| Omagua | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Peru; formerly inBrazil |
| Ethnicity | Omagua |
Native speakers | 2 (2020)[1] |
Tupian
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | omg |
| Glottolog | omag1248 |
| ELP | Omagua |
Omagua is aTupi-Guarani language closely related toCocama,[3] belonging to the Group III subgroup of the Tupí-Guaraní family, according toAryon Rodrigues' classification of the family. Alternate names for Omagua include: Agua, Anapia, Ariana, Cambeba, Cambeeba, Cambela, Campeba, Canga-Peba, Compeva, Janbeba, Kambeba, Macanipa, Omagua-Yete, Pariana, Umaua, Yhuata.[4]
When Europeans first arrived in the western Amazon Basin in significant number in the late 17th and early 18th century, Omagua was spoken by approximately 100,000 individuals in two major areas: along theAmazon River proper, between the mouths of theNapo River andJutaí River, and in the vicinity of theAguarico River, a tributary of the upper Napo River. At this time, then, Omagua speakers lived in regions corresponding to modern eastern Peruvian Amazonia, western Brazilian Amazonia, and eastern Ecuadoran Amazonia.
These Omagua populations were decimated by disease, Portuguese slave raids, and conflicts with Spanish colonial authorities during the early 18th century, leaving them drastically reduced. As of 2011, Omagua was spoken by "fewer than ten elderly individuals" in Peru,[5] and by a number of semi-speakers near the town ofTefé in Brazil, where the language is known asCambeba (Grenand and Grenand 1997).
Comparative work by Cabral (1996) demonstrated that Omagua (and its sister language Cocama) exhibit significant grammatical restructuring effects due to intense language contact between a Tupí-Guaraní language and speakers of one or more non-Tupí-Guaraní languages. Rodrigues and Cabral (2003) further suggest that Cocama (and by extension, Omagua) could be considered the outcomes of rapid creolization. Cabral (1996) argued that this language contact transpired in the late 17th century inJesuit mission settlements, while Michael (2014)[3] argues that the language contact situation responsible for the genesis of Omagua and Cocama transpired during the Pre-Columbian period.
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar | Uvular | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | t | k | kʷ | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɴ | ||||
| Sibilantaffricate | (ts) | (t̠ʃ) | |||||
| Sibilantfricative | s | ʃ | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||
| Tap/flap | ɾ |
Omagua has thirteen consonants across five places of articulation. /ts/ and /tʃ/ only occur in a small number of words: /tʃ/ may have entered the inventory through loanwords fromCocama orQuechua.[1]
| Front | Near-front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u | |
| Near-close | ɪ | |||
| Open | a |
Omagua has five vowels: /i, ɪ, ɨ, u, a/. This is somewhat unusual, as there are four high vowels but only one low vowel (/a/).[1]