Yaruro
Pumé
RegionVenezuela
EthnicityYaruro people
Native speakers
7,900 (2001 census)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3yae
Glottologpume1238
ELPYaruro

The Yaruro language (also spelled Llaruro or Yaruru; also called Yuapín or Pumé) is an indigenous language spoken by Yaruro people, along the Orinoco, Cinaruco, Meta, and Apure rivers of Venezuela. It is not well classified; it may be an isolate, or distantly related to the extinct Esmeralda language.

Demographics

The Yaruro people refer to their own language as pũmɛ̃́ mãɛ̃́ ‘language of the Yaruro/Pumé’). The language is vigorously spoken by approximately 9,500 people as of 2015. Speakers live in the central Apure Llanos of western Venezuela, mainly in the Arauca, Cunaviche, Capanaparo, and Cinaruco river areas. In Capuruchano subdivision, the Yaruro do not live close to any rivers.[2]:1283

Genetic relations

Pache (2016) considers Yaruro to be related to the Chocoan languages, citing evidence from lexical and sound correspondences. Some shared lexical items between Yaruro and Chocoan (Pache (2016) cites Yaruro and Epena forms from the Intercontinental Dictionary Series):[3]

YaruroChocoan
dac͡ço ‘eye, face,’ c͡ço ‘seed, fruit, nut’Epena tautʰu ‘forehead’
da ‘eye’ (used in complex forms)Proto-Chocoan **da ‘eye region,’ **da-ˈbu ‘eye,’ Epena ˈtau ‘eye’
duɾi ‘after’Proto-Chocoan **duˈɾi ‘tail’
ɡõã ‘meat, flesh,’ goe ‘blood’Proto-Emberá *uˈa ‘blood’
hu ‘bone,’ hu c͡çia ‘strong’Proto-Chocoan **huˈa ‘arm, hand,’ Epena huaˈtau ‘strong’
i ‘skin’Proto-Emberá *ˈe ‘skin’
ĩbu ‘nose’Proto-Chocoan **kẽˈbu ‘nose’
ic͡çi ‘hand’Epena iˈsia ‘wing’

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Saliba-Hodi, Arawak, Bora-Muinane, Choko, Witoto-Okaina, and Waorani language families due to contact.[4]

EnglishYaruroHodi
villagebærʊ-pæ̃balo
to drinkui ‘water’woi
to cutkoaʰkʷai
to lie downãrẽʰjali
firekʰõdæʰkule
brotherajĩ-hãjẽ ‘little brother’
"alligator" [caiman]ariaulẽ
cloudɡõãrãkʷa
bloodɡoeiʰkwə
venomɲeetowejẽtohai
waspmumo
to go back/to walkmanau ‘to walk’; mana ‘way’mãnã ‘to go back’
EnglishYaruroProto-Bora-Muinane
spidermãkã*paaɡa-
sweet potatoʧerameMuinane ʤírúúmɨba
snakepoana*buua
smokeʧʰʊ*ttsu
cassavapae*paikuumɯɯ
nightpe*pəkko
sundo*nɯʔ-
EnglishYaruroWaorani
you (plural)mɛnɛrɔmĩnitõ
beeẽmiæamo
pathtaa-dõ
houseõ-kõ
skyãdeõ-õdæ
to sleepmõã
peccaryaboeaamo
hotkʊa-kʊ-aãgõã

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t c k ʔ
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
Affricate voiceless ts
voiced dz
Fricative voiceless f s ʃ x h
voiced v ð ʒ
Rhotic ɾ
Lateral l
Approximant w j

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i ɨ u
Mid e ə o
æ ɔ
Low a ɑ

[5]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.[6]

glossYaruro
handichi
foottaho
man
waterui
starboé
earthdabú
dogarerí
jaguarpanaumé
snakepóʔo
housexoʔo
boatdzyará

Further reading

  • Obregón Muñoz, H. (1981). Léxico yaruro-español, español-yaruro. Caracas: Ministerio de Educación.

Notes

  1. Yaruro at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Epps, Patience; Michael, Lev, eds. (2023). Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume II: Kanoé to Yurakaré. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-043273-2.
  3. Pache, Matthias J. 2016. Pumé (Yaruro) and Chocoan: Evidence for a New Genealogical Link in Northern South America. Language Dynamics and Change 6 (2016) 99–155. doi:10.1163/22105832-00601001
  4. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  5. Alexandra Y. Aikhenvlad & R. M. Dixon (1999). p. 378.
  6. Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.