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 Century.[1]
Languages
Based on adequate documentation, three languages are definitively classified as belonging to the Jirajaran family:[1]
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.[1] Jahn, among others, has suggested a relation between the Jirajaran language and the Betoi languages, mostly on the basis of similar ethnonyms.[4] 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.[5]
Typology
Based on the little documentation that exists, a number of typological characteristics are reconstructable:[6]
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.[2]
Comparison of Jirajaran vocabulary, based on Loukotka (1968)
gloss
Jirajara
Ayomán
Gayón
one
bógha
two
auyí
three
mongañá
head
a-ktegi
a-tógh
is-tóz
ear
a-uñán
a-kivóugh
himigui
tooth
a-king
man
iyít
yúsh
yus
water
ing
ing
guayí
fire
dueg
dug
dut
sun
yuaú
iñ
yivat
maize
dos
dosh
dosivot
bird
chiskua
chiskua
house
gagap
gagap
hiyás
References
^ abcAdelaar, Willem F. H.; Pieter C. Muysken (2004). The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 129–30. ISBN0-521-36275-X.
^Costenla Umaña, Adolfo (May 1991). Las Lenguas del Área Intermedia: Introducción a su Estudio Areal (in Spanish). San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica. pp. 56–8. ISBN9977-67-158-3.