Maipurean
Encyclopedia
Arawakan also known as Maipurean (also Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre), is a language family
that spans from the Caribbean
and Central America
to every country in South America
except Ecuador
, Uruguay
and Chile
. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock.
The name Maipure was given to the family by Filippo S. Gilij in 1782, after the Maipure language
of Venezuela
he used in his comparisons. It was renamed after the culturally more important Arawak language
a century later. The term Arawak took over, until its use was extended in North America to the broader Macro-Arawakan proposal, and which time the name Maipurean was resurrected for the core family. See Arawakan vs Maipurean for details.
[Goajiro], with ca 300,000 speakers, and Garífuna
[Black Carib], with ca 100,000 speakers. The Campa group is next; Asháninca
or Campa proper has 15–18,000 speakers, and Ashéninca 18–25,000. After that probably comes Terêna
, with 10,000 speakers, and Yanesha'
[Amuesha] with 6–8,000.
The classification of Maipurean is difficult due to the large number of languages which are extinct and poorly documented. However, apart from transparent relationships which might constitute single languages, there are several groups of Maipurean languages which are generally accepted. Many classifications agree in bifurcating Maipurean into northern and southern branches, though perhaps not all languages fit into one or the other. The three classifications below all accept:
An early contrast between Ta-Arawak and Nu-Arawak, depending on the prefix for "I", is spurious; nu- is the ancestral form for the entire family, whereas ta- is an innovation of one branch of the family.
Another language is also mentioned as "Arawakan":
Including these unclassified languages mentioned above, the Maipurean family has about 64 languages. Out of these, 29 languages are now extinct
: Wainumáf, Mariaté, Anauyá, Amarizana, Jumana, Pasé, Cawishana, Garú, Marawá, Guinao, Yavitero
, Maipure, Manao, Kariaí, Waraikú, Yabaána, Wiriná, Aruán, Taíno, Kalhíphona, Marawán-Karipurá, Saraveca, Custenau, Inapari, Kanamaré, Shebaye, Lapachu, and Morique.
Northern Maipurean
Southern Maipurean
') to what is left of Southern Outlier ('South Arawak'); in breaking up the Maritime branch of Northern Maipurean, though keeping Aruán and Palikur together; and in remaining agnostic about the sub-grouping of the North Amazonian branch of Northern Maipurean. The following breakdown uses Aikhenvald's nomenclature followed by Kaufman's.
North Arawak = Northern Maipurean
South and South-Western Arawak = Southern Maipurean
Aikhenvald classifies Kaufman's unclassified languages apart from Morique, but leaves unclassifed 15 extinct languages which Kaufman had placed in various branches of Maipurean.
and move Shiriana
here as well. Mawayana
is listed as Arawakan without being further classified.
Otherwise, the Ethnologue branching is,
Campbell (1997), Kaufman (1994), and Aikhenvald (1999) all leave this last language, Irantxe, unclassified
, and Arruda (2003) treats it as a language isolate.
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...
that spans from the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
to every country in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
except 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...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock.
The name Maipure was given to the family by Filippo S. Gilij in 1782, after the Maipure language
Maipure language
Maipure , once spoken along the Ventuari, Sipapo, and Autana rivers and, as a lingua franca, in the Upper Orinoco region, became extinct around the end of the eighteenth century...
of Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
he used in his comparisons. It was renamed after the culturally more important Arawak language
Arawak language
Arawak is the eponymous language of the Arawakan language family. The term is often used to cover the closely related Taino language of the Caribbean islands. The ethnonym Lokono may be used more specifically....
a century later. The term Arawak took over, until its use was extended in North America to the broader Macro-Arawakan proposal, and which time the name Maipurean was resurrected for the core family. See Arawakan vs Maipurean for details.
Languages
The most populous languages are in the Ta-Arawakan (Ta-Maipurean) group: WayuuWayuu language
The Wayuu language, or Goajiro , is spoken by 305,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northeastern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela on the Guajira Peninsula....
[Goajiro], with ca 300,000 speakers, and Garífuna
Garifuna
The Garinagu are descendants of Carib, Arawak and West African people. The British colonial administration used the term Black Carib and Garinagu to distinguish them from Yellow and Red Carib, the Amerindian population that did not intermarry with Africans...
[Black Carib], with ca 100,000 speakers. The Campa group is next; Asháninca
Asháninka language
Asháninka is an Arawakan language spoken by the Asháninca people along the Apurímac, Ene, Perené, and Tambo Rivers and tributaries in Perú. Their ethnic group numbers from 25,000 to 30,000. Many of them still speak their native tongue....
or Campa proper has 15–18,000 speakers, and Ashéninca 18–25,000. After that probably comes Terêna
Terêna language
Terêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar. Many Terênan people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul...
, with 10,000 speakers, and Yanesha'
Yanesha' language
Yanesha , also called Amuesha or Amoesha is a language spoken by the Amuesha people of Peru in central and eastern Pasco Region.Due to the influence and domination of the Inca Empire, Yanesha' has many loanwords from Quechua, including some core vocabulary...
[Amuesha] with 6–8,000.
