Moxo languages
Arawakan subfamily of northeastern Bolivia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moxo (also known as Mojo, pronounced 'Moho') is any of the Arawakan languages spoken by the Moxo people of the Llanos de Moxos in northeastern Bolivia. The two extant languages of the Moxo people, Trinitario and Ignaciano, are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Arawakan languages. The extinct Magiana was also distinct.
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Moxo languages have an active–stative syntax.[2] It is one of the National Languages of Bolivia.
Sociolinguistic background
The languages belong to a group of tribes that originally ranged through the upper Mamoré, extending east and west from the Guapure (Itenes) to the Beni, and are now centered in the Province of Moxos, Department of Beni, Bolivia.[3] They form part of the Mamoré-Guaporé linguistic area.[4][5]
Moxo was also the primary lingua franca (Spanish: lengua general) used in the Jesuit Missions of Moxos.[6]
Ignaciano is used in town meetings unless outsiders are present, and it is a required subject in the lower school grades, one session per week. Perhaps half of the children learn Ignaciano. By the 1980s there were fewer than 100 monolinguals, all older than 30.
Classification
The Moxo languages are most closely related to Bauré, Pauna, and Paikoneka. Together, they form the Mamoré-Guaporé languages (named after the Mamoré River and Guaporé River). Classification by Jolkesky (2016):[7]: 8
Classification by Danielsen (2011) and Danielsen & Terhart (2014: 226):[8][9]
- Baure languages
- Bauré
- Carmelito
- Joaquiniano: spoken in San Joaquín
- Pauna languages
- Paunaka
- Paikoneka
- Mojo languages
- Trinitário: spoken in Trinidad
- Ignaciano: spoken in San Ignacio
- Loretano: spoken in Loreto
- Javierano: spoken in San Javier
- Muchojeone
Phonology
Consonants
- /h/ can be voiced as [ɦ] between vowels.
- /w/ can be heard as [β] before a front vowel, and as [ɥ] when preceding /j/.[11]
Vowels
- /e/ can also have an allophone of [ɛ].
Word lists
The following is a wordlist containing sample words from English to Moxos:
English | Moxos |
---|---|
One | Ikapia |
Two | Apisá |
Three | Impúse |
Man | Ehiro |
Woman | Eseno |
Sun | Sáche |
Water | Uni |
Fire | Yuku |
Head | Nuxuti |
Hand | Nubupe |
Corn | Suru |
Magíana word list from the late 1700s published in Palau and Saiz (1989):[12]: 170
Spanish gloss | English gloss | Magíana |
---|---|---|
bueno | good | shiomá |
malo | bad | shiomallama |
el padre | father | papá |
la madre | mother | kay |
el hermano | brother | nomasqui |
uno | one | huestiche |
dos | two | heravetá |
See also
- Indigenous languages of the Americas
- Classification of indigenous languages of the Americas
- Mesoamerican languages
- Language families and languages
- Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas
- Indigenous peoples of the Americas
- Category:Indigenous languages of the Americas (division into geocultural areas)
- Languages of Peru
- List of Spanish words of Indigenous American Indian origin
Further reading
- Carvalho, Fernando O. de; Françoise Rose. Comparative reconstruction of Proto-Mojeño and the phonological diversification of Mojeño dialects. LIAMES, Campinas, v. 18, n. 1, p. 3–44, Jan./Jun. 2018. doi:10.20396/liames.v1i1.8648804
- Key, Mary Ritchie. 2015. Ignaciano dictionary. In: Key, Mary Ritchie & Comrie, Bernard (eds.) The Intercontinental Dictionary Series. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- Gill, Ruth, and Wayne Gill. 2015. Trinitario dictionary. In: Key, Mary Ritchie & Comrie, Bernard (eds.) The Intercontinental Dictionary Series. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
References
External links
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