Arutani language
| Arutani | |
|---|---|
| Uruak, Awake | |
| Native to | Brazil, Venezuela |
| Region | Roraima (Brazil); Karum River area, Bolivar State (Venezuela) |
| Ethnicity | 20 Auaké |
Native speakers | 1 |
Arutani–Sape ?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | atx |
| Glottolog | arut1244 |
| ELP |
|
Arutani (Orotani, Urutani, also known as Awake, Auake, Auaqué, Aoaqui, Oewaku, ethnonym Uruak) is a nearly extinct language spoken in Roraima, Brazil and in the Karum River area of Bolivar State, Venezuela. It was once spoken on the southern banks of Maracá Island in the Rio Branco area.[1]
It is one of the most poorly attested extant languages in South America, and may be a language isolate. There is, however, no linguistic data on the language.[2][3] Ethnic Arutani also speak Ninam.
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Jukude ('Maku'), Sape, Warao, Tikuna-Yuri, and Tukano language families due to contact.[4]
Lexical similarities with Tucanoan languages are 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.[4]: 527
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Auaké.[1]
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
- ^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
External links
- Alain Fabre, 2005. Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: AWAKE
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