Chamicuro language

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Chamicuro (Chamicuro: Chamekolo [ˌt͡ʃameˈkod͡ɮo],[3] referring to a type of worm[4]) is a nearly extinct South American language spoken in Peru. The language was used by the Chamicuro people, who number around one hundred people. The Chamicuros currently live on a tributary of the Huallaga river, in Peru, in an area called Pampa Hermosa, though many had been dislocated to the Yavarí and Napo Rivers and to Brazil.[1]

Chamicuro
Chamicolo, Chamicura
Chamekolo
Pronunciation[ˌt͡ʃameˈkod͡ɮo]
Native toPeru
RegionPampa Hermosa
Ethnicity100 Chamicuro (2015)[1]
Native speakers
8 (2008)[2]
Arawakan
  • Southern
    • Western
      • Chamicuro
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-3ccc
Glottologcham1318
ELPChamicuro
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Status

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As with all native languages in Peru, Chamicuro was by default an official language in the area in which it was spoken. A dictionary has been published by the Chamicuro, however no children can speak the language as the community has shifted to Spanish.[5]

Classification

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Chamicuro is an Arawakan language.[4] However, it has been historically claimed to be a member of the Panoan language family instead; Julian Steward, writing in the Handbook of South American Indians, claimed that Chamicuro was linguistically close to Shipibo, a Panoan language.[6]

There is dispute as to whether the unattested language of the Aguano people was the same language as, or related to, Chamicuro. Čestmír Loukotka (1968) had identified it as a relative of Chamicuro,[7] but the Chamicuro report that the Aguano people spoke Quechua.[8][full citation needed][5]

Phonology

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Vowels

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Chamicuro has five vowels: /a, e, i, o, u/. All vowels have both short and long forms,[9] though long vowels are rare. It is not a tonal language.[4]

Consonants

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Consonants in Chamicuro[9]
Bilabial Alveolar Palato-
alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p t k ʔ
Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ ʈʂ
Fricative s ʃ ʂ h
Nasal m n ɲ
Lateral l ʎ
Flap ɾ
Semivowel j w

/l w j/ devoice to ʍ ȷ̊/ at the end of a syllable:[4]

/yelna/ [ˈjɛɬna] 'man, husband'
/kawsa/ [ˈkaʍsa] 'smoke'

A laminal alveolar fricative [s̻] occurs in Chamicuro as a realization of underlying /ʃ/, /ʃi/.[10]

Typology

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Chamicuro is an agglutinative language and has basic verb–subject–object word order. It distinguishes inalienable and alienable possession but not gender.[4]

References

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  1. 1 2 Chamicuro at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. Campbell, Lyle; Grondona, Verónica María, eds. (2012). The indigenous languages of South America: a comprehensive guide. The world of linguistics. Berlin; Boston: Mouton de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3.
  3. https://www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/9292
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Parker, Steve (2022). "Apuntes sobre la Gramática del Chamikuro" (PDF). Occasional Papers in Applied Linguistics. 14: 1–14.
  5. 1 2 Chamicuro at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009) Closed access icon
  6. Steward, Julian H. (1948). "Tribes of Peruvian and Ecuadorian Montaña". Handbook of South American Indians: The Tropical Forest Tribes. Bulletin / Bureau of American Ethnology / Smithsonian Institution 143. Vol. 3. Washington: Government Printing Office.
  7. Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
  8. Wise, 1987
  9. 1 2 Lev, Michael; Stark, Tammy; Chang, Will (2012). "Phonological inventory of Chamicuro". The South American Phonological Inventory Database (version 1.1.3 ed.). Berkeley: University of California: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Digital Resource.
  10. Parker, Steve (1 January 1990). "Laminal sibilants in Chamicuro". Work Papers of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, University of North Dakota Session. 34 (1). doi:10.31356/silwp.vol34.04. ISSN 0361-4700.