Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu
Swintha Danielsen (University of Leipzig) Noé Gasparini (Université de Lyon/DDL)
Rencontres Jeunes Chercheurs Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, June 11-12, 2015 Roadmap
Bolivia Jorá Guarasu Studying nearly extinct languages Influences of contact
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Figure 1: South America Bolivian languages
Apolista Joaquiniano Saraveca Araona Kallawaya Siriono Aymara Kinikinao Toba qom Ayoreo/Zamuco Kitemoka Tacana Baure Leko Tapieté Bésɨro Machineri Toromona Canichana Maropa / Reyesano Tsimane Cavineña Mojeño Ignaciano Uru Cayubaba Mojeño Trinitario Wichí Chacobo Mojeño Javiesano Yaminahua Chapakura Mojeño Loretano Yuqui Chané Moré / Iténez Yurakaré Chipaya Mosetén Zamuco Ese ejja Movima Spanish Napeka Gorgotoqui Pacahuara Guarani, Bolivian Eastern/ Chiriguano Paikoneka Guarasu / Pauserna Paunaka Guarayo Plautdietsch Itonama Puquina Jorá Quechua
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Official Bolivian languages
Apolista Joaquiniano Saraveca Araona Kallawaya Siriono Aymara Kinikinao Toba qom Ayoreo/Zamuco Kitemoka Tacana Baure Leko Tapieté Bésɨro Machineri Toromona Canichana Maropa/ Reyesano Tsimane Cavineña Mojeño Ignaciano Uru Cayubaba Mojeño Trinitario Wichí Chacobo Mojeño Javiesano Yaminahua Chapakura Mojeño Loretano Yuki Chané Moré / Iténez Yurakaré Chipaya Mosetén Zamuco Ese ejja Movima Spanish Napeka Gorgotoqui Pacahuara Guarani Bolivian Eastern/ Chiriguano Paikoneka Guarasu / Pauserna Paunaka Guarayo Plautdietsch Itonama Puquina Jorá Quechua
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Focus on
Apolista Joaquiniano Saraveca Araona Kallawaya Siriono Aymara Kinikinao Toba qom Ayoreo/Zamuco Kitemoka Tacana Baure Leko Tapieté Bésɨro Machineri Toromona Canichana Maropa/ Reyesano Tsimane Cavineña Mojeño Ignaciano Uru Cayubaba Mojeño Trinitario Wichí Chacobo Mojeño Javiesano Yaminahua Chapakura Mojeño Loretano Yuki Chané Moré / Iténez Yurakaré Chipaya Mosetén Zamuco Ese ejja Movima Spanish Napeka Gorgotoqui Pacahuara Guarani Bolivian Eastern/ Chiriguano Paikoneka Guarasu / Pauserna Paunaka Guarayo Plautdietsch Itonama Puquina Jorá Quechua
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 in contact with
Apolista Joaquiniano Saraveca Araona Kallawaya Siriono Aymara Kinikinao Toba qom Ayoreo/Zamuco Kitemoka Tacana Baure Leko Tapieté Bésɨro Machineri Toromona Canichana Maropa/ Reyesano Tsimane Cavineña Mojeño Ignaciano Uru Cayubaba Mojeño Trinitario Wichí Chacobo Mojeño Javiesano Yaminahua Chapakura Mojeño Loretano Yuki Chané Moré / Iténez Yurakaré Chipaya Mosetén Zamuco Ese ejja Movima Spanish Napeka Gorgotoqui Pacahuara Guarani Bolivian Eastern/ Chiriguano Paikoneka Guarasu / Pauserna Paunaka Guarayo Plautdietsch Itonama Puquina Jorá Quechua
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Language families in Bolivia
Arawakan Quechua Aymara Tacanan Chapacuran Tupí-Guaraní Guaycuruan Uru-Chipaya Macro-Jê Zamucoan Moseténan Matacoan + 6 isolates Panoan
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Figure 2: Ecoregions and localisation of Jorá and Guarasu Figure 3: Tupí-Guaraní languages in Bolivia Jorá
ISO 639-3 code: jor Alternative names: Hora, Yorá Number of speakers? 3 possible rememberers (former speakers) Nowadays: speak Spanish
[…] They caught them when they were children. This woman, M., they gave her to the old man, C. and they named her after his brother Ojopi. This was now her surname, this is why she was now M. Ojopi. This savage woman, she was all alone then; all of her group died. […] They killed them, they were fierce, these savages.
