Yao language (Cariban)
Extinct Cariban language of South America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yao (Jaoi, Yaoi, Yaio, "Anacaioury") was a Cariban language that was spoken in Trinidad and French Guiana up until its extinction in the 17th century. The language was attested in a single 1640 word list recorded by Joannes de Laet. It is thought that the Yao people migrated from the Orinoco to the islands perhaps a century earlier, after the Kaliña.[1] The name 'Anacaioury' is that of a number of chiefs encountered over a century or so.
Classification
Yao is too poorly attested to classify within Cariban with any confidence, though Terrence Kaufman links it to the extinct Tiverikoto.[2]
Vocabulary
A few of the attested words are: nonna or noene 'moon', weyo 'sun', capou 'light', chirika 'star', pepeïte 'wind', kenape 'rain', soye 'earth', parona 'sea', ouapoto 'fire', aroua 'jaguar', pero 'dog' (from Spanish).[3]
