Pijao (Piajao, Pinao) is an unclassified indigenous American language that was spoken in the villages of Ortega, Coyaima (Koyai, Tupe) and Natagaima in the Magdalena River Valley of Colombia until the 1950s.
| Pijao | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Colombia |
| Region | Tolima |
| Ethnicity | Pijao people |
| Extinct | 1950s |
unclassified (Maipurean?) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | pij |
| Glottolog | pija1235 |
Subdivisions edit
Pijao subtribes reported by Rivet (1943, 1944) and cited in Mason (1950):[1]
- Aype, Paloma, Ambeina, Amoya, Tumbo, Coyaima, Poina (Yaporoge), Mayto (Maito, Marto), Mola, Atayma (Otaima), Tuamo, Bulira, Ocaima, Behuni (Beuni, Biuni), Ombecho, Anaitoma, Totumo, Natagaima, Pana (Pamao), Guarro, Hamay, Zeraco, Lucira, and Tonuro.
Classification edit
A small vocabulary list was collected in 1943; only 30 Pijao words and expressions are known.
The few words which resemble Carib are thought to be loans; toponyms in Pijao country are also Carib. Marshall & Seijas (1973) did not detect significant connections between Pijao and other unclassified languages of the area: Colima, Muzo, Pantágora, and Panche, but these are even more poorly attested than Pijao.
Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with the Witoto-Okaina languages.[2]
Vocabulary edit
- amé tree
- homéro bow
- sumén to drink
- čaguála canoe
- kahírre dog
- alamán crocodile
- tínki tooth
- tána water
- nasés house
- hoté star
- nuhúgi woman
- oréma man
- yaguáde jaguar
- núna moon
- ñáma hand
- golúpa cassava
- lún eye
- oléma ear
- pegil foot
- tápe stone
- orái red
- toléma snake
- huíl sun
- tenú tobacco
Notes edit
- ^ Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South America". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
- ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
References edit
- Marshall Durbin & Haydée Seijas (1973): "A Note on Panche, Pijao, Pantagora (Palenque), Colima and Muzo", International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), pp. 47–51.
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