Mato Grosso Arára language

Arára
Yugapkatã
Native to Brazil
Region Mato Grosso
Extinct 20th century
unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3 axg
Glottolog mato1253
ELP Arára of Mato Grosso

Mato Grosso Arára (also disambiguated as Arara do Beiradão or Arara do Rio Branco, and also known as Koaiá ~ Koayá or Yugapkatã) is an extinct unclassified language of Brazil. The ethnic population that spoke the language numbers about 150.

Classification

The language is unclassified, with no known connections to established families. It is attested in a single word list, which shows it is neither Tupian nor Arawakan. Four people remembered the language in 2001, and two in 2008, but none were fluent speakers.

Jolkesky (2010) notes some lexical similarities with Tupian.

Vocabulary

The following vocabulary list was collected in 2011 by Inês Hargreaves from two Arara groups in the north of the Parque Aripuanã, Rondônia. The informants were João Luis V. Arara, José Rodrigues V. Arara, Maria Aruy Arara, and Ana Anita Arara.

Arara do Rio Branco word list
Arara do Rio Branco English
mbaja child
no pai claw
kubai wit to drink
no beʃia ear
no ka pĩn eye
areka fire
no pia foot
nukij good
mbap hair
kopap head
nduka louse
be ʃa mouth
no jan nose
wjaʔ stone
noĩn tooth
adɛ water

For a more extensive vocabulary list of Arara by Jolkesky (2010), see the corresponding Portuguese article.