Cronometría del ritmo en cuatro lenguas colombianas: emberá-chamí, kamsá, kogui, y wayúu

The study describes the timing of rhythm in four indigenous Colombian languages: Embera-Chami, Kamsa, Kogui, and Wayuu, which were situated on a typological map, along with other languages of the world. Using data publicly available on GlobalRecordings.org and AILLA, we calculated the timing of rhythm, as established by Ramus, Nespor & Mehler (1999) and Low & Grabe (1995).
The results of the analysis show that Embera-Chami follows the same rhythmic patterns as syllable-timed languages. Depending on the metrics applied, Kogui and Wayuu either constitute an independent rhythmic group, or fit the patterns of stress-timed languages. Finally, Kamsa can be classified as a mixed language. Our study provides the first measurements of the timing of rhythm in these Colombian languages. Thus, it contributes to the understanding of their phonological patterns, as well as to the studies of typological tendencies of rhythm.