Credits & acknowledgements

 
I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the following people:

First of all to God for the strength that he has given me to finish this project.

To my dear husband, Paul Headland, without whose help and support the publication of this dictionary would not have been possible. Just as we have shared our lives, so we share the data collected among the Uwa and most of the phonological analysis he did. He always paid attention to my ideas, confirming them or challenging me to greater efforts. In addition, he put aside his own projects during the current year so that I could finish mine. There are no words to express the gratitude I feel for your valuable support.

To Mr. Sísira José Ignacio Afanador, captain of the Uwa community of Cobaría, who welcomed us to his village. For seventeen years, he taught us his language, with great patience. To the uwa Búśwara, Ráyota, Rora, Rubruná, Warawana and Rubajará, who helped us in our linguistic research. Each one in turn accompanied us to the headquarters of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, where we worked together in the analysis.

Their courage in traveling to a new and distant place and helping us advance farther in learning the language and analyzing it.

To our neighbors in Cobaría who tolerated our presence next to them. They not only accepted us but shared their food and their lives with us.

Others from the community accompanied us on the trails, pointing out the names of the animals and plants. The gratitude we feel for them is profound.

To Gregorio, Asención and Irma Buitrago, who in later years gave us a lot of help with the translation and also with the present work. Each one contributed significantly to the revision of the manuscript. I could not have finished without your support and friendship.

To several of my colleagues from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, who helped me with computerization. I am very grateful for your courtesy and kindness to me.

To Dr. Paul Frank, who guided me in the writing of the grammar and gave me indispensable advice with the lexicographical part. Your article on Ika Syntax served as a model for my grammar. Without your help I could not have finished this work; your patience and clear way of expressing the concepts gave me encouragement.

I thank the members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics in Colombia who have served us as a support team, especially Evelyn Osborne, who typed the dictionary and then inputed the data to the computer.

To Martha Niño de Encinales, Dr. Nicolas Polo, Ilva Childers and Jirina Poncaroba, who advised me on the translation, revision and correction of Spanish.

To the Doctors Jerold Edmondson, Lenard Studerus and Ronald Morren, who, as members of my Masters committee, guided me through the process of preparing the manuscript. Together they showed me a balanced perspective, at the same time encouraging me and challenging me to be diligent.