Iquito (pronounced ) is a highly endangered Zaparoan language of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. Iquito is one of three surviving Zaparoan languages; the other two being Záparo, with 1-3 speakers, and Arabela with about 75 speakers. Three extinct languages are also considered to be Zaparoan: Andoa,

Aushiri Aushiri (Auxira, Vacacocha) is an extinct Zaparoan language formerly spoken in Peru. It was spoken in the area of the tributaries to the right bank of the Napo River The Napo River ( es, Río Napo) is a tributary to the Amazon River that rise ...

, and Cahuarano. Some classifiers also consider Omurano to be Zaparoan. Other names used for the language include Iquita, Ikito, Amacacore, Hamacore, Quiturran, and Puca-Uma, although Iquito is the most common. Of the ethnic Iquito population of 500, as of 2006, there are 25 fluent or native speakers, all of whom are over 55 years old, and about 25 partial or passive speakers, all of whom are over the age of 25. Iquito is spoken in the Loreto Province, the regions of the Pintoyacu, Nanay, and Chambira rivers, and the villages of San Antonio and Atalaya. It is technically an

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

. There is a negative attitude towards the language in the Iquito communities and Iquitos mostly use

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

. This is partially due to decades of pressure to assimilate into Spanish-speaking culture. The population is Christian; the Bible was translated into Iquito in 1963. The Iquito people cultivate yuca, are fishermen and hunters, rubber gatherers, and traders.

History

This area of present-day northeastern Peru was settled for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. In the mid 17th century, there was a large group of Iquito speakers where the present-day city of Iquitos developed. But, by the period of 1958 to 1966, only about 100 native speakers of Iquito remained, and they were on the verge of

acculturation Acculturation is a process of social, psychological, and cultural change that stems from the balancing of two cultures while adapting to the prevailing culture of the society. Acculturation is a process in which an individual adopts, acquires and ...

. During this period, the population of older adults spoke Iquito and understood Spanish, middle-aged adults were bilingual in Spanish and Iquito, and children spoke Spanish as their first language and understood Iquito.

Reasons for decline

Several factors have affected the decline in speaking Iquito; there are 25 speakers now. The infectious diseases of

whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two o ...

, measles, and

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

had devastating effects on the speaking population, with a high number of fatalities. Also, the landowner system in place at the time, and the disruptions associated with the

rubber boom The Amazon rubber boom ( pt, Ciclo da borracha, ; es, Fiebre del caucho, , 1879 to 1912) was an important part of the economic and social history of Brazil and Amazonian regions of neighboring countries, being related to the extraction and comm ...

and exploitation of rubber reduced the population.

Revitalization

The

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

sponsored a program run by graduate students to help the population of San Antonio revitalize the Iquito language. They are working on a 1500-word dictionary and teaching plans in order to teach the younger population Iquito.

Iquito Language Documentation Project

The Iquito Language Documentation Project (IDLP) is a community language revitalization effort to help revitalize the Iquito language.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Example

The

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

in Iquito ''Pwe sake niyakuxra kyaya cunya nayeunyu.''
''Kya niyakuxigha kanakiyu rikhi aniki.''
''Kya nakare zabane kana-nigwami ryeta namyani : yakukhira imakhira karamigwani. Mesyaka yakweno bwakhina keakaninon seike kanike semannikya nesivite. Kanevite nya kya kanivite.''
''Ikyaki katereke kya kivite, eka kinakare etinyu.''
''Kikamita numa sennui, zeke eke uyapa khinekhi keynanele. Amen''

References

* R. Eastman, B. Eastman, E Powlison, ''Fonoligia del Idioma Iquito, in Datos Etno-Lingüisticos'', n°29, Lima, 2008, available a

Bibliography

*Beier, Christine and Lev Michael. 2006. ''The Iquito Language Documentation Project: Developing team-based methods for language documentation.'' Linguistic Discover
4(1)
*Beier, Christine, Cynthia Hansen, I-Wen Lai, and Lev Michael. 2011. "Exploiting word order to express an inflectional category: Reality status in Iquito". ''Linguistic Typology'' 15(1):65-99. *Hansen, Cynthia. 2011.
Expressing reality status through word order: Iquito irrealis constructions in typological perspective
'. PhD dissertation, University of Texas at Austin. *Lai, I-Wen. 2009. ''Time in the Iquito language''. PhD dissertation, University of Texas at Austin. *Michael, Lev. 2009. "Clause linking in Iquito (Zaparoan)". In R.M.W. Dixon and Alexandra Aikhenvald (Eds.), ''The Semantics of Clause Linking,'' pp. 145-166. Oxford University Press. *Michael, Lev. 2011. "The interaction of tone and stress in the prosodic system of Iquito (Zaparoan, Peru)", ''Amerindia'' 35: 53-74.

External links

The Iquito Language Documentation Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iquito Language Languages of Peru Zaparoan languages Endangered indigenous languages of the Americas