The Chapacuran languages are a nearly extinct Native American language family of South America. Almost all Chapacuran languages are extinct, and the four that are extant are moribund, with the exception of Wariʼ. They are spoken in Rondônia in the southern Amazon Basin of Brazil and in northern Bolivia.
According to Kaufman (1990, 1994), the Chapacuran family could be related to the extinct Guamo language. His suggestions have not been accepted as valid by others.
Languages
Loukotka (1968) Below is a full list of Chapacuran language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.
Chapacura / Huachi / Tapacura - extinct language once spoken on the Blanco River and around Lake Chitiopa, Santa Cruz province, Bolivia. Itene / Moré - spoken on the Guaporé River, Azul River, and Mamoré River, Beni province, Bolivia. Itoreauhip - spoken between the Guaporé River and Azul River in Bolivia. Quitemo - once spoken on the Uruvaito River, Santa Cruz province, Bolivia. Nape - once spoken in the same country on Lake Chitiopa. Mure - once spoken on the San Martín River in Bolivia. May not be Chapacuran. Rocorona - once spoken on the San Martín River. Herisebocon - once spoken on the Rapulo River near the old mission of San Borja, Bolivia. (Unattested.) This variety was stated to be similar to Rocorona. Wañám / Huanyam / Pawumwa - spoken between the São Miguel River and São Domingo River, territory of Rondônia, Brazil. Abitana - spoken as a dialect of the Wañám language at the sources of the São Miguel River, Brazil. Kumana / Cautario - spoken between the Guaporé River and Cautario River, Rondônia. Pacahanovo / Uari Wayõ - spoken on the Pacaás Novos River, Rondônia. Kabixi - spoken between the São Miguel River and Preto River, Rondônia, now perhaps extinct. Mataua - spoken in the western area of the Cautario River. (Unattested.) Urunamacan - spoken to the north of the Wañám tribe, Rondônia, Brazil. (Unattested.) Uómo / Miguelheno - spoken on the São Miguel River. (Unattested.) Tapoaya - spoken by an unknown tribe at the sources of the Cautario River. (Unattested.) Cujuna - spoken by a very little known tribe, now perhaps extinct, to the north of the Kumaná tribe. (Unattested.) Urupá / Ituarupa - spoken on the Urupá River, Rondônia. Yarú - spoken by a few families on the Jaru River. Yamarú - extinct language once spoken on the Jamari River. (Unattested.) Torá / Tura - formerly spoken on the Marmelos River and Paricá River, state of Amazonas; now by a few individuals on the Posta Cabeça d'anta, state of Amazonas.
Angenot (1997) List of Chapacuran languages from Angenot (1997):Angenot, Geralda de Lima (1997). Fonotática e Fonologia do Lexema Protochapacura . Dissertação do Mestrado, Universidade Federal de Rondônia.
Spoken in Brazil: Torá Urupá Jarú Jamará Oro Win Wariʼ (Pakaas Novos) Tapoaya Kutiana Matáwa (Matáma) Kumana (Cautario) Uomo Urunamakan Kujuna Pawumwa-Wanyam Abitana-Wanyam Kabishi-Wanyam Miguelenho-Wanyam
Spoken in Bolivia: Moré (Iten) Muré Itoreauhip Rokorona Herisobokono Chapakura (Huachi, Tapakura) Kitemoka (Kitemo) Napeka (Nape) Kusikia-Manasi
Birchall (2013) Birchall et al. (2013) classify the dozen known Chapacuran languages as follows:Birchall, Joshua and Dunn, Michael and Greenhill, Simon (2013) An internal classification of the Chapacuran language family.
Chapacuran Kitemoka–Tapakura Tapakura Kitemoka Moreic–Waric Moreic–Tor Nuclear More Moré (90 speakers) Cojubim (3 speakers) Torá Waric Urupa–Yaru: Urupá Jarú Wanham–Wari–Oro Win Wanyam Wari–Oro Win Oro Win (5 speakers) Wari' (2,700 speakers) (position unclear) Napeka (Nape) (position unclear) Rokorona (Ocorono)
All languages are rather closely related.
Extinct languages for which Loukotka says 'nothing' is known, but which may have been Chapacuran, include Cujuna, Mataua, Urunumacan, and Herisobocona. Similarities with Mure appear to be loans.
Birchall, Dunn & Greenhill (2016) Birchall, Dunn & Greenhill (2016) give the following phylogenetic tree of Chapacuran, based on a computational phylogenetic analysis.
Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Irantxe, Puinave-Kak, and Arawa language families due to contact.
Proto-language
Below are Proto-Chapacuran (Proto-Chapakura) reconstructions from the Diachronic Atlas of Comparative Linguistics (DiACL) online, cited from Angenot de Lima (1997).Angenot de Lima, Geralda (1997). Fonotática e Fonologia do Lexema Protochapacura. Master's dissertation, Universidade Federal de Rondônia. English glosses are from DiACL, and the original Portuguese glosses are from Angenot de Lima (1997). For the full list of original Portuguese glosses, see the corresponding Portuguese article.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size: 85%" ! Proto-Chapacuran !! English gloss !! Portuguese gloss !! Scientific name |- | *haɾam || to button || || |- | *hoɾam || chin || || |- | *ja: || to say, to speak || || |- | *jaw || pillar, to grind with a stone || || |- | *jaʔ || to bathe || || |- | *jikat || penis || || |- | *jowin || monkey species || macaco-prego || Sapajus |- | *ju: || to keep secret || seguir às escondidas || |- | *juk || to push, to remove || || |- | *kamaɲʔ || bland, without salt || || |- | *kap || caterpillar species || || |- | *kapam || pamonha (traditional food) || || |- | *kaɾaʔ/*hwaɾaʔ || large, fat || || |- | *kat, *kawʔ || river dolphin || || |- | *kat, *ɾat || to yawn || || |- | *katim || foot || || |- | *katinʔ || large tick || || |- | *katʃak/*katʃok || to tickle, tickling || || |- | *katʃin || pineapple || || |- | *kawʔ || to eat || || |- | *kawa: || tree species || árvore-rochinha || |- | *kawa: || kind of small arrow, used by children playing || || |- | *kawit || parrot species || papagaio-curica || |- | *kedzek || to lick || || |- | *kenum || cocoa || || |- | *kijiʔ || to descend, to lower || || |- | *kinam || jaguar, dog || || |- | *kipun || tail || || |- | *kipwin || (to be) cold || || |- | *kitam || bridge, jirau grillJirau is a kind of indigenous frame for grilling meat or fish. || ponte, grelha para moquear || |- | *kiw || to bite, to chew || || |- | *kiwoʔ || arrow (generic) || || |- | *koki: || piranha || || |- | *kom || to sing (people) || || |- | *komeN || sun || || |- | *koɾa: || paddle || || |- | *koɾan || palm species || palmeira-carundaí || buriti? |- | *kotem || red, ripe || || |- | *kotok/*koɾok || to knock down fruits by beating the tree || || |- | *kɾam || elbow, joint || || |- | *kɾan || ant species || formiga-saúva || Atta |- | *kɾik || to see, to observe, to look || || |- | *kɾom || to enter, inside || || |- | *kuk || to pull, to drag || || |- | *kunʔ || tree species || árvore-cachimbeira, jequitibá-vermelho; sal || Cariniana rubra |- | *kunu: || to stink, bad smell || || |- | *kut || to pick, to catch || || |- | *kwaɾaʔ || common armadillo || || |- | *ma(w) || to go || || |- | *madzan || kind of yam || batata-cará || |- | *makiʔ || to come, to arrive || || |- | *manaʔ || anger, brave || || |- | *mapak || corn || || |- | *mapawʔ || club, baton || || |- | *mapom || fat, grease || || |- | *mapwip || kind of small bow || || |- | *maɾam || to paint, to write || || |- | *mawi: || to steal, thief || || |- | *mawin || annatto (tree species), wood for making fire || || Bixa orellana |- | *mekuʔ || crab || || |- | *mem || red, ripe || || |- | *mikop || paca || || |- | *mitʃem || black || || |- | *mo: || to run || || |- | *mokon || rope, cord, string, thread || || |- | *mom || to swell because of illness, to have a tumor || || |- | *moɾoʔ || flour || || |- | *mowawʔ || tucumã palm larva || broca do tucumã || larva of Astrocaryum aculeatum |- | *mowin || pus, infection, tumour || || |- | *muɾinʔ || swallow || || |- | *mwijak || wild hog || || |- | *n(e/o)n || to whistle with help from the hand || || |- | *nak || to smell, to sniff || || |- | *naɾan || pitch/tar (of jatobá tree); light || breu (de jatobá); luz || Hymenaea