The Yaruro language (also spelled ''Llaruro'' or ''Yaruru''; also called Yuapín or Pumé) is an indigenous language spoken by
Yaruro people, along the
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers approximately 1 million km2, with 65% of it in Venezuela and 35% in Colombia. It is the List of rivers by discharge, f ...
,
Cinaruco,
Meta, and
Apure
Apure State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. Its territory formed part of the provinces of Mérida (state), Mérida, Maracaibo, and Barinas (state), Barinas, in accordance with successive territorial ordinations ...
rivers 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, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
. It is not well classified; it may be an
isolate, or distantly related to the extinct
Esmeralda language.
Demographics
The Yaruro people refer to their own language as ''pũmɛ̃́ mãɛ̃́'' ‘language of the Yaruro/Pumé’). The language is vigorously spoken by approximately 9,500 people as of 2015. Speakers live in the central Apure Llanos of western Venezuela, mainly in the Arauca, Cunaviche, Capanaparo,
and Cinaruco river areas. In Capuruchano subdivision, the Yaruro do not live close to any rivers.
Classification
Pache (2016) considers Yaruro to be related to the
Chocoan languages, citing evidence from lexical and
sound correspondences. Some shared lexical items between Yaruro and Chocoan (Pache (2016) cites Yaruro and Epena forms from the
Intercontinental Dictionary Series):
:
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
[Alexandra Y. Aikhenvlad & R. M. Dixon (1999). p. 378.]
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.
:
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the
Saliba-Hodi,
Arawak,
Bora-Muinane,
Choko,
Witoto-Okaina, and
Waorani language families due to contact.
Further reading
*Obregón Muñoz, H. (1981). ''Léxico yaruro-español, español-yaruro''. Caracas: Ministerio de Educación.
Notes
External links
Yaruro(
Intercontinental Dictionary Series)
{{South American languages
Indigenous languages of the South American Northern Foothills
Languages of Venezuela
Language isolates of South America
Esmeralda–Yaruroan languages