Yao language (Cariban)
| Yao | |
|---|---|
| Jaoi | |
| Yebarana | |
| Native to | Trinidad, French Guiana |
| Ethnicity | Yao |
| Era | 17th century |
Cariban
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | yaoa1239 |
 Yao | |
Yao (Jaoi, Yaoi, Yaio, "Anacaioury") was a Cariban language that was spoken in Trinidad and French Guiana up until its extinction in the 17th century. The language was attested in a single 1640 word list recorded by Joannes de Laet. It is thought that the Yao people migrated from the Orinoco to the islands perhaps a century earlier, after the Kaliña.[1] The name 'Anacaioury' is that of a number of chiefs encountered over a century or so.
Classification
[edit]Yao is too poorly attested to classify within Cariban with any confidence, though Terrence Kaufman links it to the extinct Tiverikoto.[2]
Vocabulary
[edit]A few of the attested words are: nonna or noene 'moon', weyo 'sun', capou 'light', chirika 'star', pepeïte 'wind', kenape 'rain', soye 'earth', parona 'sea', ouapoto 'fire', aroua 'jaguar', pero 'dog'.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Tassinari (2003) No Bom da Festa, p 122–125
- ^ Kaufman, Terrence (1994). Moseley, Christopher; Asher, R.E. (eds.). Atlas of the World's Languages. New York: Routledge. pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-415-01925-7.
- ^ Taylor, Douglas MacRae (1977). Languages of the West Indies. The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801817298.
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- Cariban languages
- Extinct languages of South America
- Indigenous languages of the Caribbean
- Languages of French Guiana
- Languages extinct in the 17th century
- Languages of Trinidad and Tobago
- Indigenous peoples in French Guiana
- Indigenous peoples in Trinidad and Tobago
- Indigenous languages of the Americas stubs