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Saraveca (Xaray)[1] is an extinct Arawakan language once spoken in Bolivia by the Sarave. The language is known from about 400 words and a short text, and is closest to the Paresi language, spoken in Brazil.

Classification

Saraveca is closest linguistically to the still-spoken Paresi language of Brazil.[2] Its connection with the other languages of the Arawakan language family was first recognized by Daniel Garrison Brinton (1891).[3] It is rather divergent from the other Arawakan languages spoken in Bolivia.[4]

Geographical distribution

The language was spoken on the Rio Verde in Bolivia, “very close” to the Brazilian border.[4] To its northwest was the Tupian Warázu (Pauserna), to its west were the Paunaka and Paiconeca languages, to its south were the Kuruminaka, Curucaneca, and Chiquitano languages, and to its north and east were the Arawakan Paresi and Kabixi.[2]

History

By 1962, most of the Sarave people had switched to Chiquitano,[5] though they had been assimilating into local society since the 18th century.[4]

Documentation

The only documentation of Saraveca includes a “very short” text recorded by Hugh Weddell and published in 1851, a 23-word list recorded by Alcide d’Orbigny (1839),[2] and 400 or so words and phrases compiled by Georges de Crequi-Montfort and Paul Rivet (1913), as well as unpublished materials, including those gathered by Johann Natterer (152 words) and Fuß (25 words).[4]

Vocabulary

Numbers

It is said to be the only language with a numeral system based exclusively on five.[6][7]

Saraveca numerals[2]
Number Saraveca
one atia
two iñama
three anahama
four azarakapa
five ara-piaiče
ten iñama no-kaxixi[a]
twenty-five arapiaiče no-kaxixi[b]

According to d’Orbigny, some of these numerals correspond to the words for fingers:[2]

Saraveca finger words[2]
gloss Saraveca
thumb atia
index iñama
middle anahama
ring azarakapa
little ara-piaiče

He also gives an alternative word for ‘thumb’, nu-kaxi-axi-če.[2]

Sample text

The Saraveka text collected by Weddell is presented below, with interlinear glosses provided by Crequi-Montfort and Rivet (1913).[2]

Nu-bīīm

my-heart

n-ĭča

I-give

umadea

 

taneštupa

of-God

evareūri

in the name

Nu-bīīm n-ĭča umadea taneštupa evareūri

my-heart I-give {} of-God {in the name}

‘I entrust my heart to you in the name of the All-Powerful‘

Naatro

me

kinhabe-sāri

unhappy

mačakūa

person

kāna

 

ntimamūne

 

Naatro kinhabe-sāri mačakūa kāna ntimamūne

me unhappy person {} {}

‘I am unhappy and no one pities me‘

Tapičako

 

naneštupa

God

eda-iāre

great

menadīi

for-me(?)

Tapičako naneštupa eda-iāre menadīi

{} God great for-me(?)

‘However God is great to me‘

Notes

  1. ^ literally ‘two hands‘
  2. ^ literally ‘five hands‘

References

  1. ^ Godoy, Gustavo; Balykova, Kristina (2023-11-30). “Multilingual Pantanal and its decay”. Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America. 19 (2): 272–293. doi:10.70845/2572-3626.1362. ISSN 2572-3626.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h de Créqui-Montfort, G.; Rivet, P. (1913). “Linguistique Bolivienne. La Langue Saraveka”. Journal de la Société des américanistes. 10: 497–540. ISSN 0037-9174.
  3. ^ Brinton, Daniel Garrison (1901). The American race: a linguistic classification and ethnographic description of the native tribes of North and South America. University of California Libraries. Philadelphia, D. McKay.
  4. ^ a b c d Danielsen, Swintha (January 2013). “Evaluating historical data (wordlists) in the case of bolivian extinct languages”. STUF – Language Typology and Universals. 66 (3). doi:10.1524/stuf.2013.0014. ISSN 2196-7148.
  5. ^ Saraveca language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013) Closed access icon
  6. ^ “Numerals and numeral systems | Examples & Symbols | Britannica”. www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-01-01.
  7. ^ Wells, David (1997). The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers. Penguin UK. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-14-026149-3.