Battle of Honey Springs

Yurumanguí is an extinct language that was spoken along the Yurumanguí River of Colombia. It is known only through a short list of words and phrases recorded by Father Christoval Romero and given by him to Captain Sebastián Lanchas de Estrada, who included them in the report of his travels of 1768. Thereafter the language and its speakers disappear from the historical record.

Father Romero's word list was discovered in the archives and published, with analysis and commentary, by Rivet (1942), who argued that the language was a member of the Hokan language family. This claim is considered poor and unconvincing; a critique is given by Poser (1992). Swadesh (1963) saw connections with Opaye and Chamicura (Maipurean). Adelaar notes similarities with Esmeralda (Takame). However, it is generally considered unclassifiable due to the paucity of data.

Varieties

Loukotka (1968) included a number of purported languages from the same region in a Yurimangui stock in his language classification. These are Timba, Lili (at Cali), Yolo/Paripazo, Jamundi, and Puscajae/Pile. However, he notes that nothing is known of any of them. Their locations were:

  • Timba - Canambre River
  • Lili - around Cali
  • Yolo (Paripazo) - San Joaquín River
  • Jamundi - Cauca River
  • Puscajae (Pile) - left bank of the Dagila River

Vocabulary

Below are selected entries from the 1768 Yurumanguí vocabulary given in Ortiz (1946), with original Spanish glosses and translated English glosses.[1]

Spanish gloss
(original)
English gloss
(translated)
Yurumanguí
comer eat lamá
come tu you eat lamaé
beber drink chuma
bebe tu you drink chumaé
la candela, o fuego candle; fire angua
la leña firewood anga
el río river ayo
el agua water aia
plátano banana cua
el sol sun cicona
la luna moon digia
la casa house yuiua
dormir sleep angasa
bañarse bathe pun pun
los frijoles beans aimaca
mujer woman quitina
hombre man queobai
madre mother caigi
padre father maa
el tigre jaguar aguabai layaco; cananagua
el conejo rabbit naupica
el puerco montés wild pig naubaca
el gavilán hawk yuoica
el papagayo parrot taucano
el maíz maize aocona
los oídos ears auciá
el peine comb aubaisa
la ceniza ashes augafa
las alas de ave wings of bird aicán
el relámpago lightning angaisa
yo I acá; asa
está lejos far aiaba
el camino path angaipoa
machete machete baical
el hacha axe totoque
la puerta door bai
el sombrero hat sipana
la olla pot lictina
el canasto basket pitina
la yuca cassava nasotasi
el corazón heart colopeiaisa; bibaspa
el alma o respiración soul; breath sipia sinaisa
el cielo sky siaa
morir die saisa
ya murió died saibai
mariposa butterfly cauba
coser sew blaisa
matar kill aimasa
los dientes teeth tina
la cabeza head caicona
los ojos eyes couna
el pelo hair cailusa
la frente forehead laiga
la cara face caumaca
la mano hand aisca
las uñas fingernails yacuisa
estar cansado be tired cafeisa
hermanos siblings yasa
la leche milk tuiusa
el queso cheese vecatuta
las estrellas stars nanaa
la noche night maisa
el día day baisa
aguja needle ypena
afeitar shave yebe
el perro dog cuan
el colmillo fang tinza
la vena vein yaisina
la sangre blood yaa
el tábano fly (insect) quipua
estar lloviendo raining siga
tronar thunder (verb) bisca
fruta silvestre wild fruit tamea
periquito parakeet ilica
la arena sand sibesa
la saliva saliva zoima
la tierra earth minni

Bibliography

  • Loukotka, Čestmír (1968) Classification of South American Indian Languages. University of California, Los Angeles.
  • Ortiz, Sergio Elias (1946) Los Indios Yurumanguíes. Boletín de Historia y Antigüedades XXXII.731-748.
  • Poser, William J. (1992) The Salinan and Yurumanguí Data in Language in the Americas. International Journal of American Linguistics 58.2.202-22. PDF
  • Rivet, Paul (1942) Un dialecte Hoka Colombien: le Yurumangí. Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris 34.1-59.

References

  1. ^ a b Ortiz, Sergio Elias (1946) Los Indios Yurumanguíes. Boletín de Historia y Antigüedades XXXII.731-748.