Mure is an extinct language of Bolivia.
Classification It was long considered a Chapacuran language, but the similarities are few, and are likely loans, as the Mure were missioned together with speakers of Chapacuran languages. Apart from those few words, the languages are "utterly different" according to Glottolog, a view that is shared by Birchall (2013). Other sources maintain that Mure is Chapacuran.
Geographical distribution The Mure lived in the Jesuit Missions of Moxos. They mostly resided in San Simón Mission, with some also living in San Francisco de Borja Mission together with the Movima. Neighbors of the Mure included the Rokorona.
Vocabulary Mure basic vocabulary items selected from the glossed interlinear texts below:
gloss Mure three raare in the sky/heaven vua-n-apina earth tiemao days tovona name vee 1.P (our) sere-
Sample texts Mure is attested only by a few surviving texts of the Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, and Nicene Creed.Teza, Emile. 1868. Saggi Inediti di lingue Americane. Annali delle Università Toscane (parte prima): Scienze Neologiche X. 43-44. The texts have been analyzed by Georges de Crequi-Montfort and Paul Rivet (1913). There are also sporadic mentions of the Mure language by Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro (1800: 251)Hervás y Panduro, Lorenzo. 1800. Lenguas y naciones Americanas. (Catálogo de las lenguas de las naciones conocidas, y numeracion, division, y clases de estas, I.) Madrid: Imprenta de la Administración del real arbitrio de beneficencia. xvi+396pp. and (1770).Cosme Bueno. 1770. Descripción del Obispado de Santa Cruz. (El conocimiento de los tiempos, ephemeride del año de 1771.) Lima: En la Imprenta Real; Calle de Palacio. 56pp.
The texts below are reproduced from Teza (1868). Interlinear analyses are adapted from de Crequi-Montfort & Rivet (1913), with the original French glossing also included.
Pater Noster The Lord's Prayer:
Analysis:
Ave Maria The Hail Mary:
Analysis:
Nicene Creed The Nicene Creed (adapted):
Analysis:
References