The Pumé language (also called YuapÃÂn or Yaruro, also spelled Llaruro or Yaruru) is an indigenous language spoken by the Pumé people, along the Orinoco, Cinaruco, Meta, and Apure rivers of Venezuela. It is not well classified; it may be an isolate, or distantly related to the extinct Esmeralda language.
The Pumé people refer to their own language as pà ©mÃÂÃÂàmãÃÂÃÂàâÂÂlanguage of the PuméâÂÂ). The language is vigorously spoken by approximately 9,500 people as of 2015. Speakers live in the central Apure Llanos of western Venezuela, mainly in the Arauca, Cunaviche, Capanaparo, and Cinaruco river areas. In Capuruchano subdivision, the Pumé do not live close to any rivers.
Pache (2016) considers Pumé to be related to the Chocoan languages, citing evidence from lexical and sound correspondences. Some shared lexical items between Pumé and Chocoan (Pache (2016) cites Yaruro and Epena forms from the Intercontinental Dictionary Series):
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Saliba-Hodi, Arawak, Bora-Muinane, Choko, Witoto-Okaina, and Waorani language families due to contact.