Matanawi (''MatanauÃ, Mitandua, Moutoniway'') is an extinct divergent Amazonian
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 ...
that may be distantly related to the
Muran languages. It was originally spoken on the
Castanha River and
Madeirinha River
Madeirinha River is a river of Mato Grosso and Amazonas states in north-western Brazil, a left tributary of the Roosevelt River.
Course
In Mato Grosso the river forms the western boundary of the Rio Madeirinha Ecological Station, a fully prot ...
in
Amazonas State.
Vocabulary
The only existing word list for Matanawi is that of
Curt Nimuendajú
Curt Unckel Nimuendajú (born Curt Unckel; 18 April 1883 – 10 December 1945) was a German-Brazilian people, Brazilian ethnologist, anthropologist, and writer. His works are fundamental for the understanding of the religion and cosmology of some ...
(1925).
[Nimuendajú, Curt. 1925]
As Tribus do Alto Madeira
''Journal de la Société des Américanistes'' XVII. 137-172.
PDF
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for MatanawÃ.
:
References
Indigenous languages of the Americas
Extinct languages
Language isolates of South America
{{na-lang-stub