Chiquitano language
Indigenous language of Bolivia and Brazil
title: "Chiquitano language" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["languages-of-bolivia", "indigenous-languages-of-south-america-(central)", "language-isolates-of-south-america", "jesuit-missions-of-chiquitos", "mamoré–guaporé-linguistic-area"] description: "Indigenous language of Bolivia and Brazil" topic_path: "linguistics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiquitano_language" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Indigenous language of Bolivia and Brazil ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox language"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Chiquitano |
| nativename | Besïro |
| states | Bolivia, Brazil |
| ethnicity | Chiquitanos |
| speakers | |
| fontcolor | #ffffff |
| date | 2021 |
| ref | |
| familycolor | macro-je |
| nation | Bolivia |
| iso3 | cax |
| glotto | chiq1253 |
| glottoname | Chiquitano |
| glotto2 | sans1265 |
| glottoname2 | Sansimoniano |
| notice | IPA |
| region | Santa Cruz (Bolivia); Mato Grosso (Brazil) |
| dia1 | Lomeriano (Bésɨro) |
| map | Lengua_chiquitano.png |
| altname | Chiquito |
| dia2 | Sansimoniano |
| dia3 | Migueleño |
| pronunciation | |
| dia4 | Eastern dialects |
| dia5 | Piñoco |
| fam1 | Macro-Jê? |
| :: |
| name = Chiquitano | nativename = Besïro | states = Bolivia, Brazil | ethnicity = Chiquitanos | speakers = | fontcolor = #ffffff | date = 2021 | ref = | familycolor = macro-je | nation = Bolivia | iso3 = cax | glotto = chiq1253 | glottoname = Chiquitano | glotto2 = sans1265 | glottoname2 = Sansimoniano | notice = IPA | region = Santa Cruz (Bolivia); Mato Grosso (Brazil) | dia1 = Lomeriano (Bésɨro) | map = Lengua_chiquitano.png | altname = Chiquito | dia2 = Sansimoniano | dia3 = Migueleño | pronunciation = | dia4 = Eastern dialects | dia5 = Piñoco | fam1 = Macro-Jê?
Chiquitano (also Bésɨro or Tarapecosi) is an indigenous language isolate, possibly one of the Macro-Jê languages spoken in the central region of Santa Cruz Department of eastern Bolivia and the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil.
Classification
Chiquitano is usually considered to be a language isolate. Joseph Greenberg linked it to the Macro-Jê languages in his proposal, but the results of his study have been later questioned due to methodological flaws.
Kaufman (1994) suggests a relationship with the Bororoan languages. Adelaar (2008) classifies Chiquitano as a Macro-Jê language, while Nikulin (2020) suggests that Chiquitano is rather a sister of Macro-Jê. More recently, Nikulin (2023) classified Chiquitano as a branch of Macro-Jê instead of as a sister branch of it.
Varieties
Mason (1950)
Mason (1950) lists:
- Chiquito
- North (Chiquito)
- Manasí (Manacica)
- Penoki (Penokikia)
- Pinyoca; Kusikia
- Tao; Tabiica
- Churapa
- North (Chiquito)
The Sansimoniano dialect has also been proposed to be a Chapacuran language.
Loukotka (1968)
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c7/Jesuit_Missions_of_the_Chiquitos-en.png" caption="Locations of the [[Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos]] with present international borders" alt="Topographic map showing major towns and villages in the Chiquitania and the Jesuit missions. The Jesuit missions are in the highlands north-east of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, in eastern Bolivia, close to the Brazil border."] ::
According to Čestmír Loukotka (1968), dialects are Tao (Yúnkarirsh), Piñoco, Penoqui, Kusikia, Manasi, San Simoniano, Churapa.
- Tao (Yúnkarirsh) - spoken at the old missions of San Rafael, Santa Ana, San Miguel, San Ignacio, San Juan, Santo Corazón, and Concepción, Bolivia.
- Piñoco - spoken at the missions of San Xavier, San José, and San José de Buenaventura.
- Penoqui - spoken at the old mission of San José. (However, Combès suggests that Penoqui was a synonym of Gorgotoqui and may have been a Bororoan language.Combès, Isabelle. 2012. Susnik y los gorgotoquis. Efervescencia étnica en la Chiquitania (Oriente boliviano), p. 201–220. Indiana, v. 29. Berlín. )
- Cusiquia - once spoken north of the Penoqui tribe.
- Manasi - once spoken at the old missions of San Francisco Xavier and Concepción, Santa Cruz province.
- San Simoniano - now spoken in the Sierra de San Simón and the Danubio River.
- Churapa - spoken on the Piray River, Santa Cruz province.
Otuke, a Bororoan language, was also spoken in some of the missions.
Nikulin (2020)
Chiquitano varieties listed by Nikulin (2020):
- Chiquitano
- **Bésɨro **(also known as Lomeriano Chiquitano), spoken in the Lomerío region and in Concepción, Ñuflo de Chávez Province. Co-official status and has a standard orthography.
- Migueleño Chiquitano (in San Miguel de Velasco and surroundings), moribund with fewer than 30 speakers
- Eastern
- Ignaciano Chiquitano (in San Ignacio de Velasco and surroundings)
- Santiagueño Chiquitano (in Santiago de Chiquitos)
- Divergent varieties
- Sansimoniano (spoken in the far northeast of Beni Department)
- Piñoco (formerly spoken in the missions of San José de los Boros, San Francisco Xavier de los Piñoca, and San José de Buenavista/Desposorios; see also Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos)
Nikulin (2019) proposes that Camba Spanish has a Piñoco substratum. Camba Spanish was originally spoken in Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, but is now also spoken in Beni Department and Pando Department.
Some Chiquitano also prefer to call themselves Monkóka (plural form for 'people'; the singular form for 'person' is Monkóxɨ).
Nikulin also tentatively proposes an Eastern subgroup for the varieties spoken in San Ignacio de Velasco, Santiago de Chiquitos, and Brazil.
In Brazil, Chiquitano is spoken in the municipalities of Cáceres, Porto Esperidião, Pontes e Lacerda, and Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade in the state of Mato Grosso.
Historical subgroups
The following list of Jesuit and pre-Jesuit-era historical dialect groupings of Chiquitano is from Nikulin (2019), after Matienzo et al. (2011: 427–435) and Hervás y Panduro (1784: 30). The main dialect groups were Tao, Piñoco, and Manasi.
::data[format=table title="Tao subgroups"]
| Subgroup | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Aruporé, Bohococa (Bo(h)oca) | Concepción |
| Bacusone (Basucone, Bucofone, Bucojore) | San Rafael |
| Boro (Borillo) | San José, San Juan Bautista, Santo Corazón |
| Chamaru (Chamaro, Xamaru, Samaru, Zamanuca) | San Juan Bautista |
| Pequica | San Juan Bautista, afterwards San Miguel |
| Piococa | San Ignacio, Santa Ana |
| Piquica | east of the Manasicas |
| Purasi (Puntagica, Punasica, Punajica, Punaxica) | San Javier, Concepción |
| Subareca (Subarica, Subereca, Subercia, Xubereca) | San Javier |
| Tabiica (Tabica, Taviquia) | San Rafael, San Javier |
| Tau (Tao, Caoto) | San Javier, San José, San Miguel, San Rafael, San Juan Bautista, Santo Corazón |
| Tubasi (Tubacica, Tobasicoci) | San Javier, afterwards Concepción |
| Quibichoca (Quibicocha, Quiviquica, Quibiquia, Quibichicoci), Tañepica, Bazoroca | unknown |
| :: |
::data[format=table title="Piñoco subgroups"]
| Subgroup | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Guapa, Piñoca, Piococa | San Javier |
| Motaquica, Poxisoca, Quimeca, Quitaxica, Zemuquica, Taumoca | ? San Javier, San José, San José de Buenavista or Desposorios (Moxos) |
| :: |
::data[format=table title="Manasi subgroups"]
| Subgroup | Location(s) |
|---|---|
| Manasica, Yuracareca, Zibaca (Sibaca) | Concepción |
| Moposica, Souca | east of the Manasicas |
| Sepe (Sepeseca), Sisooca, (?) Sosiaca | north of the Manasicas |
| Sounaaca | west of the Manasicas |
| Obariquica, Obisisioca, Obobisooca, Obobococa, Osaaca, Osonimaca, Otaroso, Otenenema, Otigoma | northern Chiquitanía |
| Ochisirisa, Omemoquisoo, Omeñosisopa, Otezoo, Oyuri(ca) | northeastern Chiquitanía |
| Cuzica (Cusica, Cusicoci), Omonomaaca, Pichasica, Quimomeca, Totaica (Totaicoçi), Tunumaaca, Zaruraca | unknown |
| :: |
Peñoquí (Gorgotoqui?), possibly a Bororoan language, was spoken in San José. It was soon replaced by the Piñoco dialect, and was so divergent that Father Felipe Suarez, who authored a Chiquitano grammar, had to translate the catechism and compile a dictionary of it. The dictionary is held at the Archivo de la Sociedad Geográfica de Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Phonology
Consonants
::data[format=table]
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | Plosive | Fricative | Nasal | Rhotic | Glide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Vowels
::data[format=table]
| Front | Central | Back | Close | Close-mid | Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| :: |
Nasal assimilation
Chiquitano has regressive assimilation triggered by nasal nuclei and targeting consonant onsets within a morpheme.
- → 'parrot (sp.)'
Syllable structure
The language has CV, CVV, and CVC syllables. It does not allow complex onsets or codas. The only codas allowed are nasal consonants.
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for different dialects of Chiquito (Chiquitano).
:{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Chiquito !! Yúnkarirsh !! San Simoniano !! Churápa |- ! tooth | oh-ox || || oän || noosh |- ! tongue | otús || || natä || iyúto |- ! foot | popez || popess || pipín || ípiop |- ! woman | pais || páirsh || paá || páish |- ! water | toʔus || tush || || túʔush |- ! fire | péz || péesh || || peés |- ! sun | suur || suursh || sóu || súush |- ! manioc | tauax || táhuash || tabá || tawásh |- ! tapir | okitapakis || tapakish || || oshtápakish |- ! house | ogox || póosh || || ípiosh |- ! red | kiturixi || kéturuk || || kéturikí |}
For a vocabulary list of Chiquitano by Santana (2012), see the Portuguese Wiktionary.
Language contact
Chiquitano has borrowed extensively from an unidentified Tupí-Guaraní variety; one example is Chiquitano takones [takoˈnɛs] ‘sugarcane’, borrowed from a form close to Paraguayan Guaraní takuare'ẽ ‘sugarcane’. There are also numerous Spanish borrowings.
Chiquitano (or an extinct variety close to it) has influenced the Camba variety of Spanish. This is evidenced by the numerous lexical borrowings of Chiquitano origin in local Spanish. Examples include bi ‘genipa’, masi ‘squirrel’, peni ‘lizard’, peta ‘turtle, tortoise’, jachi ‘chicha leftover’, jichi ‘worm; jichi spirit’, among many others.
References
- {{Cite encyclopedia | last = Fabre | first = Alain | title = Chiquitano | encyclopedia = Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos. | access-date = 2009-01-16 | date = 2008-07-21 | url = http://www.ling.fi/Entradas%20diccionario/Dic=Chiquitano.pdf
References
- Nikulin, Andrey. (May 26, 2021). "Chiquitano: a presentation". [[Universität Bonn]].
- Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). ''Language in the Americas''. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Rankin, Robert L.. (July 1992). "Language in the Americas . Joseph H. Greenberg". International Journal of American Linguistics.
- Campbell, Lyle. (September 1988). "Language in the Americas". Language.
- Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). "Atlas of the world's languages". Routledge.
- Adelaar, Willem F. H. Relações externas do Macro-Jê: O caso do Chiquitano. In: Telles de A. P. Lima, Stella Virgínia; Aldir S. de Paula (eds.). ''Topicalizando Macro-Jê''. Recife: Nectar, 2008. p. 9–27.
- Nikulin, Andrey. 2020. ''[http://etnolinguistica.org/local--files/tese%3Anikulin-2020/Nikulin_2020_Proto-Macro-Je.pdf Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo]''. Doctoral dissertation, University of Brasília.
- Nikulin, Andrey. (2023-12-01). "Lexical evidence for the Macro-Jê–Tupian hypothesis / Лексические свидетельства в пользу макро-же–тупийской гипотезы". Journal of Language Relationship.
- Mason, John Alden. (1950). "Handbook of South American Indians". [[Smithsonian Institution]], [[Bureau of American Ethnology]] Bulletin 143.
- Fabre, Alain. (2005). "Chapakura".
- Métraux, Alfred. (1948). "Handbook of South American Indians".
- Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). "Classification of South American Indian Languages". UCLA Latin American Center.
- Combès, Isabelle. 2010. ''Diccionario étnico: Santa Cruz la Vieja y su entorno en el siglo XVI''. Cochabamba: Itinera-rios/Instituto Latinoamericano de Misionología. (Colección Scripta Autochtona, 4.)
- CIUCCI, L.; MACOÑÓ TOMICHÁ, J. 2018. ''Diccionario básico del chiquitano del Municipio de San Ignacio de Velasco''. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Ind. Maderera “San Luis” S. R. L., Museo de Historia. U. A. R. G. M. 61 f.
- Santana, Áurea Cavalcante. 2012. ''[http://www.etnolinguistica.org/tese:santana-2012 Línguas cruzadas, histórias que se mesclam: ações de documentação, valorização e fortalecimento da língua Chiquitano no Brasil]''. Doutorado, Universidade Federal de Goiás.
- [[FUNAI]]/DAF. ''Plano de Desenvolvimento de Povos Indígenas (PDPI) – Grupo Indígena Chiquitano, MT''. Diretoria de Assuntos Fundiários: Brasília, 2002.
- MATIENZO, J.; TOMICHÁ, R.; COMBÈS, I.; PAGE, C. Chiquitos en las Anuas de la Compañía de Jesús (1691–1767). Cochabamba: Itinerarios, 2011.
- HERVÁS Y PANDURO, L. Idea dell’Universo che contiene la storia della vita dell’uomo, elementi cos-mografici, viaggio estatico al mondo planetario, e storia della terra, e delle lingue. Vol. XVII: Ca-talogo delle lingue conosciute. Cesena: Gregorio Biasini, 1784.
- Métraux, Alfred. (1948). "Handbook of South American Indians".
- Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). "Classification of South American Indian Languages".
- Krüsi, Dorothee. (1978). "Phonology of Chiquitano". Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- (2011). "Proceedings of the VII Encontro Macro-Jê.Brasilia, Brazil".
- Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). "Classification of South American Indian languages". UCLA Latin American Center.
- Santana, Áurea Cavalcante. 2012. ''Línguas cruzadas, histórias que se mesclam: ações de documentação, valorização e fortalecimento da língua Chiquitano no Brasil''. Goiânia: Universidade Federal de Goiás.
- Nikulin, Andrey. (2020). "Contacto de lenguas en la Chiquitanía". Revista Brasileira de Línguas Indígenas.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::