Waorani language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Aushiri language or Warao language.
Sabela
Huaorani / Waorani
Wao Terero
Native toEcuador, Peru
RegionOriente or Ecuadorian Amazon
Ethnicity1,800 Huaorani people (2012)[1]
Native speakers
2,000 (2004)[2]
Official status
Official language in
Ecuador: indigenous languages official in own territories
Language codes
ISO 639-3auc
Glottologwaor1240
ELPWaorani

The Waorani (Huaorani) language, commonly known as Sabela (also Wao, Huao, Auishiri, Aushiri, Ssabela ;

autonym: Wao Terero; pejorative: Auka, Auca) is a vulnerable language isolate spoken by the Huaorani people, an indigenous group living in the Amazon rainforest between the Napo and Curaray Rivers in Ecuador. A small number of speakers with so-called uncontacted groups may live in Peru
.

Demographics

Waorani is primarily spoken in Waorani Ethnic Reserve, which is the largest indigenous reserve in Ecuador. Other areas where it is spoken include

Taromenani Tagaeri Intangible Zone.[3]: 1191  Waorani is considered endangered due to growing bilingualism in Quechua and Spanish and diminishing Huaorani usage among youth.[1][4]

Dialects

Huaorani has three dialects: Tiguacuna (Tiwakuna), Tuei (Tiwi Tuei, Tiwi), and Shiripuno.

Language relations

Sabela is not known to be related to any other language. However, it forms part of

Yawan
proposal.

Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with Yaruro.[5]

Phonology

Huaorani distinguishes

palatal glide
[j] is an allophone of /ɟ/.

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m
n
 		ɲ ŋ
Plosive Voiceless p
t
 		k
Voiced b
d~ɾ
 		ɟ~j ɡ
Continuant w
Front Back
Oral
 Nasal
Oral
 Nasal
Close i ĩ
Mid e ẽ o õ
Open æ æ̃ a ã

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Sabela and Tiwituey.[6]

gloss Sabela Tiwituey
one iríng aruki
two méa
head u-kabu u-kubo
eye a-wínka a-winga
woman ohíña unkia
fire chúnga tua
sun nánki neinghi
star nemu
maize kad'ínghu
house húnku
white kúri mia

References

  1. ^ a b Sabela at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Waorani". UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger. UNESCO. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. ISBN 978-3-11-043273-2
    .
  4. ^ Fawcett, Alexia Zandra (May 2012). "Documenting Language, Culture, and Cognition: Language and Space among the Waorani" (PDF). Anthropology and Linguistic Department, Bryn Mawr College. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  5. ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  6. ^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

Bibliography

External links

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