Arutani language
| Arutani | |
|---|---|
| Uruak,Awake | |
| Native to | Brazil,Venezuela |
| Region | Roraima(Brazil); Karum River area,Bolivar State(Venezuela) |
| Ethnicity | 20Auaké |
Native speakers | 6 (2020)[1] |
Arutani–Sape?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | atx |
| Glottolog | arut1244 |
| ELP |
|
 Arutani is classified as Critically Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Arutani(Orotani, Urutani,also known asAwake, Auake, Auaqué, Aoaqui, Oewaku,ethnonymUruak) is a nearly extinct language spoken inRoraima,Braziland in the Karum River area ofBolivar State,Venezuela.There are only around 6 speakers left.[2][3]
Documentation
[edit]Arutani is one of the most poorly attested extant languages in South America, and may be alanguage isolate.[4][5]
Existing data is limited to a 1911 word list by Koch-Grünberg (1928: 308-313),[6]a 1940 word list by Armellada & Matallana (1942: 101-110),[7]and a 100-itemSwadesh listby Migliazza (1978).[8]There is also an unpublished Swadesh list byFèlix Cardona i Puigfrom the 1930s-1940s, as well as an unpublished 200-item Swadesh list by Walter Coppens from 1970.[9]
Sociolinguistic situation
[edit]Traditionally, Arutani was spoken along theParagua RiverandUraricaá Riverin southern Venezuela and the northern tip ofRoraima,Brazil.[2]
Ethnic Arutani also speakNinam(Shirián), since they now mostly live in Ninam villages. The remaining speakers of Arutani are found in the following Ninam villages.[2]
- Saúba(in Brazil): 1 speaker born in Venezuela who has family in Kavaimakén
- Kosoiba(in the UpperParagua Rivervalley of Venezuela): 3 speakers
- Kavaimakén(in the UpperParagua Rivervalley of Venezuela): 1 speaker
- Colibri(in the UpperParagua Rivervalley of Venezuela): 1 speaker reported
According to Loukotka (1968), it was once spoken on the southern banks of Maracá Island in theRio Brancoarea.[10]
Language contact
[edit]Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with theMáku,Sape,Warao,Tikuna-Yuri,andTukanolanguage families due to contact.[11]
Lexical similarities withTucanoan languagesare mostly cultural loanwords. Arutani and Tucanoan languages also have completely different pronominal systems, and sound correspondences are irregular. Thus, similarities between them can be attributed to contact with Eastern Tucanoan.[11]: 527
Vocabulary
[edit]Loukotka(1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Auaké.[10]
gloss Auaké one kiuaná two kiuañéke three uatitimitilíake head ki-kakoáti eye ki-gakoá tooth ki-aké man madkié water okoá fire ané sun nizyí manioc mokiá jaguar kaiyá house iméd
References
[edit]- ^ArutaniatEthnologue(25th ed., 2022)
- ^abcRosés Labrada, Jorge Emilio, Thiago Chacon & Francia Medina. 2020.Arutani (Venezuela and Brazil) – Language Snapshot.In Peter K. Austin (ed.)Language Documentation and Description17, 170-177. London: EL Publishing.
- ^"Arutani".Endangered Languages Project.Retrieved20 September2021.
- ^Hammarström, Harald (2010)."The status of the least documented language families in the world"(PDF).Language Documentation & Conservation.4:183.
- ^Dixon, R. M. W.; A. Y. Aikhenvald (1999).The Amazonian languages.Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge University Press Cambridge. p. 343.
- ^Koch-Grünberg, Theodor. 1928.Vom Roroima Zum Orinoco, Ergebnisse einer Reise in Nordbrasilien und Venezuela in den Jahren 1911-1913.Vol. 4. Stuttgart: Strecker und Schröder.
- ^Armellada, Césareo de, and Baltazar de Matallana. 1942. Exploración Del Paragua.Boletín de La Sociedad Venezolana de Ciencias Naturales53, 61-110.
- ^Migliazza, Ernest C. 1978. Maku, Sape and Uruak languages current status and basic lexicon.Anthropological Linguistics20(3), 133-140.
- ^Coppens, Walter. 2008. Los Uruak (Arutani). In W. Coppens, M. Á. Perera, R. Lizarralde & H. Seijas (eds.)Los aborígenes de Venezuela.Volume 2, 747-770. Caracas: Fundación La Salle/Monte Avila Editores/Ediciones IVIC/Instituto Caribe de Antropología y Sociología.
- ^abLoukotka, Čestmír(1968).Classification of South American Indian languages.Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ^abJolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016).Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas(Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
External links
[edit]- Alain Fabre, 2005.Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos:AWAKE