Urarina language explained

Urarina
Also Known As:Itucale
Nativename:kachá[1]
States:Peru
Region:Loreto Region, Urarinas District along the Chambira River[2]
Ethnicity:Urarina people
Speakers:3,000
Date:2002
Ref:e18
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Language isolate
Macro-Jibaro ?
Script:Latin
Iso3:ura
Glotto:urar1246
Glottorefname:Urarina
Map:Urarina language.png

Urarina is an language isolate spoken in Peru, specifically in the Loreto Region of Northwest Peru, by the Urarina people.[3] There are around 3,000 speakers in Urarinas District (along the Chambira River). It uses a Latin script. It is also known as Itucali, Simacu or Shimacu.

It has a canonical word order of object–verb–subject.[4] [5]

Classification

The classification of Urarina remains contentious: academics have placed the language in at least four language families including Panoan, Tupian, Macro-Tucanoan, and Amerind. However, the proposed language families share few similarities with Urarina, meaning it is likely best described as either “unclassified” or as a language isolate. It is usually assumed that it is a language isolate given Urarina’s complete lack of lexical overlap with any languages surrounding Urarina territory. [6]

Dialects

There are four Urarina dialect zones:[7]

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Arawak, Leko, and Omurano language families due to contact.[8]

Status

Urarina is currently spoken by the 2,000-3,000 members of the Urarina tribe, the majority of whom have retained the ability to speak the language. However, bilingualism and use of Spanish in everyday life is on the rise, as more and more Spanish-speaking mestizos have immigrated to the valley where the Urarina live. While there is a bilingual education system, most bilingual schools almost exclusively use Spanish, as the majority of the teachers do not speak Urarina. [9] The version of Urarina that is spoken by younger generations has lost a substantial degree of grammatical complexity and vocabulary, as correlated to the loss of traditional cultural practices and beliefs. The language is considered potentially endangered. [6]

Phonology

The following is the phonology of Urarina as described by Olawsky.[6]

Consonants

LabialDentalRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottal
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ng pronounced as /link/
StopVoicelesspronounced as /link/ts pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/kw pronounced as /link/
Voicedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Fricativefw pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/sh pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/hj pronounced as /link/
Approximantpronounced as /link/r pronounced as /link/

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Closepronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/
Orthography is only written where it differs from IPA

Grammar

Urarina has several rare grammatical characteristics. The language follows the OVS word order: of all the languages that use OVS word order, Urarina is among the strictest adherents to this word order in speech.[6] Another feature of Urarina is its complex system on all verbs (excluding borrowings). Every verb is marked according to one of three paradigms, as determined by a complicated set of pragmatic and syntactic conditions. [6]

Urarina follows a similarly unique word class system. Numerals and adjectives that are borrowed from Quechua and Spanish are placed in a completely separate class from indigenous Urarina words. Urarina also follows syntactic rules wherein the pitch-accent system changes the tone of a word, based on the preceding word class.[6] The language's set of unique features has recently garnered special attention from linguists. However, Urarina's distinctive grammatical features are gradually disappearing as younger generations speak a Urarina that is being influenced by a growing bilingualism in Spanish[6]

Like many other Amazonian languages, Urarina follows a polysynthetic, agglutinative word morphology in relating to verbs.[6]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Itucale.[10]

gloss Itucale
one exlehé
two kuradzá
head kuxterí
eye idichú
woman ení
fire öxsí
sun enotú
maize kaxturí
house luredí
white dzumaré

Flora and fauna

List of selected plant and animal names in Urarina:[11]

