Taruma language
{{Short description|Divergent language of South America}}
{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=pt|otherarticle=Língua taruma|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name = Taruma
| nativename = {{lang|tdm|udžĕssi}}
| state = Guyana, formerly Brazil & Suriname
| region = South of Aishalton
| speakers = 3
| date = 2022
| familycolor = American
| fam1 = Isolate or Katembri–Taruma ?
| iso3 = tdm
| linglist = qoi
| glotto = taru1236
| glottorefname = Taruma
| ethnicity = Taruma people
}}
Taruma (Taruamá) is a nearly extinct, divergent language of northeastern South America. It has been reported to be extinct several times since as far back as 1770, but Eithne Carlin discovered the last three speakers living in Maruranau among the Wapishana, and is documenting the language.{{cite web|website=Endangered Languages |url=https://endangeredlanguages.com/lang/6969 |title=Taruma |access-date=31 July 2022}}{{cite journal|author=Eithne Carlin |url=https://scholarlypublications.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A2883318/view |title=Feeling the need |year=2006 |page=315 |journal=Grammars in Contact: A Cross-linguistic Typology |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press}} The people and language are known as Saluma in Suriname.{{cite web|url=https://suriname.nu/301ges/indiaan07.html |title=Indianen, Inheemsen |website=Suriname.nu |access-date=31 July 2022 |language=nl}}
Classification
Taruma is unclassified.Carlin 2011 (p. 11 12){{Full citation needed|date=February 2025}} It has been proposed to be distantly related to Katembri (Kaufman 1990), but this relationship has not been repeated in recent surveys of South American languages (Campbell 2012).{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |authorlink=Lyle Campbell |editor1-last=Grondona |editor1-first=Verónica |editor2-last=Campbell |editor2-first=Lyle |date=2012 |title=The Indigenous Languages of South America |chapter=Classification of the indigenous languages of South America |series=The World of Linguistics |volume=2 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=59–166 |isbn=9783110255133}}
History
Taruma was spoken around the mouth of the Rio Negro during the late 1600s, but the speakers later moved to southern Guyana. In the 1940s, the Taruma tribe were reported to no longer exist as a distinct group.Campbell, Lyle. 2018. Language Isolates. New York: Routledge. However, their presence has recently been confirmed in the Wapishana village of Marunarau, where they are recognized as a distinct tribe.{{cite web|url=http://wapichanao.communitylands.org/maror.html |title=Marora Naawa Village |website=Wapichanao @ Community Lands|access-date=22 August 2022}} Only one of the three knows Taruma well enough to produce "coherent texts", and the other two have "a much weaker knowledge" of Taruma.{{Cite journal |last=Hammarström |first=Harald |date=September 2015 |title=Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: A comprehensive review: Online appendices |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/593411 |journal=Language |language=en |volume=91 |issue=3 |pages=s1–s188 |doi=10.1353/lan.2015.0049 |issn=1535-0665|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0029-1D58-0 |hdl-access=free }}
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Chibchan, Katukina-Katawixi, Arawak, Jeoromitxi, Tupi, Arawa, Jivaro, Karib, Mura-Matanawi, Tukano, Yanomami, and Kwaza language families due to contact.{{cite thesis|last=Jolkesky |first=Marcelo Pinho de Valhery |date=2016 |url=http://www.etnolinguistica.org/tese:jolkesky-2016-arqueoecolinguistica |title=Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas |type=Ph.D. dissertation |location=Brasília |publisher=University of Brasília |edition=2}}
The following table illustrates some of the aforementioned borrowing situations:{{cite thesis|last=Jolkesky |first=Marcelo Pinho de Valhery |date=2016 |url=http://www.etnolinguistica.org/tese:jolkesky-2016-arqueoecolinguistica |title=Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas |type=Ph.D. dissertation |location=Brasília |publisher=University of Brasília |edition=2}}{{Cite journal |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |date=1949 |title=La Langue Taruma |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24720800 |journal=Journal de la Société des américanistes |volume=38 |pages=53–65 |jstor=24720800 |issn=0037-9174}}{{Cite thesis |last=Bredero |first=Robin D. |title=Retracing the footsteps of the Taruma people |date=December 2021 |publisher=Wageningen University & Research |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357353111_Retracing_the_footsteps_of_the_Taruma_people}}
{{collapse top|Loanwords in Taruma by language}}
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Taruma !! Damana (Chibchan) !! Katukina !! Wapishana (Arawakan) !Mawayana (Arawakan)!! Arikapu !! Proto-Tupian !! Proto-Arawan !! Proto-Jivaroan !! Proto-Cariban !! Mura !! Proto-Tucanoan | |||||||||||
| father | aide | ade | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| sister | aʧi | asi | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| mouth | kukana | kəka | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| bird | zuri | suri | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| snake | báhũ | - | paɡo | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| wood | u | - | -ʔu | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| tick | piʤíʤi | - | piːʧiN | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| tobacco | suma | - | uːba | suuma
