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Buglere Indian Language (Buglé, Norteño)

Language: Buglere is a Chibchan language of Central America, spoken by 3000 people in Panama and Costa Rica. Like most Chibchan languages, Buglere is a tone language with SOV word order. Many linguists consider Buglere and Bogota to be dialects of a single language, but according to the people themselves, speakers of the two languages cannot understand each other. In Panama, the Buglé and their kinfolk the Ngöbe (or Guaymi) have joined into a single Ngobe-Bugle tribe.

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Names: Buglere, also spelled Buglé or Bugle, is the name the people call themselves. It means "inhabitant" or "landowner." They were known by the Spanish as Sabanero, Veraguas, Sabanero-Guaymí, Guaymies Sabaneros, Savanero, Bocotá de Chiriquí, Murire, Muriré, Norteño, Nortenyo, or Norteno. Another historical Chibchan tribe of Panama, the Muoy or Muoi, has sometimes been grouped with the Buglere.


Buglere Language

Buglere language samples and resources.

Buglere Culture and History

Information and links about the Buglere tribe past and present.


Buglere Language Resources

Our Online Buglere Materials

Buglere Words:
    Our list of vocabulary words in the Buglere language and their meaning in English.
Buglere Pronunciation Guide:
    How to pronounce Buglere words.
Buglere Animal Words:
    Picture dictionary of animal words in the Buglere language.
Buglere Colors:
    Worksheet showing color words in the Bugle language.

Buglere Language Resources

Language map of Panama:
    Maps showing where in Panama Buglere is spoken.
Omniglot: Buglere:
    Profile of the Buglere language including a phonological inventory, orthography and a text.
La Lengua Bokota:
    Information on the Bogota and Buglere languages. Page in Spanish.
Un alfabeto para el Bocotá de Chiriquí:
    Paper on Bogota and Buglere orthography. Page in Spanish.
Buglere Fox Song:
    Sound file of a song being sung in the Buglere language.
Bocotá Language Tree:
    Theories about the language relationships of Buglere and Bocota, compiled by Linguist List.
Bugle Language Structures:
    Buglere linguistic profile and academic bibliography.
The Bible in Buglere:
    Translation of the New Testament into the Buglere language.
Buglere Papers:
    Archive of linguistics papers on Buglere, in English and Spanish.

Buglere Dictionaries and Language Books for Sale
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The Chibchan Languages:
    Relationship of the Bugle language with Maleku, Cabecar, Bribri and other neighboring languages.
The Languages of the Andes:
    Linguistic information about Buglere and dozens of other Central and South American languages.
Panama: Three Weeks with the Native Tribes:
    Photoessay on the lives of the Buglé and other native people of Panama.

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Links, References, and Additional Information

  OLAC: Buglere:
  Reference list of Buglere language materials.
Wikipedia: Buglére Language:
Encyclopedia articles on the Buglé language.
Los Bugle, Ngöbe, y Teribe del Parque Marino de Bastimentos * Los Indios Bokotas y Bugleres:
Information about the Buglé and their language in Spanish.



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