The classification of Maipurean is difficult due to the large number of languages which are extinct and poorly documented. However, apart from transparent relationships which might constitute single languages, there are several groups of Maipurean languages which are generally accepted. Many classifications agree in bifurcating Maipurean into northern and southern branches, though perhaps not all languages fit into one or the other. The three classifications below all accept:
- Ta-Maipurean = Caribbean Arawak / Ta-Arawak = Caribbean Maipuran,
- Upper Amazon Maipurean = North Amazonian Arawak = Inland Maipuran,
- Central Maipurean = Pareci–Xingu = Paresí–Waurá = Central Maipuran,
- PiroPiro languagesThe Piro languages, Purus, or in Aikhenvald South-Western Arawak, are Arawakan languages of the Peruvian and western Brazilian Amazon.-Languages:Kaufman gives the following breakdown:* Yine * Iñapari ...
= Purus, - CampaCampa languagesThe Campa languages, Pre-Andine Maipurean / Arawakan, are Arawakan languages of the Peruvian Amazon. The best known is Ashéninka.-Languages:Kaufman gives the following breakdown:...
= Pre-Andean Maipurean = Pre-Andine Maipuran.
An early contrast between Ta-Arawak and Nu-Arawak, depending on the prefix for "I", is spurious; nu- is the ancestral form for the entire family, whereas ta- is an innovation of one branch of the family.
Kaufman (1994)
The following (tentative) classification is from Kaufman (1994: 57-60). Details of established branches are given in the linked articles. In addition to the family tree detailed below, there are a few languages that are "Non-Maipurean Arawakan languages or too scantily known to classify" (Kaufman 1994: 58), which include:- Shebaye (†)
- LapachuLapachu languageLapachu, also known as Apolista, is an extinct Arawakan language of Bolivia. Aikhenvald classifies it together with Terena, Moxos, and related languages. It is not clear from surviving descriptions whether it was one language or two....
(†) - Morique ( Morike) (†)
Another language is also mentioned as "Arawakan":
- Salumã ( Salumán, Enawené-Nawé)
Including these unclassified languages mentioned above, the Maipurean family has about 64 languages. Out of these, 29 languages are now extinct
Extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
: Wainumáf, Mariaté, Anauyá, Amarizana, Jumana, Pasé, Cawishana, Garú, Marawá, Guinao, Yavitero
Yavitero language
-External links:*...
, Maipure, Manao, Kariaí, Waraikú, Yabaána, Wiriná, Aruán, Taíno, Kalhíphona, Marawán-Karipurá, Saraveca, Custenau, Inapari, Kanamaré, Shebaye, Lapachu, and Morique.
Northern Maipurean
- Upper Amazon branch
- Maritime branch
- Aruán (Aroã) (†)
- Wapixana ( Wapishana): Atorada ( Atoraí), MapidianMapidian languageMapidian is a moribund Arawakan language of Brazil and formerly of Guyana.Kaufman classified Mapidian as a dialect of Wapishana, whereas Aikhenvald separates them. Ethnologue notes they have a "lexical similarity" of 10%....
( Maopidyán), WapishanaWapishana languageWapishana is an Arawakan language of Guyana and Brazil.Kaufman considered Wapishana, Atorada, and Mapidian to be dialects. Aikhenvald separates Mapidian. Ethnologue notes that Atorada has 50% lexical similarity with Wapishana and 20% with Mapidian, and that Wapishana and Mapidian share 10%.... - Ta-Maipurean
- Palikur
Southern Maipurean
- Western branch
- Amuesha ( Amoesha, Yanesha’)
- Chamicuro ( Chamikuro)
- Central branch
- Southern Outlier branch
- TerênaTerêna languageTerêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar. Many Terênan people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul...
(dialects: Kinikinao, Terena, Guaná, ChanéChané languageChané is an extinct language of Argentina and Bolivia. It was either a dialect of or closely related to the Terena language of the Arawakan language family. There is little data on this language. In Argentina it was spoken in Salta province....
) - Moxos group ( Moho)
- MoxosMoxos languageMojos are a pair of Maipurean languages spoken by the Moxos people of Northeastern Bolivia. The two Mojo 'dialects', Trinitario and Ignaciano, are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Maipurean languages.-Mojos:...
(Ignaciano & Trinitario) - BaureBaure languageBaure is a nearly extinct Arawakan language spoken by only 13 of 200 ethnic tribal Baure people of the Beni department of northwest of Magdalena, Bolivia. Some Bible portions have been translated into Baure. Most speakers have been shifting to Spanish....
- Paunaka ( Pauna–Paikone)
- Moxos
- PiroPiro languagesThe Piro languages, Purus, or in Aikhenvald South-Western Arawak, are Arawakan languages of the Peruvian and western Brazilian Amazon.-Languages:Kaufman gives the following breakdown:* Yine * Iñapari ...
group
- Terêna
- CampaCampa languagesThe Campa languages, Pre-Andine Maipurean / Arawakan, are Arawakan languages of the Peruvian Amazon. The best known is Ashéninka.-Languages:Kaufman gives the following breakdown:...
branch (also known Pre-Andean)
Aikhenvald (1999)
Apart from minor decisions on whether a variety is a language or a dialect, changing names, and not addressing several poorly attested languages, Aikhenvald departs from Kaufman in breaking up the Southern Outlier and Western branches of Southern Maipurean and assigning Salumã and Lapachu ('ApolistaApolista
A native South American nation of western Bolivia. Sedentary farmers, hunters, gatherers and fishers, they spoke an Arawakan languages now gravely endangered, if not extinct. From 1713, they were gathered at a variety of missions with other nations, and rapidly lost their traditional culture to the...
