Tacanan is a family of languages spoken in Bolivia, with Ese’ejja also spoken in Peru. It may be related to the Panoan languages. Many of the languages are endangered.
| Takanan | |
|---|---|
| Tacanan | |
| Geographic distribution | Bolivia |
| Linguistic classification | Pano–Tacanan?
|
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | taca1255 |
 Takanan languages (light green) and Panoan languages (dark green). Spots indicate documented locations. | |
Family division
editToromono may be extinct. Another extinct Tacanan language is Mabenaro; Arasa has been classified as Tacanan, but appears to have more in common with Panoan.
Loukotka (1968)
editBelow is a full list of Tacanan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.[1]
- Tacana - language with many relationships with the Arawak and Pano languages, spoken on the Beni River, Tuichi River, and Tequeje River, territory of Colonia, Bolivia; now spoken by only a few families. Dialects are:
- Tumupasa / Maracáni - spoken on the Uchipiamona River in the same region.
- Isiama / Ydiama - spoken on the Unduma River and around Ydiama.
- Araona - spoken on the Madre de Dios River and Manuripi River in Colonia, Bolivia
- Capechene / Capaheni - unknown language spoken on the Xapuri River and Rosiano River, Acre territory, Brazil. (Unattested.)
- Sapiboca - extinct language once spoken at the old mission of Reyes, Beni province, Bolivia.
- Chirigua / Shiribá - extinct language once spoken at the old mission of Santa Buenaventura, Beni. (Unattested.)
- Guarizo - extinct language once spoken at the old missions of Reyes and San Antonio de Isiama.
- Maropa - spoken in the vicinity of Lake Rogoaguado, Beni, now probably extinct.
- Guacanahua / Chama / Ese'ejja - spoken by a small tribe on the Madidi River and Undumo River, La Paz province, Bolivia.
- Mabenaro - spoken on the Manuripi River.
- Caviña / Cavineña - once spoken on the Cavinas River, Madidi River, and Beni River, now probably extinct.
- Toromona - once spoken between the Madidi River, Beni River, and Madre de Dios River, now perhaps extinct.
- Arasa - language spoken by the greater part of the Arazaire tribe (of Pano stock) on the Marcopata River and Arasa River.
- Tiatinagua / Mohino / Chuncho / Huarayo / Baguaja / Tambopata-Guarayo / Echoja - spoken by a tribe on the Peru-Bolivia border, on the Tambopata River.
Language contact
editVocabulary
editSample vocabulary of four Tacanan languages, along with Proto-Panoan for comparison, from Nikulin (2019):[3]
gloss Ese Ejja Araona Cavineña Tacana Proto-Panoan liver e-kakʷa tákʷa e-takʷa e-takʷa *takʷa tongue ej-ana e-ána j-ana j-ana *hana blood ami ami ami *himi you (sg.) mi-a mi mi- mi *mi hand e-me e-me e-me-tuku e-me *mɨ- earth meʃi mezizo metʃi ‘soil’ med’i *mai meat e-jami e-ami e-rami j-ami ‘muscle’ *rami stone mahana makana *maka bone e-sá e-tsoa e-tsau e-tsau *ʂao (finger)nail e-me-kiʃe Ø-mé-tezi e-me-tid’i *mɨ̃-tsis fat e-sei e-tsei e-tseri e-tsei *ʂɨ[n]i tooth e-sé e-tse e-tse e-tse *ʂɨta
Verbal morphology
editAssociated motion
editTacanan languages, in particular Cavineña and Ese Ejja, have among the richest associated motion systems in the world's languages.[4]
Further reading
edit- Girard, Victor (1971). Proto-Takanan Phonology (University of California Publications in Linguistics, 70.) Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Notes
edit- ↑ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ↑ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
- ↑ Nikulin, Andrey V. The classification of the languages of the South American Lowlands: State-of-the-art and challenges / Классификация языков востока Южной Америки. Illič-Svityč (Nostratic) Seminar / Ностратический семинар, October 17, 2019.
- ↑ Guillaume, Antoine. 2016. Associated motion in South America: Typological and areal perspectives. Linguistic Typology 20(1). 81–177
References
edit- Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press.
- Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
- Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70414-3.
- Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the world's languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.
External links
edit- Proel: Familia Tacanana
- Tacana language dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)