Yaruro language

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

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]

Yaruro Chocoan
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]

English Yaruro Hodi
village bærʊ-pæ̃ balo
to drink ui ‘water’ woi
to cut koa ʰkʷai
to lie down ãrẽ ʰjali
fire kʰõdæ ʰkule
brother ajĩ- hãjẽ ‘little brother’
"alligator" [caiman] ari aulẽ
cloud ɡõãrã kʷa
blood ɡoe iʰkwə
venom ɲeetowe jẽtohai
wasp mu mo
to go back/to walk manau ‘to walk’; mana ‘way’ mãnã ‘to go back’
English Yaruro Proto-Bora-Muinane
spider mãkã *paaɡa-
sweet potato ʧerame Muinane ʤírúúmɨba
snake poana *buua
smoke ʧʰʊ *ttsu
cassava pae *paikuumɯɯ
night pe *pəkko
sun do *nɯʔ-
English Yaruro Waorani
you (plural) mɛnɛrɔ mĩnitõ
bee ẽmi æamo
path nõ taa-dõ
house hõ õ-kõ
sky ãde õ-õdæ
to sleep mõã bõ
peccary aboea amo
hot kʊa-kʊ-a ãgõã

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]

gloss Yaruro
hand ichi
foot taho
man oí
water ui
star boé
earth dabú
dog arerí
jaguar panaumé
snake póʔo
house xoʔo
boat dzyará

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.
Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Yaruro word list