Yurumanguí language

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.

Yurumanguí
Yurimangí
Native to	Colombia
Era	attested 1768
Language family	unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Linguist List	qic
Glottolog	yuru1243

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.

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.