Yucuna language
Arawakan language of Colombia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yucuna (Jukuna), also known as Matapi, Yucuna-Matapi, and Yukunais,[1] is an Arawakan language spoken in several communities along the Mirití-Paraná River in Colombia.[2] Extinct Guarú (Garú) was either a dialect or a closely related language. Yucuna is a polysynthetic language, and it uses SVO word order.[3]
NativetoColombia
RegionMiritiparaná River
Native speakers
(1,800 cited 2001)[1]Arawakan
-
Northern
- Upper Amazon
- Western Nawiki
- Yucuna
- Western Nawiki
- Upper Amazon
The Matapi, a Tucanoan people, lived at the headwaters of the Popeyacá and Yapiyá, tributaries to the Miriti River and Apaporis River but most may have been sold as slaves or moved to Brazil. The remainder joined the Yucuna.[4]
Phonology
The Yucuna phoneme inventory consists of 16 consonants and 5 vowels.[5]
