Tacanan languages explained

Tacanan languages should not be confused with Tucanoan languages.

Takanan
Region:	Bolivia
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Pano–Tacanan?
Glotto:	taca1255
Glottorefname:	Tacanan
Map:	Pano-Takanan languages.png
Mapcaption:	Takanan languages (light green) and Panoan languages (dark green). Spots indicate documented locations.

Tacanan is a family of languages spoken in Bolivia, with Ese’ejja also spoken in Peru. It may be related to the Panoan languages. Many of the languages are endangered.

Family division

Tacanan
- Ese Ejja (Ese’eha, Tiatinagua, Chama, Huarayo, Guacanawa, Chuncho, Eseʼexa, Tatinawa, Ese exa)
- Araona–Tacana
  - Araona (Carina, Cavina)
  - Cavineña–Tacana
    - Cavineña (Kavinenya)
    - Tacana
      - Tacana (Tupamasa, Takana)
      - Reyesano (San Borjano, Maropa)

Toromono may be extinct. Another possibly extinct Tacanan language is Mabenaro; Arasa has been classified as Tacanan, but appears to have more in common with Panoan.

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Kayuvava, Tupi, and Arawak language families due to contact.^[1]

Varieties

Below is a full list of Tacanan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.^[2]

Tacana - language with many relationships with the Arawak and Pano languages, spoken on the Beni River, Tuichi River, and Tequeje River, territory of Colonia, Bolivia; now spoken by only a few families. Dialects are:
- Tumupasa / Maracáni - spoken on the Uchipiamona River in the same region.
- Isiama / Ydiama - spoken on the Unduma River and around Ydiama.
Araona - once spoken on the Madre de Dios River and Manuripi River in Colonia, Bolivia, now perhaps extinct.
Capechene / Capaheni - unknown language spoken on the Xapuri River and Rosiano River, Acre territory, Brazil. (Unattested.)
Sapiboca - extinct language once spoken at the old mission of Reyes, Beni province, Bolivia.
Chirigua / Shiribá - extinct language once spoken at the old mission of Santa Buenaventura, Beni. (Unattested.)
Guarizo - extinct language once spoken at the old missions of Reyes and San Antonio de Isiama.
Maropa - spoken in the vicinity of Lake Rogoaguado, Beni, now probably extinct.
Guacanahua / Chama / Ese'ejja - spoken by a small tribe on the Madidi River and Undumo River, La Paz province, Bolivia.
Mabenaro - spoken on the Manuripi River.
Caviña / Cavineña - once spoken on the Cavinas River, Madidi River, and Beni River, now probably extinct.
Toromona - once spoken between the Madidi River, Beni River, and Madre de Dios River, now perhaps extinct.
Arasa - language spoken by the greater part of the Arazaire tribe (of Pano stock) on the Marcopata River and Arasa River.
Tiatinagua / Mohino / Chuncho / Huarayo / Baguaja / Tambopata-Guarayo / Echoja - spoken by a tribe on the Peru-Bolivia border, on the Tambopata River.

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Tacanan languages.^[3]

gloss		Tumupasa	Isiama		Sapiboca	Maropa	Guacanahua	Mabenaro			Arasa	Tiatinagua
one	peada	peada	peáda	peada	pebbi	pembive			pea		nonchina	owi
two	beta	beta	beta	beta	beta	beta	béka		beta	béka	béta	bikapiai
head	e-chua	e-shua	é-cho	e-chua	e-chuxa	e-chuxa		i-yoa	i-yuka		é-osha	é-osha
eye	e-tásha	é-tasha	ey-raha	e-sásha		é-shakuéna		i-thaha	i-xaka	e-shásh	é-shásha	i-sash
hand	e-me	ä-ma	e-me	e-me	e-mé	e-me	iá	i-miatsa	e-metuku	i-á	e-mä	e-mé
water	eavi	ahui	eahui	eavi	eubi	xubi		eowi	ena		ena	éna
fire	kuati	kuáti	kuáti	kuati	kuati	kuati	kuáti	kwathi	etiki	kuáti	chi	kuáti
sun	ideti	itaːti	itatti	izeti	iseti	icheti			igeti		huári	eshét
maize	dixe	oːtisha	ärishe	shíshe		chixe	shishé		ixike	shishé	shishe	shishi
tapir	ähuadi	aːhuadi	ahuáta			ahuánsha			auada	sháawi		shauví
house	ete	äte	ete	etai	etae	étai		ithai	etare	ekíi	soːpo	eti

Sample vocabulary of four Tacanan languages, along with Proto-Panoan for comparison, from Nikulin (2019):^[4]

gloss	Ese Ejja	Araona	Cavineña	Tacana	Proto-Panoan
liver	e-kakʷa	tákʷa	e-takʷa	e-takʷa	takʷa
tongue	ej-ana	e-ána	j-ana	j-ana	hana
blood		ami	ami	ami	himi
you (sg.)	mi-a	mi	mi-	mi	mi
hand	e-me	e-me	e-me-tuku	e-me	mɨ-
earth	meʃi	mezizo	metʃi ‘soil’	med’i	mai
meat	e-jami	e-ami	e-rami	j-ami ‘muscle’	rami
stone		mahana	makana		maka
bone	e-sá	e-tsoa	e-tsau	e-tsau	ʂao
(finger)nail	e-me-kiʃe	Ø-mé-tezi		e-me-tid’i	mɨ̃-tsis
fat	e-sei	e-tsei	e-tseri	e-tsei	ʂɨ[n]i
tooth	e-sé	e-tse	e-tse	e-tse	ʂɨta

Notes

Jolkesky . Marcelo Pinho de Valhery . 2016 . Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas . Ph.D. dissertation . Brasília . University of Brasília . 2.
Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka
. Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.
Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka
. Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.
Nikulin, Andrey V. The classification of the languages of the South American Lowlands: State-of-the-art and challenges / Классификация языков востока Южной Америки. Illič-Svityč (Nostratic) Seminar / Ностратический семинар, October 17, 2019.

References

Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press.
Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. .
Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. .
Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the world's languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.

External links

Proel: Familia Tacanana
Tacana language dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)