Waorani language

Not to be confused with Aushiri language or Warao language.

Sabela
Waorani / Huaorani
Wao Terero
Native to	Ecuador, Peru
Region	Oriente or Ecuadorian Amazon
Ethnicity	1,800 Waorani people (2012)
Native speakers	2,000 (2004)
Language family	Language isolate
Dialects	Tiwakuna Tiwituey (Tuei) Shiripuno
Official status
Official language in	Ecuador: indigenous languages official in own territories
Language codes
ISO 639-3	auc
Glottolog	waor1240
ELP

The Waorani (Huaorani) language, commonly known as Sabela (also Wao, Huao, Auishiri, Aushiri, Ssabela; autonym: Wao Terero; pejorative: Auka, Auca) is a vulnerable language isolate spoken by the Waorani people, an indigenous group living in the Amazon rainforest between the Napo and Curaray Rivers in Ecuador. A small number of speakers with so-called uncontacted groups may live in Peru.

Classification

Sabela is not known to be related to any other language. However, it forms part of Terrence Kaufman's Yawan proposal.

Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with Yaruro.

Geographical distribution

Waorani is primarily spoken in Waorani Ethnic Reserve, which is the largest indigenous reserve in Ecuador. Other areas where it is spoken include Pastaza and Napo provinces (including the towns of Puyo and Coca), Yasuní National Park, and the Taromenani Tagaeri Intangible Zone. Waorani is considered endangered due to growing bilingualism in Quechua and Spanish and diminishing Waorani usage among youth.

Dialects

Waorani has three dialects: Tiguacuna (Tiwakuna), Tuei (Tiwi Tuei, Tiwi), and Shiripuno.

Phonology

Waorani distinguishes nasal vowels from oral ones. Syllable structure is (C)V, with frequent vowel clusters. The allophones of /o/ range from [ɵ, o, ʊ, ɤ] and the allophones of /õ/ have a similar range, [ɵ̃, õ, ʊ̃, ɤ̃], and allophones of /e, ẽ/ can be heard as [ɪ, ɪ̃]. The alveolar tap [ɾ] is an allophone of /d/ and the palatal glide [j] is an allophone of /ɟ/.

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	Voiceless	p	t		k
	Voiced	b	d~ɾ	ɟ~j	ɡ
Continuant					w

	Front		Back
	Oral	Nasal	Oral	Nasal
Close	i	ĩ
Mid	e	ẽ	o	õ
Open	æ	æ̃	a	ã

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Sabela and Tiwituey.

gloss	Sabela	Tiwituey
one	iríng	aruki
two		méa
head	u-kabu	u-kubo
eye	a-wínka	a-winga
woman	ohíña	unkia
fire	chúnga	tua
sun	nánki	neinghi
star		nemu
maize	kad'ínghu
house	húnku
white	kúri	mia

Bibliography

• Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. .
• Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). Language in the Americas. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language History in South America: What We Know and How to Know More. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), Amazonian Linguistics: Studies in Lowland South American languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. .
• Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The Native Languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the World's Languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.
• Peeke, M. Catherine. (2003). A Bibliography of the Waorani of Ecuador. SIL International. Retrieved 2021 April 4 from https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/7801
• Pike, Evelyn G and Rachel Saint. 1988. Workpapers Concerning Waorani discourse features. Dallas, TX: SIL.
• Rival, Laura. Trekking through History: The Huaorani of Amazonian Ecuador, Columbia University Press, 2002.

External links

• Lengua Sabela
• Huaorani - The First To Spanish Dictionary
• Waorani language dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)
• Waorani (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)