Citation from a Baure speaker in an interview about the last Jorá in Baures
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Jorá case: history
Little known group in Beni, Bolivia, near Baures Genocide in 1940s; surviving Jorá sold as slaves Wanda Hanke, an Austrian anthropologist, observed their situation in 1940s and fought for their rights Some surviving Jorá were captured and lived in Baures, surrounded by Spanish speakers or Baure speakers. They are still perceived as different, captured ‚savages‛, ‚wild indians‛
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Jorá case: situation
Because of the sensitive history of the Jorá people having been captured while their parents were killed, it is not possible to work with them on their language They either do not (want to) remember the language, and we did not feel comfortable to recall their memories therefore, we did not collect any first-hand data from the Jorá at all, in spite of various meetings (Danielsen) Instead, we collected second-hand information from Baure people who lived with the captives in the 1940s and 1950s
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Jorá corpus
Hanke’s wordlist (1959) Additional words collected by Belgian anthropologist Béghin (published in 1980) Danielsen’s data (few phrases, words) collected from Baure people Altogether 165 items (see also Danielsen & Gasparini forthcoming) The corpus is limited but large enough to give us evidence for the position of Jorá within the Tupí-Guaraní languages of Bolivia
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Guarasu
Guarasu: ISO 639-3 code: psm Alternative names: Pauserna, Guarasuñe’e (Guarasu language), Guarasu(g)’we (Guarasu people) number of speakers: 4 or 5 (3 of them in Brazil), possible some 5-10 more semi-speakers or rememberers, more speakers dispersed in Brazil Nowadays: speak Spanish or Portuguese
‚Don José Frey is one of the last descendants of the Guarasug’we. He was born in 1945 and he remembers that his father walked ‘empeloto’, that means naked, he hunted with arrow and bow, he had 3 wives and was the ‘captain’ of the group.‛ (Muñoz 2006: 18)
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Guarasu case: discovery
Settled near the Río Guaporé Since 1940s, the Guarasu people mostly moved to workers’ settlements (rubber, hearts of palms and wood exploitation) In 1960s, a German anthropologist, Jürgen Riester , called his ethnography of the Guarasu a ‚chronicle of their last days‛ (Riester 1972) Today Guarasu is generally alleged to be extinct (see Ethnologue) 2006: survey in the relevant Bolivian villages by Becerra V. (2006) ◦ 10 people ethnically Guarasu ◦ Presumably 4 speakers left Danielsen could confirm the claim: 5 last speakers, 3 in Brazil
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Guarasu case: projects
Gwarayu and the Intermediate Zone of Amazonia and Chaco, Bolivia documentation project (funded by ELDP) for documentation of Guarasu and Guarayu ELF project for ethnobiological dictionary of Guarasu
December 2014: Meeting the political representative of Guarasu January 2015: Contacting the remote Guarasu Unsuccessful expedition ◦ Politicization of a recently formed Guarasuwe political group ◦ Fighting for a separated indigenous lands In Bolivia: One language = One territory
But what if we prove no one speaks Guarasu?
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Guarasu case: issues
Linguists not welcome!
‚You don’t know me, we are wild and when I get angry, I take out my arrow… I have many skulls in my backyard.‛ (free citation of Sara Durán, captain of the Guarasuwe in Porvenir, 2015)
In one filmed interview, a Guarasu speaker stopped when we mentioned the language No possibility to collaborate with the lasts Guarasu speakers Various levels of sensitivity: historical suppression, personal experience, current politicization of ethnic identity Other speakers live on Brazilian territory. A permit is needed to interview them.
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 The Guarasu corpus
Guarasu data consist, for the moment, only of available literature: ◦ Snethlage (1935), von Horn (1955), Firestone (1963), and Riester (1972) Guarasu dictionary (to be printed Dec. 2015) may be welcome by Guarasu politician (and speakers?) 1165 entries compiled in Toolbox 528 entries of plants’ and animals’ names (Lena Sell is creating a comparative database with Guarayu)
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Ethical discussion
Under these circumstances interviewing these people is uncomfortable ◦ Jorá people should not have to recall horrible memories of their relatives being slaughtered ◦ Guarasu people should not be put under pressure to work with us, if politically this is currently viewed as suspect; judgment on their linguistic competence may offend them We do not publish any of the available photos or our video material of the people, because they don’t feel comfortable with it (even though they may be urged to say yes) ◦ i.e. the Jorá people presumably do not want the publicity of their genocide in Bolivian media, so we do not raise too much attention here; ◦ The Guarasu may want the products of our research, but the fact that they did not collaborate should maybe not be addressed in public These assumptions are a little self-righteous and authoritarian, thinking that we know what is best for them…
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Linguistic analysis with scarce data
Description of the sociolinguistic situation Insights regarding sounds changes and some morphological features (Danielsen & Gasparini, Forthcoming) Lexical comparison as part as a largest Tupí-Guaraní Lexical Comparative Project (Gasparini et al, 2015)
Classificatory evidence: • Jorá close to Siriono and Yuki • Guarasu close to Guarayo
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Classification
Figure 4: Phylogenetic classification based on lexicon
Zachary O'Hagan, Natalia Chousou-Polydouri and Lev Michael (editors). 2015. Tupí-Guaraní Comparative Lexical Database v 1.1 with Keith Bartolomei, Erin Donnelly, Swintha Danielsen, Noé Gasparini, Eva-Maria Roessler, Sérgio Meira, Mike Roberts, Vivian Wauters (compilers), and Sebastian Drude, Françoise Rose, Rosa Vallejos (data contributors). Zachary O'Hagan, Natalia Chousou-Polydouri and Lev Michael (editors). 2015. Tupí-Guaraní Lexical Cognate Database v 1.1. with Keith Bartolomei, Noé Gasparini, Sérgio Meira, Vivian Wauters (contributors). Influence of contact
Nearly extinct languages caused by contact with Spanish Surrounded by Spanish people and Spanish speakers Few Spanish words in careful word collection
Is there is also contact evidences with other indigenous languages?
