Jivaroan languages
Encyclopedia
Jivaroan is a small language family
, or perhaps a language isolate
, of northern Peru
and eastern Ecuador
.
This language family is spoken in Amazonas
, Cajamarca, Loreto
, and San Martin, Peru and the Oriente region of Ecuador. .
was classified as Jivaroan by Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño ca. 1940, followed by Čestmír Loukotka. However, only a few words are known, and Kaufman (1994) states that there is "little resemblance".
The most promising external connections are with the Cahuapanan languages
and perhaps a few other language isolates in proposals variously called Jívaro-Cahuapana (Hívaro-Kawapánan) (Jorge Suárez and others) or Macro-Jibaro or Macro-Andean (Morris Swadesh
and others, with Cahuapanan, Urarina
, Puelche
, and maybe Huarpe).
The unclassified
language Candoshi has also been linked to Jivaroan, but more recently linguists have searched elsewhere for Candoshi's relatives.
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
, or perhaps a language isolate
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...
, of northern Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and eastern Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
.
Family division
Jivaroan consists of 4 languages:- 1. ShuarShuar languageShuar, also known as Chiwaro, Jibaro, Jivaro, Shuara, or Xivaro, is a Jivaroan language spoken in the Southeastern jungle of the Morona-Santiago Province in Ecuador....
- 2. Achuar
- 3. AwajunAguaruna languageAguaruna is an indigenous American language of the Jivaroan family spoken by about 45,000 Aguaruna people in Peru. The speakers live along the western portion of the Marañón River and also along the Potro, Mayo, and Cahuapanas rivers. Native speakers currently prefer the name Awajún. According to...
- 4. Huambisa
This language family is spoken in Amazonas
Amazonas Region
Amazonas is a department of northern Peru bordered by Ecuador on the north and west, Cajamarca Department on the west, La Libertad Department on the south, and Loreto Department and San Martín Department on the east. Its capital is the city of Chachapoyas....
, Cajamarca, Loreto
Loreto Region
Loreto is Peru's northernmost region. Covering almost one-third of Peru's territory, Loreto is by far the nation's largest region and also one of the most sparsely populated ones, due to its remote location in the Amazon Rainforest...
, and San Martin, Peru and the Oriente region of Ecuador. .
Genetic relations
The extinct Palta languagePalta language
The extinct Palta language of the Ecuadorian Amazon is attested by only a few words: yumé 'water', xeme 'maize', capal 'fire', let 'wood' , and some toponyms. Based on this, Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño classified it as a Jivaroan language...
was classified as Jivaroan by Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño ca. 1940, followed by Čestmír Loukotka. However, only a few words are known, and Kaufman (1994) states that there is "little resemblance".
The most promising external connections are with the Cahuapanan languages
Cahuapanan languages
The Cahuapanan languages include two languages, Chayahuita and Jebero. They are spoken by more than 11,300 people in Peru. Chayahuita is spoken by most of that number, but Jebero is almost extinct....
and perhaps a few other language isolates in proposals variously called Jívaro-Cahuapana (Hívaro-Kawapánan) (Jorge Suárez and others) or Macro-Jibaro or Macro-Andean (Morris Swadesh
Morris Swadesh
Morris Swadesh was an influential and controversial American linguist. In his work, he applied basic concepts in historical linguistics to the Indigenous languages of the Americas...
and others, with Cahuapanan, Urarina
Urarina language
Urarina is a language spoken in Peru, specifically in the Loreto Region of Northwest Peru, by the Urarina people. There are only around 3000 speakers alive today according to the 2002 Ethnologue. It uses a Latin script...
, Puelche
Puelche language
Puelche is an extinct or nearly extinct language spoken by the Puelche people in the Pampas region of Argentina. The language is also known as Gününa Küne, Gennaken , Pehuenche, Northern Tehuelche, Gününa Yajich, Ranquelche, and Pampa, and may have five speakers, according to Ethnologue, if not it...
, and maybe Huarpe).
The unclassified
Unclassified language
Unclassified languages are languages whose genetic affiliation has not been established by means of historical linguistics. If this state of affairs continues after significant study of the language and efforts to relate it to other languages, as in the case of Basque, it is termed a language...
language Candoshi has also been linked to Jivaroan, but more recently linguists have searched elsewhere for Candoshi's relatives.
External links
- Ethnologue: Jivaroan
- Proel: Familia Jibaroana
- Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: JIVARO.http://butler.cc.tut.fi/~fabre/BookInternetVersio/Dic=Jivaro.pdf