en Yaruro language

Yaruro
Yaruro
Pumé
pũmɛ̃́ mãɛ̃́
Region	Venezuela
Ethnicity	Yaruro people
Native speakers	7,900 (2001 census)
Language family	Esmeralda–Yaruro ? Yaruro;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	yae
Glottolog	pume1238
ELP	Yaruro
	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
Plosive	voiced	b	d	ɟ	ɡ
Affricate	voiceless		ts
Affricate	voiced		dz
Fricative	voiceless	f	s	ʃ	x	h
Fricative	voiced	v	ð	ʒ
Rhotic			ɾ
Lateral			l
Approximant		w		j

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e	ə	o
Mid	æ	ə	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

Notes

^ Yaruro at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ 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.
^ 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
^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
^ Alexandra Y. Aikhenvlad & R. M. Dixon (1999). p. 378.
^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

External links

Yaruro (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)

[e18-1] Yaruro at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Amazonian_isolates_2-2] 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

[Jolkesky-2016-4] 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.

[Loukotka-6] Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

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Yaruro language