Betoi (''Betoy'') or Betoi-Jirara is an extinct language of
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
and
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
, south of the
Apure River
The Apure River is a river of southwestern Venezuela, formed by the confluence of the Sarare and Uribante near Guasdualito, in Venezuela, at , and flowing across the Llanos into the Orinoco. It provides significant transportation in the area.
Orig ...
near the modern border with Colombia. The names Betoi and Jirara are those of two of its peoples/dialects; the language proper has no known name. At contact, Betoi was a local
lingua franca
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
spoken between the
Uribante and
Sarare rivers and along the
Arauca. Enough was recorded for a brief grammatical monograph to be written (Zamponi 2003).
Classification
Betoi is generally seen as an isolate, though Kaufman (2007) included it in
Macro-Paesan
Macro-Paesan (also spelled Macro-Paezan) is a proposal linking several small families and language isolates of northwest South America. Kaufman (2007) proposes the structure at the right. Paez–Barbacoan is commonly proposed, though Curnow (1998 ...
.
Zamponi (2017) finds enough lexical resemblances between Betoi and the
Saliban languages to conclude that a genealogical relationship is plausible.
[Zamponi, Raoul (2017). Betoi-Jirara, Sáliban, and Hod i: Relationships among Three Linguistic Lineages of the Mid-Orinoco Region. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', Volume 59, Number 3, Fall 2017, pp. 263-321.]
Varieties
Below is a full list of Betoi varieties listed by
Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.
*Betoi / Guanero / Isabaco - extinct language once spoken on the
Casanare River
Casanare River () is a river in Colombia. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.
See also
*List of rivers of Colombia
Atlantic Ocean
Amazon River Basin
* Amazon River
** Guainía River or Negro River
*** Vaupés River or Uaupés River
*** ...
,
Cravo Norte River
Cravo Norte River is a river of Colombia. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.
See also
*List of rivers of Colombia
Atlantic Ocean
Amazon River Basin
* Amazon River
** Guainía River or Negro River
*** Vaupés River or Uaupés River
*** ...
, and
Apure River
The Apure River is a river of southwestern Venezuela, formed by the confluence of the Sarare and Uribante near Guasdualito, in Venezuela, at , and flowing across the Llanos into the Orinoco. It provides significant transportation in the area.
Orig ...
, Arauca territory, Colombia.
*Situfa / Cituja - extinct language once spoken on the
Casanare River
Casanare River () is a river in Colombia. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.
See also
*List of rivers of Colombia
Atlantic Ocean
Amazon River Basin
* Amazon River
** Guainía River or Negro River
*** Vaupés River or Uaupés River
*** ...
in the Arauca region.
*Airico - once spoken at the sources of the
Manacacías River
Manacacías River is a river of Colombia. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.
See also
*List of rivers of Colombia
Atlantic Ocean
Amazon River Basin
* Amazon River
** Guainía River or Negro River
*** Vaupés River or Uaupés River
*** ...
. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 2, pp. 243-247, only a few words.)
*Jirara - spoken once in the upper
Manacacías River
Manacacías River is a river of Colombia. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.
See also
*List of rivers of Colombia
Atlantic Ocean
Amazon River Basin
* Amazon River
** Guainía River or Negro River
*** Vaupés River or Uaupés River
*** ...
region. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 1, pp. 201 and 203, pt. 2, pp. 16 and 328, only a few words and phrases.)
*Atabaca - once spoken in the upper
Manacacías River
Manacacías River is a river of Colombia. It is part of the Orinoco River basin.
See also
*List of rivers of Colombia
Atlantic Ocean
Amazon River Basin
* Amazon River
** Guainía River or Negro River
*** Vaupés River or Uaupés River
*** ...
region. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 2, p. 274, only a few words.)
*Lolaca - once spoken on the confluence of the
Arauca River
The Arauca River ( es, Río Arauca) rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Col ...
and
Chitagá
Chitagá () is a Colombian municipality and town located in the department of North Santander
North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a departments of Colombia, department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the count ...
River. (Unattested.)
*Quilifay - once spoken around the confluence of the
Arauca River
The Arauca River ( es, Río Arauca) rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Col ...
and
Chitagá
Chitagá () is a Colombian municipality and town located in the department of North Santander
North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a departments of Colombia, department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the count ...
River. (Unattested.)
*Anabali - spoken south of the Atabaca tribe around the confluence of the
Arauca River
The Arauca River ( es, Río Arauca) rises in the Andes Mountains of north-central Colombia and ends at the Orinoco in Venezuela. For part of its run it is the boundary between Colombia and Venezuela. The major city on its banks is Arauca, Col ...
and
Chitagá
Chitagá () is a Colombian municipality and town located in the department of North Santander
North Santander (Spanish: Norte de Santander) () is a departments of Colombia, department of Northeastern Colombia. It is in the north of the count ...
River. (Unattested.)
*Ele - spoken on the
Ele River. (Unattested.)
Lexicon
Lexicon of Betoi compiled by Zamponi (2003) from various sources:
[Zamponi, Raoul. 2003. ''Betoi''. Languages of the World, 428. München: Lincom Europa.]
Nouns
Verbs
Adverbs
Pronouns
Other parts of speech
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{authority control
Language isolates of South America
Extinct languages of South America
Languages extinct in the 18th century
Languages of Venezuela
Macro-Paesan languages