Warázu language

Warázu, also known as Pauserna or Guarasugwé (Guarasú'we), is a moribund Tupi–Guaraní language of Brazil. It was also formerly spoken in Bolivia. It is spoken by the Guarasugwé people, who were estimated to number 125 according to a census in 2012. It was previously considered to be extinct, but 4 speakers were found in 2006; this number had decreased to 2 in 2017.

Classification

Warázu is most closely related to Sirionó and Yuki (Yuqui). Ramirez (2017) places the classification of Warázu in the Guaraní subgroup of the Tupi-Guarani languages as follows:

• Guaraní subgroup
• Guaraní
• Tupinambá
• Guarayu
• Warázu-Sirionoid
• Sirionoid (Sirionó, Yuqui, etc.)
• Warázu

Names

Speakers are also known as Guaraiutá, Guaraju, Pauserna, Guarasugwe, or Warazúkwe [waɾaðúkwe].

Demographics

Ramirez (2017) found only 2 remaining speakers of Warázu, an elderly couple consisting of Känä́tsɨ [kənə́tsɨ] (José Frei Leite) and Híwa (Ernestina Moreno). They were born in Riozinho (Urukuríti) in Rondônia, Brazil, and moved back and forth between Brazil and Bolivia until finally settling in Pimenteiras do Oeste, Rondônia.

Traditionally, the Warázu people had lived in the following 7 villages along the banks of the Guaporé River. However, the Warázu language is no longer spoken in these localities.

• Riozinho (Urukurɨ́ti) (on the banks of the Riozinho River, a tributary of the Guaporé River), Brazil
• Acurizal, Brazil
• Campo Grande (on the banks of the Paragúa River, a tributary of the Guaporé River), Bolivia
• Bella Vista, Bolivia
• Jangada, Bolivia
• Barranco Vermelho, Bolivia
• Flechas, Bolivia

Phonology

Phonological inventory of Warázu:

Consonants

Warázu only has 11 consonants.

Allophones:

• [ɲ], allophone of /n/
• [ɾʲ], allophone of /ɾ/
• [tʲ], allophone of /t/
• [ʝ], allophone of /ð/

Vowels

Syllabic structure is (C)V or (C)VV.

Pronouns

Warázu pronouns:

Vocabulary

For a list of Warázu plant and animal names from Ramirez (2017), see the corresponding .

Further reading

• Anonymous (2015). Diccionario flora y fauna gwarasu. Santa Cruz de la Sierra: Talleres Gráficos Kipus.
• Riester, Jürgen (1972). Die Pauserna-Guarasug’wä. Monographie eines Tupi-Guaraní-Volkes in Ostbolivien. St. Augustin bein Bonn: Verlag des Anthropos-Instituts.
• Riester, Jürgen (1976). En busca de la Loma Santa. Indígenas en el Oriente Boliviano. Análisis de su situación actual. La Paz: Editorial Los Amigos del Libro.
• Riester, Jürgen (1977). Los Guarasug’wé: Crónica de sus últimos días. La Paz: Editorial Los Amigos del Libro.

References