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Yao language (Cariban)

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Yao
Jaoi
Yebarana
Native toTrinidad, French Guiana
EthnicityYao
Era17th century
Cariban
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologyaoa1239
  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

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Yao is too poorly attested to classify within Cariban with any confidence, though Terrence Kaufman links it to the extinct Tiverikoto.[2]

Vocabulary

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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

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  1. ^ Tassinari (2003) No Bom da Festa, p 122–125
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Taylor, Douglas MacRae (1977). Languages of the West Indies. The Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0801817298.