The Pumé language (also called Yuapín or Yaruro, also spelled Llaruro or Yaruru) is an indigenous language isolate spoken by 9,500 of the Pumé people, along the Orinoco, Cinaruco, Meta, and Apure rivers of Venezuela. It is not well classified; it may be distantly related to the extinct Esmeraldeño language or the Chocoan language family.
Demographics The Pumé people refer to their own language as , ‘language of the Pumé’. The language is vigorously spoken by approximately 9,500 people as of 2015. Speakers live in the central Apure Llanos of western Venezuela, mainly in the Arauca, Cunaviche, Capanaparo, and Cinaruco river areas. In Capuruchano subdivision, the Pumé do not live close to any rivers.
Classification Pumé has been considered a language isolate since Filippo Salvatore Gilii's 1782 book Saggio di storia americana. However, there have been a number of suggestions for its further linguistic affiliation with a number of families. Pache (2016) considers Pumé to be related to the Chocoan languages, citing evidence from lexical and sound correspondences. Some shared lexical items between Pumé and Chocoan (Pache (2016) cites Yaruro and Epena forms from the Intercontinental Dictionary Series):
{| class="wikitable" ! Pumé!! Chocoan |- | dac͡ço ‘eye, face,’ c͡ço ‘seed, fruit, nut’ || Epena tautʰu ‘forehead’ |- | da ‘eye’ (used in complex forms) || Proto-Chocoan **da ‘eye region,’ **da-ˈbu ‘eye,’ Epena ˈtau ‘eye’ |- | duɾi ‘after’ || Proto-Chocoan **duˈɾi ‘tail’ |- | ɡõã ‘meat, flesh,’ goe ‘blood’ || Proto-Emberá *uˈa ‘blood’ |- | hu ‘bone,’ hu c͡çia ‘strong’ || Proto-Chocoan **huˈa ‘arm, hand,’ Epena huaˈtau ‘strong’ |- | i ‘skin’ || Proto-Emberá *ˈe ‘skin’ |- | ĩbu ‘nose’ || Proto-Chocoan **kẽˈbu ‘nose’ |- | ic͡çi ‘hand’ || Epena iˈsia ‘wing’
Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Saliba-Hodi, Arawak, Bora-Muinane, Choko, Witoto-Okaina, and Waorani language families due to contact.
English Pumé Hodi village bærʊ-pæ̃ balo to drink ui ‘water’ woi to cut koa ʰkʷai to lie down ãrẽ ʰjali fire kʰõdæ ʰkule brother ajĩ- hãjẽ ‘little brother’ "alligator" [caiman] ari aulẽ cloud ɡõãrã kʷa blood ɡoe iʰkwə venom ɲeetowe jẽtohai wasp mu mo to go back/to walk manau ‘to walk’; mana ‘way’ mãnã ‘to go back’
English Pumé Proto-Bora-Muinane spider mãkã *paaɡa- sweet potato ʧerame Muinane ʤírúúmɨba snake poana *buua smoke ʧʰʊ *ttsu cassava pae *paikuumɯɯ night pe *pəkko sun do *nɯʔ-
English Pumé Waorani you (plural) mɛnɛrɔ mĩnitõ bee ẽmi æamo path nõ taa-dõ house hõ õ-kõ sky ãde õ-õdæ to sleep mõã bõ peccary aboea amo hot kʊa-kʊ-a ãgõã
Phonology Yaruro has one of the largest phonologies in the region, with 19 consonants and 15 vowels making for a total of 34 phonemes.
Consonants LabialDentalPostalveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosivevoicelessaspiratedvoicedAffricatevoicelessaspiratedvoicedFricativeNasalTap
Vowels FrontCentralBackunroundedroundedHighoralnasalClose-midOpen-midoralnasalLoworalnasal
Orthography The Pumé alphabet was devised in 1982.
Further reading Obregón Muñoz, H. (1981). Léxico yaruro-español, español-yaruro. Caracas: Ministerio de Educación.
Notes
External links
Yaruro (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)