Arutani (''Orotani, Urutani,'' also known as ''Awake, Auake, Auaqué, Aoaqui, Oewaku,'' ethnonym ''Uruak'') is a nearly extinct language spoken in
Roraima
Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and in the Karum River area of
Bolivar State,
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. There are only around 6 speakers left.
Documentation
Arutani is one of the most poorly attested extant languages in South America, and may be a
language isolate.
Existing data is limited to a 1911 word list by Koch-Grünberg (1928: 308-313), a 1940 word list by Armellada & Matallana (1942: 101-110), and a 100-item
Swadesh list by Migliazza (1978). There is also an unpublished Swadesh list by
Fèlix Cardona i Puig from the 1930s-1940s, as well as an unpublished 200-item Swadesh list by Walter Coppens from 1970.
[Coppens, Walter. 2008. Los Uruak (Arutani). In W. Coppens, M. Á. Perera, R. Lizarralde & H. Seijas (eds.) ''Los aborígenes de Venezuela''. Volume 2, 747-770. Caracas: Fundación La Salle/Monte Avila Editores/Ediciones IVIC/Instituto Caribe de Antropología y Sociología.]
Sociolinguistic situation
Traditionally, Arutani was spoken along the
Paragua River and
Uraricaá River in southern Venezuela and the northern tip of
Roraima
Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...
, Brazil.
Ethnic Arutani also speak
Ninam (Shirián), since they now mostly live in Ninam villages. The remaining speakers of Arutani are found in the following Ninam villages.
[Rosés Labrada, Jorge Emilio, Thiago Chacon & Francia Medina. 2020]
Arutani (Venezuela and Brazil) – Language Snapshot
In Peter K. Austin (ed.) ''Language Documentation and Description'' 17, 170-177. London: EL Publishing.
*''Saúba'' (in Brazil): 1 speaker born in Venezuela who has family in Kavaimakén
*''Kosoiba'' (in the Upper
Paragua River valley of Venezuela): 3 speakers
*''Kavaimakén'' (in the Upper
Paragua River valley of Venezuela): 1 speaker
*''Colibri'' (in the Upper
Paragua River valley of Venezuela): 1 speaker reported
According to Loukotka (1968), it was once spoken on the southern banks of Maracá Island in the
Rio Branco area.
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the
Máku,
Sape,
Warao,
Tikuna-Yuri, and
Tukano language families due to contact.
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.
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Auaké.
:
References
External links
*Alain Fabre, 2005. ''Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos''
AWAKEPortal Japiim
(online dictionary)
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Arutani–Sape languages
Indigenous languages of South America
Languages of Brazil
Languages of Venezuela
Endangered language isolates
Language isolates of South America