Jirajaran languages

Infobox Language family
name = Jirajaran
region = Western Venezuela
familycolor = American
child1 = Jirajara
child2 = Ayomán
child3 = Gayón


map_caption =Pre-contact distribution of the Jirajaran languages

The Jirajaran languages are group of extinct languages once spoken in western Venezuela in the regions of Falcón and Lara. All of the Jirajaran languages appear to have become extinct in the early 20th Centurycite book
last=Adelaar
first=Willem F. H.
coauthors=Pieter C. Muysken
title=The Languages of the Andes
year=2004
publisher=Cambridge University Press
location=Cambridge
isbn=052136275X
pages=129-30] .

Characteristics

Based on the little documentation that exists, a number of typological characteristics are reconstructablecite book
last=Costenla Umaña
first=Adolfo
title=Las Lenguas del Área Intermedia: Introducción a su Estudio Areal
year=1991
month=May
publisher=Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica
location=San José
language=Spanish
isbn=9977-67-158-3
pages=56-8] :

;1. VO word order in transitive clauses:apasi mamán (Jirajara):I.cut my.hand:"I cut my hand"

;2. Subjects precede verbs:depamilia buratá (Ayamán):the.family is.good:"The family is good"

;3. Possessors which precede the possessed:shpashiú yemún (Ayamán):arc its.rope:"the arc of the rope"

;4. Adjectives follow the nouns they modify:pok diú (Jirajara):hill big:"big hill"

;5. Numerals precede the nouns they quantify:boque soó (Ayamán):one cigarette:"one cigarette"

;6. Use of postpositions, rather than prepositions:angüi fru-ye (Jirajara):I.go Siquisique-to:"I go to Siquisique."

Classification

The Jirajaran languages are generally regarded as isolates. Adelaar and Muysken note certain lexical similarities with the Timotean languages and typological similarity to the Chibchan languages, but state that the data is too limited to make a definitive classification. Jahn, among others, has suggested a relation between the Jirajaran language and the Betoi languages, mostly on the basis of similar ethnonymscite book
last=Jahn
first=Alfredo
title=Los Aborígenes del Occidente de Venezuela
origyear=1927
year=1973
publisher=Monte Avila Editores, C.A.
location=Caracas
language=Spanish] . Greenberg and Ruhlen classify Jirajaran as belonging to the Paezan language family, along with the Betoi languages, the Páez language, the Barbacoan languages and others [citation
last1=Greenberg
first1=Joseph
authorlink1=Joseph Greenberg
last2 =Ruhlen
first2 =Merritt
author2-link =Merritt Ruhlen
title=An Amerind Etymological Dictionary
url=http://www.merrittruhlen.com/files/AED5.pdf
format=pdf
accessdate=2008-06-27
edition=12
series=
volume=
date=2007-09-04
publisher=Dept. of Anthropological Sciences Stanford University
location=Stanford] .

Family Division

Based on adequate documentation, three languages are definitively classified as belonging to the Jirajaran family:

*Jirajara, spoken in the state of Falcón
*Ayomán, spoken in the village of Siquisique in the state of Lara
*Gayón, spoken at the sources of the Tocuyo River in the state of Lara

Loukotka includes four additional languages, for which no linguistic documentation exists cite book
last = Loukotka
first = Čestmír
title = Classification of South American Indian Languages
publisher = UCLA Latin American Center
date = 1968
location = Los Angeles
pages = 254-5 ] :

*Coyone, spoken at the sources of the Portuguesa River in the state of Portuguesa
*Cuiba, spoken near the city of Aricagua
*Atatura, spoken between the Rocono and Tucupido rivers
*Aticari, spoken along the Tocuyo River

Vocabulary Comparison

References