Yuracaré language

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Yuracaré
Native toBolivia
RegionCochabamba Department
Ethnicity3,300 Yuracaré people (2004)[1]
3,394 Yuracaré people (2012) (INE Census)
Native speakers
2,700 (2004)[1]
Official status
Official language in
 Bolivia
Language codes
ISO 639-3yuz
Glottologyura1255
ELPYuracaré

Yuracaré (also Yurakaré, Yurakar, Yuracare, Yurucare, Yuracar, Yurakare, Yurujuré, Yurújare[2]) is an endangered language isolate of central Bolivia in Cochabamba and Beni departments spoken by the Yuracaré people.

Speakers refer to their own language as Yurújare [juˈɹ̟uhaɹ̟e].[2]: 1323 

Distribution

There are 2,000–3,000 Yurakaré speakers in the upper

Isiboro-Sécure National Park.[2]
: 1325 

Loukotka (1968) reported that Yuracaré was spoken at the sources of the Sécure River, and on the Chapare River and Chimoré River.[3]

Dialects

Two dialects, now extinct, were:[3]

  • Western - Mansiño, Oromo
  • Eastern - Mage, Soloto

Coni, Cuchi, and Enete are possible dialects (Brinton 1891).[4]

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:[2]: 1243 

Demographics

There are approximately 2,500 speakers. These numbers are in decline as the youngest generation no longer learns the language.[5] (See Language death.)

Documentation

Yuracaré is documented with a grammar based on an old missionary manuscript by de la Cueva (Adam 1893). The language is currently being studied by Rik van Gijn. A Foundation for Endangered Languages grant was awarded for a Yuracaré–Spanish / Spanish–Yuracaré dictionary project in 2005.

Genealogical relations

Suárez (1977) suggests a relationship between Yuracaré and the

Chon
families. His earlier Macro-Panoan proposal is the same minus Arawakan (Suárez 1969).

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

Moseten-Tsimane languages.[6]

Grammar

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.[3]

gloss Yuracare
one letha
two läshie
three lívui
tooth sansa
tongue erume
hand té-banau
woman señe
water záma
fire áima
moon shúhui
maize sil
jaguar samo
house siba

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Yuracaré at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ a b c Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
  4. ^ Brinton, Daniel G. 1891. The American race. New York: D. C. Hodges.
  5. ^ Documentation of Endangered Languages.
  6. ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.

Bibliography

External links