Uru language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with
Uru of Ch'imu or Central Kilimanjaro language
.
Uru
Iru Itu
Uchumataqu
Native toBolivia
Region
Desaguadero River
Ethnicity230 Uru people (2007)[1]
Extinct2010 to 2012[1]
  • Uru
Language codes
ISO 639-3ure
Glottologuruu1244
ELPUru
Uru is classified as Extinct be the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
[2]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Uru language, more specifically known as Iru-Itu, and Uchumataqu, is an extinct language formerly spoken by the

La Paz Department, Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, the rest having shifted to Aymara and Spanish. The language is close enough to the Chipaya language to sometimes be considered a dialect of that language.[citation needed
]

Uru is also called Ochosuma (Uchuzuma), a historical name for the Uru ethnic group.[3]

In 2010, there was 1 single native speaker left of this language. By 2012 the language had no speakers left.

Olson (1964) mentions a variety of Uru,

Uru of Ch'imu, spoken on the Isla del Sol
in Lake Titicaca. It is not clear if this was a dialect of Iru Itu or a separate Uru language.

Identifying Uchumataqu

Since one of the Urus' names for their language was "Pukina", Uchumataqu has previously been mistakenly identified with Puquina.[4] While the personal and possessive pronouns of the unrelated Puquina bear limited similarities to those of Arawakan languages,[5] Uru differs drastically from Arawakan languages in its person-marking system and its morphology.[4] The pronoun system of Uchumataqu is naturally very similar instead to its close relative Chipaya.[6] Uchumataqu has also borrowed grammatical and lexical morphemes from prolonged exposure to Aymara,[4] with which it is not related, however. Unlike Aymara, Uru is not polysynthetic and has a phonemic five-vowel system /a e i o u/, while Aymara has a three-vowel system /a i u/.[4] One contrast between Uru and the related Chipaya is that Uru does not identify gender morphologically as Chipaya does.[6]

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p
t
 		tʷ k kʷ q
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ
ejective pʼ
tʼ
 		kʼ qʼ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʃ t͡k
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ
Fricative s x h
Nasal m
n
 		ɲ
Trill
r
Approximant lateral
l
 		ʎ
central j w

Vowels

Front Back
short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Open a aː

[7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b Uru at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 19.
  3. ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3
    .
  4. ^
    JSTOR 40929741
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-511-21050-1
    – via Ebrary.
  6. ^
    doi:10.1075/sl.33.4.10pen
    .
  7. ^ Hannß, Katja (2008). Uchumataqu: The lost language of the Urus of Bolivia: A grammatical description of the language as documented between 1894 and 1952. Leiden: Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Universiteit Leiden.
  8. ^ Hannss, Katja (2009). Uchumataqu (Uro). In Mily Crevels and Pieter Muysken (eds.), Lenguas de Bolivia, Tomo I: Ambito Andino: La Paz: Plural Editores. pp. 79–115.
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