Pankararú (''Pancaré, Pankaré, Pancaru, Pankaruru, Pankarará, Pankaravu, Pankaroru, Pankarú, Brancararu'') is an
extinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, l ...
of eastern Brazil. There are 6,000
ethnic Pankararú, but they all speak Portuguese. In 1961, only two elders could remember anything of the language. Today, they live in Brejo dos Padres and other villages of
Tacaratu
Tacaratu is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The population in 2020, according with Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE is 26,106 and the area is 1264.5 km2.
Demographics
The indi ...
,
Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...
State. The language was originally spoken between the
Moxotó River
The Moxotó River is a tributary of the São Francisco River in northeastern Brazil. The Moxotó originates on the Borborema Plateau in Pernambuco state, and flows southwest to join the São Francisco. The lower portion of the river forms the borde ...
and the
Pajeú River.
In the 19th century the people split into two ethnic groups, the Pankararú and the Pankararé. One quarter of the Parkararé retain their traditional religion. Their language, however, is unattested, and can only be assumed to be a dialect of Pankararu.
Classification
Pankararú has no proven relatives and remains unclassified. There are similarities with
Tukano and
Tupian
The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani.
Homeland and ''urheimat''
Rodrigues (2007) considers the Proto-Tupian urheimat to be somewhere between ...
. Meader (1976) found that of 80 known lexical items, one third (26) are clearly cognate with Tupian languages. He speculates that the last speakers of Pankararú may therefore have been bilingual in Tupi. The identity of the rest of the vocabulary has not been identified, and Pankararú may be a
language isolate.
The
Atikum language
The Atikum, also known as Huamuê or Uamué, are an indigenous people of Brazil that live in Bahia and Pernambuco.
Territory
They have 20 villages within the Atikum Indigenous Land, and their territory is near Carnaubeira da Penha. was spoken nearby, but it is a
language isolate and is not related to Pankararú.
Loukotka (1968) also lists these languages as being formerly spoken in
Tacaratu
Tacaratu is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil. The population in 2020, according with Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, IBGE is 26,106 and the area is 1264.5 km2.
Demographics
The indi ...
,
Pernambuco
Pernambuco () is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it List of Brazilian states by population, sev ...
State. It is not known whether or not they were related to Pankararú:
*''Jeriticó'' or ''Jiripancó'' – village of Pindaé near Brejo dos Padres in Tacaratu, Pernambuco. Survivors now speak only Portuguese.
*''Macarú'' – village of Brejo dos Padres, Tacaratu. A few survivors now speak only Portuguese.
''Koiupanká'' and ''Karuazu'' may have been related.
''Kalankó'' (''Cacalancó''), with descendants now living in
Água Branca, Alagoas, may have also been related to Pankararú.
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968)
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.
:
Pompeu (1958)
Language variety from Pompeu (1958), originally collected by Carlos Estêvam:
[Pompeu Sobrinho, Thomaz. 1958. ''Línguas Tapuias desconhecidas do Nordeste: Alguns vocabulários inéditos''. Boletim de Antropologia (Fortaleza-Ceará) 2. 3-19.]
:
Meader (1978)
Below is a 1961 word list of Pankarú (Pankararú) recorded in Brejo dos Padres by Wilbur Pickering from his informant João Moreno. The list is published in Meader (1978).
:
References
* Fabre, Alain (2005)
''Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: PANKARARU / PANKARARÉ''* Meader, Robert E. (1976):
Índios do Nordeste: Levantamento sobre os Remanescentes Tribais do Nordeste Brasileiro'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pankararu language
Language isolates of South America
Unclassified languages of South America
Extinct languages of South America
Unattested languages of South America
Indigenous languages of Northeastern Brazil