Warázu, also known as Pauserna or Guarasugwé (Guarasú'we), is a moribund Tupi–Guaraní language of Brazil. It was also formerly spoken in Bolivia.[2] It is spoken by the Guarasugwé people, who were estimated to number 125 according to a census in 2012.[3]
| Warázu | |
|---|---|
| Pauserna | |
| Guarasugwé | |
| Native to | Bolivia |
| Region | Rondônia, Brazil and Beni Department, Bolivia |
| Ethnicity | 46 (2000) |
| Extinct | Late 20th century[1] |
Tupian
| |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Bolivia |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | psm |
| Glottolog | paus1244 |
| ELP | Pauserna |
Classification
editWarázu is most closely related to Sirionó and Yuki (Yuqui). Ramirez (2017) places the classification of Warázu in the Guaraní subgroup of the Tupi-Guarani languages as follows:[2]
Names
editSpeakers are also known as Guaraiutá, Guaraju, Pauserna, Guarasugwe, or Warazúkwe [waɾaðúkwe].[2]
Demographics
editRamirez (2017) found only 2 remaining speakers of Warázu, an elderly couple consisting of Känä́tsɨ [kənə́tsɨ] (José Frei Leite) and Híwa (Ernestina Moreno). They were born in Riozinho (Urukuríti) in Rondônia, Brazil, and moved back and forth between Brazil and Bolivia until finally settling in Pimenteiras do Oeste, Rondônia.[2][4][5]
Traditionally, the Warázu people had lived in the following 7 villages along the banks of the Guaporé River. However, the Warázu language is no longer spoken in these localities.
- Riozinho (Urukurɨ́ti) (on the banks of the Riozinho River, a tributary of the Guaporé River), Brazil
- Acurizal, Brazil
- Campo Grande (on the banks of the Paragúa River, a tributary of the Guaporé River), Bolivia
- Bella Vista, Bolivia
- Jangada, Bolivia
- Barranco Vermelho, Bolivia
- Flechas, Bolivia
Phonology
editPhonological inventory of Warázu:[2]
Consonants
edit| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | sibilant | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Plosive | p | t | t͡s | k | ʔ |
| Continuant | ð | w/kʷ | h | ||
| Trill | r | ||||
- [ɲ], allophone of /n/
- [ɾʲ], allophone of /ɾ/
- [tʲ], allophone of /t/
- [ʝ], allophone of /ð/
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| Open | a |
Syllabic structure is (C)V or (C)VV.
Pronouns
editWarázu pronouns:[2]
pronoun Warázu I tsé you (sg.) né [á-pe] we (excl.) óre we (incl.) ðáne you (pl.) pé [peðó-pe] he, she áʔe
Vocabulary
editFor a list of Warázu plant and animal names from Ramirez (2017),[2] see the corresponding Portuguese article.
Further reading
edit- Anonymous (2015). Diccionario flora y fauna gwarasu. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Talleres Gráficos Kipus.
- Riester, Jürgen (1972). Die Pauserna-Guarasug’wä. Monographie eines Tupi-Guaraní-Volkes in Ostbolivien. St. Augustin bein Bonn: Verlag des Anthropos-Instituts.
- Riester, Jürgen (1976). En busca de la Loma Santa. Indígenas en el Oriente Boliviano. Análisis de su situación actual. La Paz: Editorial Los Amigos del Libro.
- Riester, Jürgen (1977). Los Guarasug’wé: Crónica de sus últimos días. La Paz: Editorial Los Amigos del Libro.
References
edit- ^ Warázu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ a b c d e f g Ramirez, Henri; Vegini, Valdir; França, Maria Cristina Victorino de (2017). "O warázu do Guaporé (tupi-guarani): Primeira descrição linguística" [Warázu of Guaporé (Tupi-Guarani): first linguistic description]. LIAMES (in Portuguese). 17 (2): 411–506. doi:10.20396/liames.v17i0.8647468.
- ^ "Censo de Población y Vivienda 2012 Bolivia Características de la Población" [Population and Housing Census 2012 Bolivia Characteristics of the Population]. Instituto Nacional de Estadística, República de Bolivia (in Spanish). p. 29.
- ^ Mori, Leticia (4 March 2018). "O Brasil tem 190 línguas indígenas em perigo de extinção". BBC (in Portuguese). São Paulo. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
- ^ "Pesquisa etnolinguística de docentes da UNIR é tema de reportagem da BBC". Universidade Federal de Rondônia (in Portuguese). 17 December 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
