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 A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...

. 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 A Swadesh list () is a compilation of cultural universal, tentatively universal concepts for the purposes of lexicostatistics. That is, a Swadesh list is a list of forms and concepts which all languages, without exception, have terms for, such as ...

by Migliazza (1978). There is also an unpublished Swadesh list by

Fèlix Cardona i Puig Fèlix Cardona i Puig (Malgrat de Mar, Maresme, February 3, 1903 – Caracas, December 5, 1982) was a Spanish explorer of the Venezuelan Guyana.Paragua River The Paragua River is a river of 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, isl ...

and

Uraricaá River The Uraricaá River is a river of Roraima state in northern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Roraima List of rivers in Roraima ( Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger ...

in southern Venezuela and the northern tip of

, 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 The Paragua River is a river of 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, isl ...

valley of Venezuela): 3 speakers *''Kavaimakén'' (in the Upper

valley of Venezuela): 1 speaker *''Colibri'' (in the Upper

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 The Tucano people (sometimes spelt Tukano)(In Tucano language, Tucano: ye’pâ-masɨ (m.sg.), ye’pâ-maso (f.sg.), ye’pâ-masa (pl.)), are a group of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous South Americans in the northwestern Amazon, a ...

language families due to contact. Lexical similarities with

Tucanoan languages Tucanoan (also Tukanoan, Tukánoan) is a language family of Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Arutani language, Arutani, Paez language, Paez, Sape language, ...

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) {{authority control Arutani–Sape languages Indigenous languages of South America Languages of Brazil Languages of Venezuela Endangered language isolates Language isolates of South America