Waorani language

The Waorani (Huaorani) language, commonly known as Sabela (also Wao, Huao, Auishiri, Aushiri, Ssabela ; autonym: Wao Terero; pejorative: Auka, Auca) is a vulnerable language isolate spoken by the Huaorani people, an indigenous group living in the Amazon rainforest between the Napo and Curaray Rivers in Ecuador. A small number of speakers with so-called uncontacted groups may live in Peru.

Not to be confused with Aushiri language or Warao language.
Sabela
Huaorani / Waorani
Wao Terero
Native toEcuador, Peru
RegionOriente or Ecuadorian Amazon
Ethnicity1,800 Huaorani people (2012)[1]
Native speakers
2,000 (2004)[2]
Official status
Official language in
Ecuador: indigenous languages official in own territories
Language codes
ISO 639-3auc
Glottologwaor1240
ELPWaorani

Demographics

Waorani is primarily spoken in Waorani Ethnic Reserve, which is the largest indigenous reserve in Ecuador. Other areas where it is spoken include Pastaza and Napo provinces (including the towns of Puyo and Coca), Yasuní National Park, and the Taromenani Tagaeri Intangible Zone.[3]: 1191  Waorani is considered endangered due to growing bilingualism in Quechua and Spanish and diminishing Huaorani usage among youth.[1][4]

Dialects

Huaorani has three dialects: Tiguacuna (Tiwakuna), Tuei (Tiwi Tuei, Tiwi), and Shiripuno.

Language relations

Sabela is not known to be related to any other language. However, it forms part of Terrence Kaufman's Yawan proposal.

Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with Yaruro.[5]

Phonology

Huaorani distinguishes nasal vowels from oral ones. Syllable structure is (C)V, with frequent vowel clusters. The allophones of /o/ range from [ɵ, o, ʊ, ɤ] and the allophones of /õ/ have a similar range, [ɵ̃, õ, ʊ̃, ɤ̃], and allophones of /e, ẽ/ can be heard as [ɪ, ɪ̃]. The alveolar tap [ɾ] is an allophone of /d/ and the palatal glide [j] is an allophone of /ɟ/.

Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive Voiceless p t k
Voiced b d~ɾ ɟ~j ɡ
Continuant w
FrontBack
OralNasalOralNasal
Close iĩ
Mid eẽoõ
Open ææ̃aã

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Sabela and Tiwituey.[6]

glossSabelaTiwituey
one iríngaruki
two méa
head u-kabuu-kubo
eye a-wínkaa-winga
woman ohíñaunkia
fire chúngatua
sun nánkineinghi
star nemu
maize kad'ínghu
house húnku
white kúrimia

References
  1. Sabela at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. "Waorani". UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger. UNESCO. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
  3. Epps, Patience; Michael, Lev, eds. (2023). Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume II: Kanoé to Yurakaré. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-043273-2.
  4. Fawcett, Alexia Zandra (May 2012). "Documenting Language, Culture, and Cognition: Language and Space among the Waorani" (PDF). Anthropology and Linguistic Department, Bryn Mawr College. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  5. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  6. Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

Bibliography
  • Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
  • Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). Language in the Americas. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
  • Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language History in South America: What We Know and How to Know More. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), Amazonian Linguistics: Studies in Lowland South American languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70414-3.
  • Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The Native Languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the World's Languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.
  • Peeke, M. Catherine. (2003). A Bibliography of the Waorani of Ecuador. SIL International. Retrieved 2021 April 4 from https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/7801
  • Pike, Evelyn G and Rachel Saint. 1988. Workpapers Concerning Waorani discourse features. Dallas, TX: SIL.
  • Rival, Laura. Trekking through History: The Huaorani of Amazonian Ecuador, Columbia University Press, 2002.
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