Taruma language

Taruma (Taruamá) is a divergent language of northeastern Brazil. It has been reported to be extinct several times since as far back as 1770, but Eithne Carlin discovered the last speakers living among the Wapishana, and is documenting the language. It would seem that "Saluma" is the same language.

Taruma
Native toGuyana, formerly Brazil
RegionSouth of Aishalton
Native speakers
one family (as of 2009)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tdm
qoi
Glottologtaru1236
ELPTaruma[2]

Classification

Taruma is unclassified.[1] It has been proposed to be distantly related to Katembri (Kaufman 1990), but this relationship has not been repeated in recent surveys of South American languages (Campbell 2012).[3]

History

Taruma was spoken around the mouth of the Rio Negro during the late 1600s, but the speakers later moved to southern Guyana. Around the 1920s, Taruma speakers ceased having their own ethnic identity.[4]

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Chibchan, Katukina-Katawixi, Arawak, Jeoromitxi, Tupi, Arawa, Jivaro, Karib, Mura-Matanawi, Tukano, Yanomami, and Kwaza language families due to contact.[5]

The following table illustrates some of the aforementioned borrowing situations:[5]

glossTarumaDamana (Chibchan)KatukinaWapishana (Arawakan)ArikapuProto-TupianProto-ArawanProto-JivaroanProto-CaribanMuraProto-Tucanoan
fatheraideade---------
sisteraʧiasi---------
mouthkukanakəka---------
birdzurisuri---------
snakebáhũ-paɡo--------
woodu--ʔu--------
tickpiʤíʤi-piːʧiN--------
tobaccosuma-uːbasuuma-------
bowkobara--sumara-------
starwire--wiiʐi-------
gomaku--makʰu-n---*maku 'leg'---
monkeyrumi--ruumi-------
wormpararu--pʰaʐaru-------
eggdani--ʤani-------
chestduku--ɗukʰuri-------
fleakuwaba--kʰuwaiɓa-------
caimanhiri---uhiri------
deerkonia---kudi------
dance (v.)kabihwi---kəwi------
eatko----*kˀu-----
pathafe----*ape-----
arrowkupa----*ekʷˀɨp-----
saltwuka----*wukɨt-----
deerhiʧi----*ɨʧɨ-----
axebade-----*bari----
wild doghi-----*-hi----
forestnukuda-----*nuku 'mountain'----
peccarybaki 'tapir'------*paki*pakira--
leafʤuka------*nuka---
sweet-potatoaɸi-------*napi-*jãpi
canoekanawa-------*kanawa--
handaɸũ-------*apô 'arm'--
earthdudu-------*nono--
poisonkʷima-------*kuma--
firehʷa--------hũai-
breastiwa--------iiwe-
mountainuwai--------uwe 'forest'-
footapa--------apai-
tonguenjebena---------*tʲʔeme
waterdja---------*tʲʔia 'river'
threewikʲã---------*ɨtˀia
womanɡumi----------*tʔõmi-

Similarities with Chibchan (especially with the Magdalena and Dorasque-Changena subgroups) may be due to the former presence of Chibchan speakers in the Northeast Amazons.[5]:327 Similarities with Tucanoan suggest that Taruma had originated in the Caquetá basin.[5]:348

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.[6]

glossTaruma
oneoshiwai
twodzyowa
threemikyahahi
heada-dam
eyea-tsi
mangika
waterza
firefwa
sunhwa
jaguardun
houseduiya

For a list of Taruma words from Jolkesky (2016),[5] see the corresponding Portuguese article.

Further reading

Notes

  1. Carlin 2011 (p. 11 12)
  2. Endangered Languages Project data for Taruma.
  3. Campbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.). The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166. ISBN 9783110255133.
  4. Campbell, Lyle. 2018. Language Isolates. New York: Routledge.
  5. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  6. Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

References

  • Eithne B. Carlin (2011) "Nested Identities in the Southern Guyana Surinam Corner". In Hornborg & Hill (eds.) Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia.
  • Eithne B. Carlin (2006) "Feeling the Need: The Borrowing of Cariban Functional Categories into Mawayana (Arawak)". In Aikhenvald & Dixon (eds.) Grammars in Contact: A Cross-Linguistic Typology, pp. 313332. Oxford University Press.
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