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Language contact
Figure 5: Modern languages in the area Language contact
Figure 6: Languages included in the investigation Lexical comparison
Focus on innovation, non-prototypical Tupí-Guaraní words ◦ For Jorá-Siriono-Yuki: 80 words ◦ For Guarasu-Guarayo: 8 words
Jorá Guarasu English Siriono Baure Besɨro Ayoreo Kitemoka Mojeño Movima Guarayu Yuki sun [tenda]
far [iwúate]
canoe [iɾa] <ɨaɾi> [jaʃoŕ ] …
Data from: Baure: Swintha Danielsen database ; Besɨro : Courtesy of Pierric Sans ; Ayoreo : Courtesy of Luca Ciucci ; Kitemoka : Christin Weinold Master’s dissertation, 2012 ; Mojeño : New Tribes Missions dictionary, 1993 ; Movima : Judy and de Judy dictionary, 1962
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Contact?
No obvious sources for any loanword or areal word No evidence for contact with these modern indigenous languages Mostly internal change for Guarasu-Guarayo Apparent historical stability before the change to contact with Spanish
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Historical scenario?
Figure 7: Tentative historical distribution of the proto-languages Conclusion
Contact can lead to human tragedies and language extinction Languages are getting extinct Sometimes the last speakers can not be consultants for linguists Scarce data can be analyzed in different ways to produce a linguistic description
How do we cope with the ambiguity that we are investigating the intellectual property of people who do not want this?
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 Thank you for your attention!
Thanks to the members of the Jorá and Guarasu communities
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015 References
BECERRA VARGAS, Adriana G. 2006. Balance entre conservación y desarrollo: estrategias de vida en dos comunidades del Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado, Bolivia. Turrialba, Costa Rica. MA thesis. BÉGHIN, François-Xavier 1980. Voyage chez les Indiens Jora de la Bolivie. Brussel: Le Cri. DANIELSEN, Swintha & Katja HANNSS. 2013. ‚El estado actual de las lenguas bolivianas‛, Paper at the VII Congreso De La Asociacion De Estudios Bolivianos, Sucre, Jul 29 – Jul 31, 2013. DANIELSEN, Swintha & Noé GASPARINI. Forthcoming. News on the Jorá (Tupí-Guaraní): sociolinguistics, description, and classification. Boletim do Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Ciencias Humanas at Belém.
FIRESTONE, Homer L. 1963. Description and classification of Siriono,́ a Tupi-́ Guaraní language. PhD thesis, University of New Mexico. Gasparini, Noé, Swintha Danielsen, Natalia Chousou-Polydouri, Zachary O’Hagan, Keith Barolomei & Lev Michael. 2015. Southern Tupí-Guaraní Languages, Combining classification with areal linguistics. Paper at the 18th Annual Workshop on American Indigenous Languages. Santa Barbara, May 8th, 2015. GILL, Wayne. 1993. Diccionario Trinitario-Castellano y Castellano-Trinitario. San Lorenzo de Mojos: Misión Evangélica Nuevas Tribus.
HANKE, Wanda. 1959. Neznámý indiánský kmen na jezerě Jorá v Bolivii. Ceskoslovenská̌ ethnografie, n. 7, p. 146-156. von HORN FITZ GIBBON, Friedrich. 1955. Breves notas sobre la lengua de los indios pausernas. El uaradü -nẽ -e (Un dialecto tupi-guarani ́ en el Oriente boliviano). Santa Cruz: Sociedad de Estudios Geograficoś e Historicoś de Santa Cruz de la Sierra. JUDY, Roberto and Judit Emerich de JUDY. 1962. Movima y Castellano. (Vocabularios Bolivianos, 1.). Cochabamba, Bolivia: SIL. MUÑOZ, Alain. 2006. Los pueblos vecinos al Parque nacional ‚Noel Kempff Mercado‛. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Editorial FAN. RIESTER, Jürgen. 1972. Die Pauserna-Guarasug’wä. Monographie eines Tupí-Guaraní-Volkes in Ostbolivien. St. Augustin/Bonn: Collectana Instuti Anthropos 3.
SNETHLAGE, Emil Heinrich. 1935. Nachrichten uber̈ die Pauserna-Guarayu,́ die Siriono ́ am Rió Baures und die S. Simonianes in der Nahë der Sierra S. Simon.́ Zeitschrift fur̈ Ethnologie 67: 278-293.
VILLAFAÑE, Lucrecia. 2004. Gramaticá Yuki. Lengua Tupí-Guaraní de Bolivia. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Ediciones del Rectorado, n. 352. WIENOLD, Christin. 2012. The Chapacuran Language Family: Kitemoka and Napeka. Documentational Work on Two Extinct Languages. M.A. Thesis – Revised Version, University of Leipzig. Will be available at: http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0104
Swintha Danielsen & Noé Gasparini – Discovering two nearly extinct languages in Bolivia: Jorá and Guarasu – June 11, 2015