Taruma (Taruamá) is a nearly extinct, divergent language isolate of northeastern South America. It has been reported to be extinct several times since as far back as 1770, but three speakers still live in Maruranau among the Wapishana, and Eithne Carlin is documenting the language. The people and language are known as Saluma by the Tiriyó people in Suriname.
Classification Taruma is a language isolate. It has been proposed to be distantly related to Katembri, but this relationship has not been repeated in recent surveys of South American languages.
History Taruma was spoken around the mouth of the Rio Negro during the late 1600s, but the speakers later moved to southern Guyana. In the 1940s, the Taruma tribe were reported to no longer exist as a distinct group.Campbell, Lyle. 2018. Language Isolates. New York: Routledge. However, their presence has recently been confirmed in the Wapishana village of Marunarau, where they are recognized as a distinct tribe. Only one of the three knows Taruma well enough to produce "coherent texts", and the other two have "a much weaker knowledge" of Taruma.
Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Chibchan, Katukina-Katawixi, Arawak, Jeoromitxi, Tupi, Arawa, Jivaro, Karib, Mura-Matanawi, Tukano, Yanomami, and Kwaza language families due to contact.
Similarities with Chibchan (especially with the Magdalena and Dorasque-Changena subgroups) may be due to the former presence of Chibchan speakers in the Northeast Amazons. Similarities with Tucanoan suggest that Taruma had originated in the Caquetá basin.
Phonology
Consonants +Taruma consonantsBilabialAlveolarRetroflexPalatalVelarGlottalvoicelessvoicedvoicelessvoicedvoicelessvoicedNasalmnPlosiveplainpbtdkgʔ lab.kʷgʷFricativeplainsʐɕhlab.ɸʷTapɾ
Vowels +Taruma vowelsFrontCentralBackplainnasalizedplainnasalizedplainnasalizedCloseiĩɨɨ̃MidoõOpenaã
Vocabulary For a list of Taruma words from Jolkesky (2016), see the corresponding Portuguese article.
Loanwords The following table illustrates some of the aforementioned borrowing situations: {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Loanwords in Taruma by language ! gloss !! Taruma !! Damana (Chibchan) !! Katukina !! Wapishana (Arawakan) !Mawayana (Arawakan)!! Arikapu !! Proto-Tupian !! Proto-Arawan !! Proto-Jivaroan !! Proto-Cariban !! Mura !! Proto-Tucanoan |- | father || aide || ade || - || -
| sister || aʧi || asi || - || -
| mouth || kukana || kəka || - || -
| bird || zuri || suri || - || -
| snake || báhũ || - || paɡo || -
| wood || u || - || -ʔu || -
| tick || piʤíʤi || - || piːʧiN || -
| tobacco || suma || - || uːba || suuma
| bow || kobara || - || - || sumara
| star || wire || - || - || wiiʐi
| go || maku || - || - || makʰu-n | -|| - || - || - || *maku 'leg' || - || - || - |- | monkey || rumi || - || - || ruumi
| worm || pararu || - || - || pʰaʐaru
| egg || dani || - || - || ʤani
| chest || duku || - || - || ɗukʰuri
| flea || kuwaba || - || - || kʰuwaiɓa
|bottle |pateli
|pater
|howler monkey |rumi
|rumi
|calabash |gŏlie
|kawalie
| caiman || hiri || - || - || - | -|| uhiri || - || - || - || - || - || - |- | deer || konia || - || - || - | -|| kudi || - || - || - || - || - || - |- | dance (v.) || kabihwi || - || - || - | -|| kəwi || - || - || - || - || - || - |- | eat || ko || - || - || - | -|| - || *kˀu || - || - || - || - || - |- | path || afe || - || - || - | -|| - || *ape || - || - || - || - || - |- | arrow || kupa || - || - || - | -|| - || *ekʷˀɨp || - || - || - || - || - |- | salt || wuka || - || - || - | -|| - || *wukɨt || - || - || - || - || - |- | deer || hiʧi || - || - || - | -|| - || *ɨʧɨ || - || - || - || - || - |- | axe || bade || - || - || - | -|| - || - || *bari || - || - || - || - |- | wild dog|| hi || - || - || - | -|| - || - || *-hi || - || - || - || - |- | forest || nukuda || - || - || - | -|| - || - || *nuku 'mountain' || - || - || - || - |- | peccary || baki 'tapir' || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || *paki || *pakira || - || - |- | leaf || ʤuka || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || *nuka || - || - || - |- | sweet-potato || aɸi || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || *napi || - || *jãpi |- | canoe || kanawa || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || *kanawa || - || - |- | hand || aɸũ || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || *apô 'arm' || - || - |- | earth || dudu || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || *nono || - || - |- | poison || kʷima || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || *kuma || - || - |- | fire || hʷa || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || hũai || - |- | breast || iwa || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || iiwe || - |- | mountain || uwai || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || uwe 'forest' || - |- | foot || apa || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || apai || - |- | tongue || njebena || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || - || *tʲʔeme |- | water || dja || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || - || *tʲʔia 'river' |- | three || wikʲã || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || - || *ɨtˀia |- | woman || ɡumi- || - || - || - | -|| - || - || - || - || - || - || *tʔõmi- |} Further reading Meira, Sérgio. (2015). Taruma wordlist. (Manuscript).
Notes
References
Eithne B. Carlin (2011) "Nested Identities in the Southern Guyana Surinam Corner". In Hornborg & Hill (eds.) Ethnicity in Ancient Amazonia. Eithne B. Carlin (2006) "Feeling the Need: The Borrowing of Cariban Functional Categories into Mawayana (Arawak)". In Aikhenvald & Dixon (eds.) Grammars in Contact: A Cross-Linguistic Typology, pp. 313–332. Oxford University Press.