| Warao | |
|---|---|
| Guarauno | |
| Native to | Venezuela,Guyana,Suriname |
| Ethnicity | Warao |
Native speakers | 32,800 (2005–2011)[1] |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Venezuela |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wba |
| Glottolog | wara1303 |
| ELP | Warao |
 | |
Warao (also known asGuarauno,Guarao,Warrau) is the native language of theWarao people. Alanguage isolate, it is spoken by about 33,000 people primarily in northernVenezuela,Guyana andSuriname. It is notable for its unusualobject–subject–verb word order.[2] The 2015 Venezuelan filmGone with the River was spoken in Warao.[3]
Warao appears to be alanguage isolate, unrelated to any recorded language in the region or elsewhere.[4] Terrence Kaufman (1994) included it in his hypotheticalMacro-Paezan family, but the necessary supporting work was never done.[5]Julian Granberry connected many of the grammatical forms, including nominal and verbalsuffixes, of Warao to theTimucua language of North Florida, also a language isolate.[6] However, he has also derived Timucua morphemes from Muskogean, Chibchan, Paezan, Arawakan, and other Amazonian languages, suggesting multi-languagecreolization as a possible explanation for these similarities.[5]
Granberry noted "Waroid" vocabulary items inTaíno, such asnuçay ornozay [nosái]'gold' in the Ciboney dialect (cf. Waraonaséi símo'gold'lit. 'yellow pebble') andduho'ceremonial stool' in Classic Taíno (cf. Waraoduhu'sit, stool').
He also finds such similarities withGuajiro; from toponymic evidence it seems that the Warao or a related people once occupied Goajiro country. Granberry & Vescelius (2004) note that toponymic evidence suggests that the pre-TainoMacorix language of Hispaniola and theGuanahatabey language of Cuba may have beenWaroid languages as well.
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with theCariban,Arutani,Máku, andSape language families due to contact within an earlierGuiana Highlands interaction sphere.[7]
The language had an estimated 28,100 speakers inVenezuela as of 2007. TheWarao people live chiefly in theOrinoco Delta region of northeastern Venezuela, with smaller communities in southwesternTrinidad (Trinidad and Tobago), westernGuyana andSuriname.[8] The language is considered endangered byUNESCO.[9]
Historical sources mention ethnic groups in the Orinoco Delta such asSiawani (Chaguanes),Veriotaus (Farautes), andTiuitiuas (Tibitíbis) that spoke Warao or languages closely related to modern Warao. Other extinct groups include:[10]: 1243
Loukotka (1968) lists the following varieties:[11]
The Warao consonant inventory is small, but not quite as small as many other South American inventories.
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | labialized | |||||
| Plosive | p | t | k | kʷ | ||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Tap | ɺ | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||
The labial plosive/p/ is usually realized as voiced[b]./ɺ/ has an allophone[d] word-initially and[ɾ] when between/i,a/ and/a/.
There are five oral vowels/a,ɛ,i,ɔ,u/ and five nasal vowels/ã,ẽ,ĩ,õ,ũ/. After/k/, in word-initial position,/u/ becomes[ɨ].[13]
The language's basicword order has been analyzed asobject–subject–verb, a very rare word order amongnominative–accusative languages such as Warao.[14]
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Uarao and Mariusa, both of which he considers dialects of the Uarao (Warao) parent language.[11]
| gloss | Uarao | Mariusa |
|---|---|---|
| one | isaka | xisaka |
| two | manámo | manamo |
| three | dianamu | dixamo |
| head | akua | naxoto |
| eye | kamu | mu |
| tooth | kai | i |
| man | nibora | |
| water | ho | xo |
| fire | hekono | xeunu |
| sun | yá | xokoxi |
| manioc | aru | aru |
| jaguar | tobe | tobe |
| house | xanóko | ubanoko |