') to what is left of Southern Outlier ('South Arawak'); in breaking up the Maritime branch of Northern Maipurean, though keeping Aruán and Palikur together; and in remaining agnostic about the sub-grouping of the North Amazonian branch of Northern Maipurean. The following breakdown uses Aikhenvald's nomenclature followed by Kaufman's.
North Arawak = Northern Maipurean
- Rio Branco = Wapishanan (2) [with Mapidian as a separate language]
- Palikur = Palikur + AruánAroã languageAruán is an extinct Arawakan language of Brazil. Aikhenvald classifies it as a close relative of Palikur....
(3) - Caribbean = Ta-Maipurean (8) [incl. Shebaye]
- North AmazonianUpper Amazon ArawakanThe Upper Amazon Maipurean languages, North Amazonian or Inland Northern Maipuran, are Arawakan languages of the northern Amazon in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Brazil.-Kaufman :...
= Upper Amazon (17 attested)
South and South-Western Arawak = Southern Maipurean
- South Arawak = TerenaTerêna languageTerêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar. Many Terênan people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul...
+ Moxos group + SalumãEnawene Nawe languageEnawene Nawe , also known as Salumã, is an Arawakan language of Brazil spoken by about 350 people in the state of Mato Grosso. Aikhenvald classifies it together with Terena and related languages....
+ LapachuLapachu languageLapachu, also known as Apolista, is an extinct Arawakan language of Bolivia. Aikhenvald classifies it together with Terena, Moxos, and related languages. It is not clear from surviving descriptions whether it was one language or two....
['Apolista'] (11) - Pareci–Xingu = Central Maipurean (6)
- South-Western ArawakPiro languagesThe Piro languages, Purus, or in Aikhenvald South-Western Arawak, are Arawakan languages of the Peruvian and western Brazilian Amazon.-Languages:Kaufman gives the following breakdown:* Yine * Iñapari ...
= Piro (5) - CampaCampa languagesThe Campa languages, Pre-Andine Maipurean / Arawakan, are Arawakan languages of the Peruvian Amazon. The best known is Ashéninka.-Languages:Kaufman gives the following breakdown:...
(6) - Amuesha (1)
- Chamicuro (1)
Aikhenvald classifies Kaufman's unclassified languages apart from Morique, but leaves unclassifed 15 extinct languages which Kaufman had placed in various branches of Maipurean.
Ethnologue
Ethnologue (2009) and Linguist List list the following extinct "unclassified Arawkan" languages which do not appear in Campbell, Kaufman, or Aikhenvald. They are presumably meant to be Maipurean, as otherwise, starting with the 2009 edition, Arawakan and Maipurean are synonyms.- Cumeral
- Omejes
- Ponares (a surname, perhaps just Piapoco or AchaguaAchagua languageAchagua is a language spoken in the Meta Department of Colombia, similar to Piapoco. It is estimated that 400 individuals speak the language, most or all of whom are trilingual in Piapoco and Spanish.There is 1 to 5% literacy in Achagua....
) - Tomedes Tamudes
and move Shiriana
Shiriana language
Shiriana is an unclassified Upper Amazon Arawakan language once spoken by the Shiriana people of Roraima, Brazil....
here as well. Mawayana
Mawayana language
Mawayana is an Arawakan language of Guyana.Aikhenvald lists Mawayana as an alternate name of Mapidian. However, Hicks reports that it has no "semantic" similarity with Mapidian or the other Wapishanan languages; it is thus left unclassified here....
is listed as Arawakan without being further classified.
Otherwise, the Ethnologue branching is,
- Central Maipuran (6) [Kaufman's Salumã here]
- Eastern Maipuran = Palikur
- Western Maipuran (2)
- Northern Maipuran
- Caribbean = Ta-Maipurean (5)
- Inland = Upper Amazon (13) [not subgrouped]
- Yabaâna
- Wapishanan (3)
- Southern Maipuran
- Bolivia–Parana (5) [= Kaufman Terena & Moxos]
- Pre-Andine = Campa (11) [adds Nanti to Kaufman]
- Purus = Piro (5) [adds Machinere and Mashco Piro to Kaufman]
- IrantxeIrantxe languageIrantxe , also known as Münkü , is an indigenous American language that is spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil by about 200 people. It is generally left unclassified due to lack of data. Ethnologue idiosyncratically assigns it to the Arawakan family, but there is no published account to back this up...
Campbell (1997), Kaufman (1994), and Aikhenvald (1999) all leave this last language, Irantxe, 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...
, and Arruda (2003) treats it as a language isolate.
See also
- Arawak peoples
- English words of Arawakan origin
External links
- Ethnologue: Arawakan, Maipuran