Yao (Jaoi, Yaoi, Yaio, "Anacaioury") was a Cariban language that was spoken in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

and

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

up until its extinction in the

17th century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 (represented by the Roman numerals MDCI), to December 31, 1700 (MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized ...

. The language was attested in a single 1640 word list recorded by Joannes de Laet. It is thought that the Yao people migrated from 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 ...

to the islands perhaps a century earlier, after the Kaliña. The name 'Anacaioury' is that of a number of chiefs encountered over a century or so.

Classification

Yao is too poorly attested to classify within Cariban with any confidence, though

Terrence Kaufman Terrence Kaufman (1937 – March 3, 2022) was an American linguist specializing in documentation of unwritten languages, lexicography, Mesoamerican historical linguistics and language contact phenomena. He was an emeritus professor of linguistic ...

links it to the extinct Tiverikoto.

Vocabulary

A few of the attested words are: or ''noene'' 'moon', ''weyo'' 'sun', ''capou'' 'light', ''chirika'' 'star', ''pepeïte'' 'wind', ''kenape'' 'rain', ''soye'' 'earth', ''parona'' 'sea', ''ouapoto'' 'fire', ''aroua'' 'jaguar', ''pero'' 'dog'.

References

Cariban languages Extinct languages of South America Indigenous languages of the Caribbean Languages of French Guiana Languages extinct in the 17th century Languages of Trinidad and Tobago Indigenous peoples in French Guiana Indigenous peoples in Trinidad and Tobago {{na-lang-stub