the study shows that CP numeral systems share a set of structural properties shaped by long-term multilingualism. Numeral roots for ‘one’ and ‘two’ coexist with forms of different historical and functional origins, while fraternal, additive, and other lexical (‘middle/center/half’-based) strategies serve to express values above ‘two’. From ‘five’ onward, enumeration typically employs body-part terms, often extending to ‘twenty’. The analysis highlights the limited use of adnominal numerals within the noun phrase, the central role of classifier morphology, and selective borrowing within a broader Amazonian context. The findings contribute to our understanding of numeral systems as sites of cultural meaning, grammatical innovation, and regional contact in Northwest Amazonia.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. International Journal of American Linguistics, 2026 · DOI ↗