Warao language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Warao
Native toVenezuela, Guyana, Suriname
EthnicityWarao
Native speakers
32,800 (2005–2011)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3wba
Glottologwara1303
ELPWarao

Warao (also known as Guarauno, Guarao, Warrau) is the native language of the

object–subject–verb word order.[2] The 2015 Venezuelan film Gone with the River was spoken in Warao.[3]

Classification

Warao appears to be a

suffixes, of Warao to the Timucua language of North Florida, also a language isolate.[6] However, he has also derived Timucua morphemes from Muskogean, Chibchan, Paezan, Arawakan, and other Amazonian languages, suggesting multi-language creolization as a possible explanation for these similarities.[5]

Waroid hypothesis

Main article: Waroid languages
Further information: Pre-Arawakan languages of the Greater Antilles

Granberry also finds "

Taino (nuçay or nozay [nosái] "gold" in Ciboney — cf. Warao naséi símo "gold" (lit. "yellow pebble") — and duho "ceremonial stool" in Classic Taino — cf. Warao duhu "sit, stool"). Granberry & Vescelius (2004) note that toponymic evidence suggests that the pre-Taino Macorix language of Hispaniola and the Guanahatabey language of Cuba may have been Waroid languages
as well.

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the

Guiana Highlands interaction sphere.[7]

Demographics

The language had an estimated 28,100 speakers in Venezuela as of 2007. The Warao people live chiefly in the Orinoco Delta region of northeastern Venezuela, with smaller communities in southwestern Trinidad (Trinidad and Tobago), western Guyana and Suriname.[8] The language is considered endangered by UNESCO.[9]

Varieties

Historical sources mention ethnic groups in the Orinoco Delta such as Siawani (Chaguanes), Veriotaus (Farautes), and Tiuitiuas (Tibitíbis) that spoke Warao or languages closely related to modern Warao. Other extinct groups include:[10]: 1243 

Loukotka (1968) lists the following varieties:[11]

  • Guanoco - spoken on the Laguna de Asfalto, state of Monagas (unattested)
  • Chaguan - spoken in the Orinoco Delta on the Manamo branch (unattested)
  • Mariusa - spoken in the same region on the Cocuina and Macareo branches

Mason (1950) lists:[12]

  • Waikeri (Guaiqueri)
  • Chaguan
  • Mariusa

Grammar

The language's basic

nominative–accusative languages such as Warao.[13]

Phonology

The Warao consonant inventory is small, but not quite as small as many other South American inventories. It does not contain any notable exotica.

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain
labialized
Plosive p t k kʷ
Fricative s h
Nasal m n
Tap
 ɺ
Approximant j w

The labial plosive /p/ is usually realized as voiced [b]. /ɺ/ has an allophone [d] word-initially and [ɾ] when between /i, a/ and /a/.

There are five oral vowels /a, ɛ, i, ɔ, u/ and five nasal vowels /ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ/. After /k/, in word-initial position, /u/ becomes [ɨ].[14]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Uarao (Warao) and Mariusa.[11]

gloss Uarao Mariusa
one isaka xisaka
two manámo manamo
three dianamu dixamo
head akua naxoto
eye kamu mu
tooth kai i
man nibora
water ho xo
fire hekono xeunu
sun yá xokoxi
manioc aru aru
jaguar tobe tobe
house xanóko ubanoko

References

  1. ^ Warao at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed access icon
  2. ^ "Warao". www.jorojokowarao.de. Retrieved 2013-09-22.
  3. ^ Vargas, Andrew S. (10 September 2015). "Venezuela's First Film Shot in the Warao Language Is Chosen as Entry for the Oscars". Remezcla. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  4. ISBN 9783110255133
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-19-509427-1
    . Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  6. ^ Julian Granberry, A Grammar and Dictionary of the Timucua Language, pp. 15-32
  7. ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  8. ^ "WARAO: a language of Venezuela", Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 14th Edition, 2000
  9. ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  10. ISBN 978-3-11-043273-2
    .
  11. ^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
  12. ^ Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South America". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
  13. doi:10.1016/S0024-3841(85)90281-5
    .
  14. ^ Osborn Jr., Henry A. (1966). Warao I: Phonology and Morphophonemics. International Journal of American Linguistics.

Other sources

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Warao language.
Warao language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Warao word list
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