courbaril |- | *natan || face, front || || |- | *nok || to hate, to reject || || |- | *nok || to suckle || || |- | *nopon || tree species || árvore-itaúba || Mezilaurus itauba |- | *pa: || to beat, to slap || || |- | *padzaw || pubic hair || || |- | *pakaʔ || red, ripe || || |- | *pana: || tree (generic), wood, log || || |- | *papat || bamboo species, kind of arrow, bamboo knife || taquara (esp.); flecha (esp.); faca de bambu || |- | *papop || wind || || |- | *paɾV: || bow (generic) || || |- | *patiʔ || animal (generic), fish || || |- | *pawʔ || to tie (up) || || |- | *paʔ || to kill, to hunt, to beat to death || || |- | *pijeʔ || newborn child || || |- | *pikot || giant armadillo || tatu gigante || |- | *pipon || bird species || cujubim || Pipile cujubi |- | *piɾamʔ || squirrel || quoati-puru, esquilo || |- | *pitʃak || to scratch, to itch || || |- | *pitʃi: || horn || || |- | *piwan || tarantula || aranha caranguejeira || |- | *piʔ || to dance || || |- | *pok || thigh, upper leg || || |- | *pon || to fart || || |- | *pot || to pull out || || |- | *pot || to get, to tear, to extract || || |- | *potʃ || to cook; to spit || cozinhar; cuspir || |- | *poʔ || to wake up, to rouse || || |- | *pɾin || parakeet || || |- | *pɾu: || to kill, to hit a target with an arrow || || |- | *pu: || to blow, to light a fire || || |- | *puɾek || to miss the target with an arrow || || |- | *pwe: || to sit || || |- | *pwikun || stone, rock || || |- | *pwin || to leave behind || || |- | *pwiɾan || boa || || |- | *pwit || to break, to cut, to extract, to unrip || || |- | *pwiti: || large horsefly || || |- | *pwitsi: || palm species || palmeira-totai || Acrocomia aculeata subsp. totai |- | *pwitsop || porcupine, hedgehog || || |- | *pwiw || flower || || |- | *ɾi:(tan) || banana (generic) || || |- | *tajin || charcoal || || |- | *takat || wax (honey, ear, for arrow, etc.) || || |- | *takawʔ || kind of fish || peixe-cará || Geophagus brasiliensis |- | *takiʔ || to fly, to leave flying || || |- | *tan || leaf, one || || |- | *tapan || monkey species || macaco-saguim || Callitrichidae; Callithrix jacchus |- | *tapiw || agouti || || |- | *tapot || straw, cover/roofing of house || || |- | *tata: || father (1SG.POSS) || || |- | *tataw || rope made of tree fibers; horn || envira (esp.); chifre || |- | *tatsam || to laugh, to smile || || |- | *tatʃiʔ || husband || || |- | *tawan || lazy, sulky, disobedient || || |- | *tawi: || bee (generic), honey || || |- | *tawit || fence, surrounded || || |- | *taʔ || to cut || || |- | *tikat || to finish || || |- | *tim || heart || || |- | *tipan || arm || || |- | *tipat || wing || || |- | *tipoʔ || to follow a trail || || |- | *titimʔ/*tiɾimʔ || to lie down || || |- | *tok || to drink || || |- | *tok || eye, grain, seed, stone || || |- | *toke: || chestnut, Brazil nut || || |- | *tom || to burn, black || || |- | *tomiʔ || to say, to speak || || |- | *ton || to knock down fruits by beating the tree || || |- | *top || to explode, to break corn || || |- | *topak || mouth, lips, to speak || || |- | *topan || skin, peel, bark || || |- | *topop || basket (generic) || || |- | *toɾo: || to swell, to ferment, to cause swelling || || |- | *totʃam || clay || || |- | *totʃik || bee species, honey || abelha-lambeolho; seu mel || Leurotrigona muelleri |- | *towa: || turtle, tortoise; rubber cylinder (?) || tartaruga, tracaja, jabuti; tambor de caucho || |- | *towan || kind of fruit || fruta-murisi || Byrsonima crassifolia |- | *towaʔ || white, bright color, daybreak/dawn || || |- | *towin || parrot species || papagaio-curica || |- | *toʔ || to beat, to open, to crack, to cut || || |- | *tɾakom || bamboo, taboca (bamboo species) || bambu; taboca || Guadua weberbaueri |- | *tɾakop || fermented drink || || |- | *tɾamaʔ || man || || |- | *tɾamwin || red macaw || || |- | *tɾan tɾan || guan bird || jacu || Penelope