| Chiquitano | |
|---|---|
| Chiquito | |
| Besïro | |
| Pronunciation | [ˈbesɨro] |
| Native to | Bolivia,Brazil |
| Region | Santa Cruz (Bolivia);Mato Grosso (Brazil) |
| Ethnicity | c. 100,000Chiquitanos |
Native speakers | 2,400 (2021)[1] |
Macro-Jê?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Bolivia |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | cax |
| Glottolog | chiq1253 Chiquitanosans1265 Sansimoniano |
| ELP | Chiquitano |
 | |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
Chiquitano (alsoBésɨro orTarapecosi) is an indigenouslanguage isolate, possibly one of theMacro-Jê languages spoken in the central region ofSanta Cruz Department of easternBolivia and the state ofMato Grosso inBrazil.
Chiquitano is usually considered to be alanguage isolate.Joseph Greenberg linked it to theMacro-Jê languages in his proposal,[2] but the results of his study have been later questioned due to methodological flaws.[3][4]
Kaufman (1994) suggests a relationship with theBororoan languages.[5] Adelaar (2008) classifies Chiquitano as aMacro-Jê language,[6] while Nikulin (2020) suggests that Chiquitano is rather a sister ofMacro-Jê.[7] More recently, Nikulin (2023) classified Chiquitano as a branch of Macro-Jê instead of as a sister branch of it.[8]
The Sansimoniano dialect has also been proposed to be aChapacuran language.[10][11]
According toČestmír Loukotka (1968), dialects areTao (Yúnkarirsh), Piñoco, Penoqui, Kusikia, Manasi, San Simoniano, Churapa.[12]
Otuke, aBororoan language, was also spoken in some of the missions.[12]
Chiquitano varieties listed by Nikulin (2020):[7]
Nikulin (2019) proposes thatCamba Spanish has a Piñoco substratum. Camba Spanish was originally spoken inSanta Cruz Department, Bolivia, but is now also spoken inBeni Department andPando Department.[16]
Some Chiquitano also prefer to call themselvesMonkóka (plural form for 'people'; the singular form for 'person' isMonkóxɨ).[1]
Nikulin also tentatively proposes anEastern subgroup for the varieties spoken inSan Ignacio de Velasco,Santiago de Chiquitos, and Brazil.[1]
In Brazil, Chiquitano is spoken in the municipalities ofCáceres,Porto Esperidião,Pontes e Lacerda, andVila Bela da Santíssima Trindade in the state ofMato Grosso.[17][18]
The following list of Jesuit and pre-Jesuit-era historical dialect groupings of Chiquitano is from Nikulin (2019),[16] after Matienzo et al. (2011: 427–435)[19] andHervás y Panduro (1784: 30).[20] The main dialect groups were Tao, Piñoco, and Manasi.
| Subgroup | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Aruporé, Bohococa (Bo(h)oca) | Concepción |
| Bacusone (Basucone, Bucofone, Bucojore) | San Rafael |
| Boro (Borillo) | San José,San Juan Bautista,Santo Corazón |
| Chamaru (Chamaro, Xamaru, Samaru, Zamanuca) | San Juan Bautista |
| Pequica | San Juan Bautista, afterwardsSan Miguel |
| Piococa | San Ignacio,Santa Ana |
| Piquica | east of the Manasicas |
| Purasi (Puntagica, Punasica, Punajica, Punaxica) | San Javier,Concepción |
| Subareca (Subarica, Subereca, Subercia, Xubereca) | San Javier |
| Tabiica (Tabica, Taviquia) | San Rafael,San Javier |
| Tau (Tao, Caoto) | San Javier,San José,San Miguel,San Rafael,San Juan Bautista,Santo Corazón |
| Tubasi (Tubacica, Tobasicoci) | San Javier, afterwardsConcepción |
| Quibichoca (Quibicocha, Quiviquica, Quibiquia, Quibichicoci), Tañepica, Bazoroca | unknown |
| Subgroup | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Guapa, Piñoca, Piococa | San Javier |
| Motaquica, Poxisoca, Quimeca, Quitaxica, Zemuquica, Taumoca | ?San Javier,San José, San José de Buenavista or Desposorios (Moxos) |
| Subgroup | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Manasica, Yuracareca, Zibaca (Sibaca) | Concepción |
| Moposica, Souca | east of the Manasicas |
| Sepe (Sepeseca), Sisooca, (?) Sosiaca | north of the Manasicas |
| Sounaaca | west of the Manasicas |
| Obariquica, Obisisioca, Obobisooca, Obobococa, Osaaca, Osonimaca, Otaroso, Otenenema, Otigoma | northernChiquitanía |
| Ochisirisa, Omemoquisoo, Omeñosisopa, Otezoo, Oyuri(ca) | northeasternChiquitanía |
| Cuzica (Cusica, Cusicoci), Omonomaaca, Pichasica, Quimomeca, Totaica (Totaicoçi), Tunumaaca, Zaruraca | unknown |
Peñoquí (Gorgotoqui?), possibly aBororoan language, was spoken inSan José. It was soon replaced by the Piñoco dialect, and was so divergent that Father Felipe Suarez, who authored a Chiquitano grammar, had to translate thecatechism and compile a dictionary of it.[21] The dictionary is held at the Archivo de la Sociedad Geográfica deSanta Cruz de la Sierra.[22]
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t̪ | t | t͡ʃ | k | ʔ |
| Fricative | β | s | ʃ | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Rhotic | r | |||||
| Glide | w | j |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
Chiquitano has regressive assimilation triggered by nasal nuclei/ɨ̃ĩũõãẽ/ and targetingconsonantonsets within a morpheme.
The language has CV, CVV, and CVC syllables. It does not allow complex onsets or codas. The only codas allowed are nasal consonants.
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for different dialects of Chiquito (Chiquitano).[25]
| gloss | Chiquito | Yúnkarirsh | San Simoniano | Churápa |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tooth | oh-ox | oän | noosh | |
| tongue | otús | natä | iyúto | |
| foot | popez | popess | pipín | ípiop |
| woman | pais | páirsh | paá | páish |
| water | toʔus | tush | túʔush | |
| fire | péz | péesh | peés | |
| sun | suur | suursh | sóu | súush |
| manioc | tauax | táhuash | tabá | tawásh |
| tapir | okitapakis | tapakish | oshtápakish | |
| house | ogox | póosh | ípiosh | |
| red | kiturixi | kéturuk | kéturikí |
For a vocabulary list of Chiquitano by Santana (2012),[26] see thePortuguese Wiktionary.
Chiquitano has borrowed extensively from an unidentified Tupí-Guaraní variety; one example is Chiquitanotakones [takoˈnɛs] ‘sugarcane’, borrowed from a form close toParaguayan Guaranítakuare'ẽ ‘sugarcane’.[16]: 8 There are also numerous Spanish borrowings.
Chiquitano (or an extinct variety close to it) has influenced theCamba variety of Spanish. This is evidenced by the numerous lexical borrowings of Chiquitano origin in local Spanish. Examples includebi ‘genipa’,masi ‘squirrel’,peni ‘lizard’,peta ‘turtle, tortoise’,jachi ‘chicha leftover’,jichi ‘worm; jichi spirit’, among many others.[16]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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