Sanumá language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Sanumá
Kohoroxitari
Sanöma
Pronunciation[ˈsɑnɨmɑ]
Native to
Sanumá
Native speakers
5,100 (2000–2006)[1]
  • Sanumá
Language codes
ISO 639-3xsu
Glottologsanu1240
ELPSanumá
Yanomaman languages location
  Ninam
  Sanumá

Sanumá

Ye'kuana people the Sanumá live alongside in the Caura River
basin.

History

Throughout the centuries, the Yanomami, originally from the Parima range, have spread up toward river valleys on the plains both to the south in Brazil, and to the north in Venezuela. The Sanumá speak one of the four known Yanomami languages. It is in the rainforests of north Brazil and south Venezuela that the groups have lived undisturbed until recently. In the last 40 years or so the western world has been knocking at their doorsteps wanting lumber and gold.[3]

Dialects

Some linguists identify dialects such as Yanoma, Cobari, Caura, and Ervato-Ventuari in Venezuela and Auaris in Brazil. All the dialects are mutually intelligible. In Venezuela, Sanumá is spoken in the vicinity of the Caura and Ervato-Ventuari Rivers in Venezuela, while in Brazil, it is spoken in the Auari River region of Roraima.

There are three dialects spoken in Roraima, Brazil:[4]

  • Awaris
    (2,955 speakers)
  • Aracaçá (29 speakers)
  • Hokomawä (180 speakers)

References

  1. ^ Sanumá at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. .

Further reading

  • Alcida Ramos, Sanuma Memories: Yanomami Ethnography in Times of Crisis (University of Wisconsin Press, 1995)
  • Bruce Parry, Tribe: Adventures in a Changing World (Michael Joseph Ltd, 2007)