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| bow | kobara | - | - | sumara
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| star | wire | - | - | wiiʐi
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| go | maku | - | - | makʰu-n
| - | - | - | - | *maku 'leg' | - | - | - |
| monkey | rumi | - | - | ruumi
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| worm | pararu | - | - | pʰaʐaru
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| egg | dani | - | - | ʤani
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| chest | duku | - | - | ɗukʰuri
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| flea | kuwaba | - | - | kʰuwaiɓa
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| bottle
|pateli | - | - |pater | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||
| howler monkey
|rumi | - | - |rumi | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||
| calabash
|gŏlie | - | - | - |kawalie | | | | | | | | |||||||||||
| caiman | hiri | - | - | -
| - | uhiri | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| deer | konia | - | - | -
| - | kudi | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| dance (v.) | kabihwi | - | - | -
| - | kəwi | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| eat | ko | - | - | -
| - | - | *kˀu | - | - | - | - | - |
| path | afe | - | - | -
| - | - | *ape | - | - | - | - | - |
| arrow | kupa | - | - | -
| - | - | *ekʷˀɨp | - | - | - | - | - |
| salt | wuka | - | - | -
| - | - | *wukɨt | - | - | - | - | - |
| deer | hiʧi | - | - | -
| - | - | *ɨʧɨ | - | - | - | - | - |
| axe | bade | - | - | -
| - | - | - | *bari | - | - | - | - |
| wild dog | hi | - | - | -
| - | - | - | *-hi | - | - | - | - |
| forest | nukuda | - | - | -
| - | - | - | *nuku 'mountain' | - | - | - | - |
| peccary | baki 'tapir' | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | *paki | *pakira | - | - |
| leaf | ʤuka | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | *nuka | - | - | - |
| sweet-potato | aɸi | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | *napi | - | *jãpi |
| canoe | kanawa | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | *kanawa | - | - |
| hand | aɸũ | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | *apô 'arm' | - | - |
| earth | dudu | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | *nono | - | - |
| poison | kʷima | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | *kuma | - | - |
| fire | hʷa | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | hũai | - |
| breast | iwa | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | iiwe | - |
| mountain | uwai | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | uwe 'forest' | - |
| foot | apa | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | apai | - |
| tongue | njebena | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | *tʲʔeme |
| water | dja | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | *tʲʔia 'river' |
| three | wikʲã | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | *ɨtˀia |
| woman | ɡumi- | - | - | -
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | *tʔõmi- |
{{collapsebottom}}
Similarities with Chibchan (especially with the Magdalena and Dorasque-Changena subgroups) may be due to the former presence of Chibchan speakers in the Northeast Amazons.{{rp|327}} Similarities with Tucanoan suggest that Taruma had originated in the Caquetá basin.{{rp|348}}
Phonology
= Consonants =
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! colspan="2" |Bilabial ! colspan="2" |Alveolar ! rowspan="2" |Retroflex ! rowspan="2" |Palatal ! colspan="2" |Velar ! rowspan="2" |Glottal |
| voiceless
!voiced !voiceless !voiced !voiceless !voiced |
|---|
| colspan="2" |Nasal
| |m | |n | | | | | |
| rowspan="2" |Plosive
!plain |p |b |t |d | | |k |g |ʔ |
| lab.
| | | | | | |kʷ |gʷ | |
| rowspan="2" |Fricative
!plain | | |s | |ʐ |ɕ | | |h |
| lab.
|ɸʷ | | | | | | | | |
| colspan="2" |Tap
| | | |ɾ | | | | | |
= Vowels =
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.{{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |authorlink=Čestmír Loukotka |title=Classification of South American Indian languages |url=https://archive.org/details/classificationof0007louk |url-access=registration |publisher=UCLA Latin American Center |year=1968 |location=Los Angeles}}
:
| class="wikitable"
! gloss !! Taruma | |
| one | oshiwai |
| two | dzyowa |
| three | mikyahahi |
| head | a-dam |
| eye | a-tsi |
| man | gika |
| water | za |
| fire | fwa |
| sun | hwa |
| jaguar | dun |
| house | duiya |
For a list of Taruma words from Jolkesky (2016), see the corresponding Portuguese article.
Further reading
- Meira, Sérgio. (2015). Taruma wordlist. (Manuscript).
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
{{sister project |project=wiktionary |text=Wiktionary has a word list at Appendix:Taruma word lists}}
- Eithne B. Carlin (2011) "Nested Identities in the Southern Guyana Surinam Corner". In Hornborg & Hill (eds.) Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia.
- Eithne B. Carlin (2006) "Feeling the Need: The Borrowing of Cariban Functional Categories into Mawayana (Arawak)". In Aikhenvald & Dixon (eds.) Grammars in Contact: A Cross-Linguistic Typology, pp. 313–332. Oxford University Press.
{{South American languages}}
Category:Katembri–Taruma languages
Category:Indigenous languages of South America
Category:Extinct languages of South America