Tacanan languages
Language family of Bolivia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
distributionBolivia
- Ese Ejja
- Araona–Tacana
| 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
Toromono 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)
Below 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
Vocabulary
Sample 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
Associated motion
Tacanan languages, in particular Cavineña and Ese Ejja, have among the richest associated motion systems in the world's languages.[4]
Further reading
- Girard, Victor (1971). Proto-Takanan Phonology (University of California Publications in Linguistics, 70.) Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.