Chiquitano (also Bésèro 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.
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.
Mason (1950) lists:
The Sansimoniano dialect has also been proposed to be a Chapacuran language.
According to ÃÂestmÃÂr Loukotka (1968), dialects are Tao (Yúnkarirsh), Piñoco, Penoqui, Kusikia, Manasi, San Simoniano, Churapa.
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 Monkóxè).
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 SantÃÂssima Trindade in the state of Mato Grosso.
The following list of Jesuit and pre-Jesuit-era historical dialect groupings of Chiquitano is from Nikulin (2019), after Matienzo et al. (2011: 427âÂÂ435) and Hervás y Panduro (1784: 30). The main dialect groups were Tao, Piñoco, and Manasi.
Peñoquà(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.
Chiquitano has regressive assimilation triggered by nasal nuclei and targeting consonant onsets within a morpheme.
The language has CV, CVV, and CVC syllables. It does not allow complex onsets or codas. The only codas allowed are nasal consonants.
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for different dialects of Chiquito (Chiquitano).
For a vocabulary list of Chiquitano by Santana (2012), see the .
Chiquitano has borrowed extensively from an unidentified TupÃÂ-Guaranàvariety; one example is Chiquitano takones [takoÃÂnÃÂs] âÂÂsugarcaneâÂÂ, borrowed from a form close to Paraguayan Guaranàtakuare'ẽ âÂÂsugarcaneâÂÂ. 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 âÂÂgenipaâÂÂ, masi âÂÂsquirrelâÂÂ, peni âÂÂlizardâÂÂ, peta âÂÂturtle, tortoiseâÂÂ, jachi âÂÂchicha leftoverâÂÂ, jichi âÂÂworm; jichi spiritâÂÂ, among many others.