Candoshi-Shapra
Encyclopedia
Candoshi-Shapra is an indigenous American language isolate
spoken by several thousand people in western South America along the Chapuli, Huitoyacu, Pastaza, and Morona river valleys. There are two dialects, Chapara (also spelled Shapra) and Kandoashi. This language is an official language of Perú as are all native languages in the areas where they are spoken and are the predominant language in use. Their people are prideful in their language and seems to be prospering, 88.5 percent of people are bilingual with Spanish. There is 10 to 30 percent literacy and 15 to 25 percent in Second language Spanish. There is a Candoshi-Shapra dictionary and grammar rules have been developed.
Among modern languages, Loukotka (1968), followed by Tovar (1984), connected Candoshi with Taushiro
(Pinche). Kaufman
(1994) tentatively proposed a Kandoshi–Omurano–Taushiro language family, with Candoshi the more distant of the trio. However, Kaufman (2007) placed Omurano and Taushiro, but not Candoshi, in Macro-Andean
.
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
spoken by several thousand people in western South America along the Chapuli, Huitoyacu, Pastaza, and Morona river valleys. There are two dialects, Chapara (also spelled Shapra) and Kandoashi. This language is an official language of Perú as are all native languages in the areas where they are spoken and are the predominant language in use. Their people are prideful in their language and seems to be prospering, 88.5 percent of people are bilingual with Spanish. There is 10 to 30 percent literacy and 15 to 25 percent in Second language Spanish. There is a Candoshi-Shapra dictionary and grammar rules have been developed.
Classification
Candoshi is not closely related to any living language. It may be related to the extinct and poorly attested language Chirino. Four words of Chirino are mentioned in Relación de la tierra de Jaén (1586), and they resemble words in modern Candoshi. A somewhat longer list of words is given in the same document for Rabona across the modern border in Ecuador; these include some names of plants which resemble Candoshi, though such things can easily be borrowed.Among modern languages, Loukotka (1968), followed by Tovar (1984), connected Candoshi with Taushiro
Taushiro language
Taushiro, also known as Pinche or Pinchi, is a nearly extinct possible language isolate of the Peruvian Amazon near Ecuador. In 2000 SIL counted one speaker in an ethnic population of 20...
(Pinche). Kaufman
Terrence Kaufman
Terrence Kaufman is an American linguist specializing in documentation of unwritten languages, Mesoamerican historical linguistics and language contact phenomena. He is currently a professor at the department of anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh....
(1994) tentatively proposed a Kandoshi–Omurano–Taushiro language family, with Candoshi the more distant of the trio. However, Kaufman (2007) placed Omurano and Taushiro, but not Candoshi, in Macro-Andean
Macro-Andean
Macro-Andean is a speculative proposal by Kaufman linking languages of the northern Andes.Kaufman found lexical support for proposals linking the Jivaro–Cahuapanan families as suggested by Swadesh and others. By 2007 he had tentatively added Saparo–Yawan, which is itself provisional, and...
.