Nasa Yuwe

Nasa Yuwe, also known as Paez, is an indigenous language spoken by the Nasa people in the Andes of southwestern Colombia, chiefly in the department of Cauca and also in Putumayo and Huila. It is spoken by roughly eighty thousand people, making it one of the more widely spoken indigenous languages of Colombia, though its transmission to younger generations has weakened considerably as bilingualism with Spanish becomes the norm. Linguists generally classify Nasa Yuwe as a language isolate, or as the sole surviving member of an otherwise extinct family; it has at various times been proposed as part of the Chibchan, Barbacoan, or Paezan groupings, none of which is now generally accepted. Three main dialect divisions are recognized: a northern group including Munchique, Toribio, San Francisco, and Tacueyo, along with central and southern varieties.