Piapoco language
| Piapoco | |
|---|---|
| Cháse | |
| Native to | Colombia, Venezuela |
Native speakers | 6,400 (2001–2007)[1] |
Arawakan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pio – inclusive codeIndividual code: pod – Ponares? |
| Glottolog | piap1246 Piapocopona1251 Ponares – undemonstrated |
| ELP | Piapoco |
Piapoco is an Arawakan language of Colombia and Venezuela.
A "Ponares" language is inferred from surnames, and may have been Piapoco or Achagua.
History
Piapoco is a branch of the Arawak language, which also includes Achagua and Tariana.[2] Piapoco is considered a Northern Arawak language.[3] There are only about 3,000 Piapoco speakers left today. These people live in the Meta, Vichada, and Guanviare rivers in Colombia[4] Piapoco speakers also reside in Venezuela.[5] It is an endangered language.[6]
Geography/Background
The Piapocos come from the larger tribe, the Piaroa, who are indigenous to the Amazon rain forest.[7] The Piapoco people originally lived in the midsection of Rio Guaviare, later moving in the 18th century to avoid settlers, missionaries, and others.[8]
Grammar
A Piapoco-Spanish dictionary containing 2,500 words was written by Deloris Klumpp, in which botanical identification of plants were captured, although not all.[3] The Piapoco language follows the following grammatical rules: plural suffix -nai used for animates only, derivational suffixes masculine -iri, feminine -tua, suffix -mi ‘late, defunct,’ nominalizing -si, declarative mood marker -ka.[3] Piapoco is unique in that it seems to be a nominative-accusative language.[3] The are eighteen segmental phonemes, fourteen consonant and four vowels in the Piapoco language.[9]
Bilingualism
The word Piapoco is a Spanish nickname in reference to the toucan.[4] Most Piapoco also speak Spanish.[8] Speakers who have had less contact with Spanish speakers more often pronounce the phoneme “s” as a voiceless interdental fricative.[9] Younger speakers of the Piapoco language tend to eliminate the “h” more than older speakers due to their contact with the Spanish language.[9]
When a large portion of people come in contact with another language and are competent in it, their language gradually becomes more like the other.[10] This allows for a gradual convergence, where grammar and semantics of one language begin to replicate the other.[10]
References
- ^ Piapoco at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Ponares? at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Seifart, F. (2012). Causative Marking in Resígaro (Arawakan): A Descriptive and Comparative Perspective. International Journal of American Linguistics, 78(3), 369-384. doi:10.1086/665917
- ^ a b c d http://www.jstor.org/stable/1265983
- ^ a b http://www.jstor.org/stable/1265211
- ^ "Did you know Piapoco is threatened?". Endangered Languages.
- ^ Did you know Piapoco is threatened? (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2017, from http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/2955
- ^ Piapoco Indians. (n.d.). Retrieved March 09, 2017, from http://www.indian-cultures.com/cultures/piapoco-indians/
- ^ a b Flowers, N. M. (n.d.). Piapoco. Retrieved March 09, 2017, from http://www.everyculture.com/South-America/Piapoco.html
- ^ a b c Klumpp, D. (1990). Piapoco Grammar. 1-136. Retrieved March 9, 2017, from https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/18810.
- ^ a b http://www.jstor.org/stable/4176787
 | This Arawakan languages-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |