Chayma

Cumanagoto
and Píritu :
Dialects or languages ?
Tania Granadillo
Michael Iannozzi
SSILA 2017
January 6, 2017
 Outline
1. The Introduction
2. The Regions
3. The Sources
4. The Process
5. The Data
6. The Analysis
7. The Findings
8. Next Steps
2
 Introduction
3 different Carib Peoples :
1. Who the Chayma, the Cumanagoto, and the Píritu

2. What 3 “artes” produced by

Spanish missionaries
3. When In the 17th century
2 distinct geographic regions of present-day
4. Where Venezuela : coast and mountains

5. Why To examine the differences of these

three extinct varieties
6. How By producing Swadesh lists, and conducting
comparative historical analyses

3
The Regions

4
 The Regions

Cumanagoto
Chayma
Píritu

5
The Sources
Julio Platzmann
3 volumes
1888

6
The Sources
Padre Fray Francisco de Tauste
Capuchin
1680
Chaymas, Cumanagotos, Cores,
Parias and others…

7
The Sources
Fr. Manuel de Yangues
NPS Franciscan
1683
Cumanagoto

8
The Sources
Fary Matias Ruiz Blanco
1683
Píritu

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 The Process
•  JPG individual pages of all 3 volumes
•  Convert to searchable pdf
•  Transcribe to Shoebox database (still in
progress)
•  Compile vocabulary comparison

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 The Data
•  Modified Swadesh list with 212 items
•  Not all words in all languages
•  Some examples:
Spanish English Chayma Cumanagoto Piritu

agua water tuna tuna tuna

Árbol tree yequich equiche equiche

Camino road ezama, ezema echema

achamataune
Oler To smell n/a ypoehnoeuache chepoçnopar

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 The Analysis
•  Cognate density analysis by pairs and
three ways
•  Conservative estimates

Cognates Chayma/ Cumanagoto/ Píritu/Chayma 3 way

Cumanagoto Píritu
absent 72 66 75 86

yes 77 106 78 65

No 62 39 58 60

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 The Findings
•  Three different languages, all belonging
to the same branch of a family (52% 3
way)
•  Cumanagoto and Píritu much closer,
Chayma more different

Cognate Chayma Cumanagoto Píritu

density
Chayma 55% 57%
Cumanagoto 73%

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 The Next Steps
•  Finish transcription and analysis in
database
•  Need to comb through the material more
carefully to fill in gaps
•  Do phonological reconstruction
•  Work on comparison of morphology and
syntax
•  Compare to other geographically close
Carib languages– Pemon, Kari´na
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 The End
Thanks!

Questions??

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