Urarina English Scientific name Family
aʉeno sacha culantro (coriander-like herb) Eryngium foetidum Apiaceae
aari topa Ochroma pyramidale Bombacaceae
aari arambaza (type of bee)
aaĩ otorongo Panthera onca
aerana pucalupuna lighthouse tree (type) Ceiba pentandra (type)
ahai ɲe paiche giant arapaima (fish) Arapaima gigas Arapaimidae
ahariri gamitana tambaqui (fish) Colossoma macropomum Characidae
ahjaʉi uvilla (type of tree) Pourouma cecropiifolia Moraceae
ahjaaone santa maria (type of pepper plant) Piper peltatum Piperaceae
ajtɕuhiri armadillo grande Priodontes maximus
akʉaraa pona white nist palmDictyocaryum ptarianum Arecaceae
akaa toé Brugmansia sp. Solanaceae
akii camote morning glory (vine) Ipomoea sp. Convolvulaceae
alaa aguaje swamp palmMauritia flexuosa Palmae
alaaeri caimitu yellow star apple (tree) Pouteria caimito Sapotaceae
alajtɕõo jergón South American lancehead snakeBothrops atrox
alau maquisapa Ateles paniscus
alauihja pero caspi (type of tree)
alõori panguana tinamou (partridge) Crypturellus undulatus
anaahe uvos hog plum, yellow mombin (tree) Spondias mombin Anacardiaceae
anajsihje mucura anamu (herb) Petiveria alliacea Phytolaccaceae
anaue pichico tamarin (monkey) Saguinus spp.
arauata choro Lagothrix lagothricha
aresi ɲe mojara type of tetra (fish) Acestrocephalus boehlkei Characidae
atari paufil razor-billed curassow (bird) Crax, Mitu
auri paucar oriole type (bird) Psarocolius sp. Icteridae
baka isitɕi teta de vaca (type of plant) Solanum mammosum
ʤaruba vaca marina Trichechus inunguis
darane mojara (type of fish) related to Acestrocephalus boehlkei Characidae
duhwa cedro masha cancharana (tree) Cabralea sp. Meliaceae
ejtɕu cashapona Socratea exorrhiza Palmae
elelia, elele chevón (type of tree)
enʉasoone nobia (type of catfish) Ageneiosus atronasus Auchenipteridae
esʉ shimbillo; guaba ice-cream bean (tree) Inga edulis Fabaceae
etoe musmuqui Aotus nigriceps
fwafwafwa katʉ sapucho; sapo platano (type of banana) Musa sp.
fwafwafwa huapapa bird Cochlearius cochlearius
fwanara lanahaj guineo (type of banana) Musa sp.
haja mullaca caspi (type of tree) Physalis angulata
hi ɲori ? (type of tree)
hiriri ɲo bagre (type of catfish) Pinirampus pirinampu Pimelodidae
hjaane achiote annatto (tree, herb) Bixa orellana Bixaceae
hjarana isana, caña brava arrow caneGynerium sagittatum Graminae
itɕai saeha papa (type of tuber) Dioscorea trifida Dioscoreaceae
kahjaʉsi cortadera (type of herb) Scleria Cyperaceae
kajahuri cumala (type of tree) Myristicaceae - any type
kakʉri trompetero grey-winged trumpeter (bird) Psophia crepitans
kameranati guineo pindorito (type of banana)
kati mono negro dark capuchin monkeyCebus apella
kirimata boquichico tilapia (fish) Prochilodus Prochilodontidae
komokomo comocomo, garza blanca Casmerodius alba
kukuri carachupa Cabassous unicinctus
kurari palometa; macane Mylossoma/Metynnis/Myleus spp. Characidae
kuri jagua, sacha huito (type of tree) Tocoyena williamsii Rubiaceae
kwairi ayahuasca (type of liana) Banisteriopsis caapi Malpighiaceae
laano yuca cassavaManihot esculenta Euphorbiaceae
lerano macana (type of knifefish) Adontosternarchus balaenops
meseri cocona peach tomato (bush) Solanum sessiliflorum Solanaceae
nekwʉri puma garza Botaurus pinnatus, Tigrisoma lineatum
nekwʉʉri garabata (type of liana) similar to Uncaria spp. Rubiaceae
obana sajino Pecari tajacu
ohwa huicungo (type of tree) Astrocaryum murumuru Palmae
raana huangana Tayassu pecari
rihje pijuayo, pifayo Bactris gasipaes Palmae
risi ɲe chambira Astrocaryum chambira Arecaceae
ruru coto Alouatta seniculus
siria dorado (type of catfish) Brachyplatystoma filamentosum Pimelodidae
suseri unchala grey-necked wood-rail (bird) Aramides cajanea
tariatɕa taricaya Podocnemis unifilis
tururi llanchama (type of fig tree) Poulsenia armata Moraceae
urwari huitina arrowleaf (tuber) Xanthosoma sagittifolium Araceae
ʃabẽeto guayaba (type of tree) Psidium guajava Myrtaceae
ʃeremia pandisho, pan de árbol Artocarpus altilis Moraceae
ʉkʉari oso hormiguero Myrmecophaga tridactyla
ʉkiasi renaco Ficus spp., Coussapoa spp. Moraceae
ʉnee kinkajou Bassaricyon alleni
ʉrerej otorongo Panthera onca

References

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. W. Adelaar, 2004, p. 457.
  2. Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.
  3. Web site: Urarina Indian Language . www.native-languages.org. 2017-12-18.
  4. Web site: WALS Online - Language Urarina. 11 January 2017.
  5. Web site: WALS Online - Chapter Order of Subject, Object and Verb. 11 January 2017.
  6. Book: Olawsky . Kurt. A Grammar of Urarina. 1: Introduction. https://books.google.com/books?id=c_82oPIpHKUC&q=urarina+language&pg=PA10. 2007. 978-311-019020-5. 0933-7636. Mouton de Gruyter.
  7. Book: Epps . Patience . Michael . Lev . Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume II: Kanoé to Yurakaré . Walter de Gruyter . Berlin . 2023 . 978-3-11-043273-2 . 1107-1109.
  8. Jolkesky . Marcelo Pinho de Valhery . 2016 . Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas . Ph.D. dissertation . Brasília . University of Brasília . 2.
  9. Book: Moseley . Christopher . Encyclopedia of the World's Endangered Languages . March 10, 2008 . Taylor and Francis . 9781135796402 .
  10. Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.
  11. Book: Olawsky . Kurt. A Grammar of Urarina. 2007. 978-311-019020-5. 0933-7636. Mouton de Gruyter.