Moxo (also known as ''Mojo'', pronounced 'Moho') is any of the

Arawakan languages Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branc ...

spoken by the Moxo people of the Llanos de Moxos in northeastern

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

. The two extant languages of the Moxo people, ''Trinitario'' and ''Ignaciano'', are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Arawakan languages. The extinct ''Magiana'' was also distinct. Moxo languages have an active–stative syntax.

Sociolinguistic background

The languages belong to a group of tribes that originally ranged through the upper Mamoré, extending east and west from the Guapure ( Itenes) to the Beni, and are now centered in the Province of Moxos, Department of Beni, Bolivia. They form part of the Mamoré-Guaporé linguistic area. Moxo was also the primary

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 ...

( es, lengua general) used in the

Jesuit Missions of Moxos The Jesuit Missions of Moxos are located in the Llanos de Moxos of Beni department in eastern Bolivia. Distinguished by a unique fusion of European and Amerindian cultural influences, the missions were founded as reductions or ''reducciones de ind ...

. Ignaciano is used in town meetings unless outsiders are present, and it is a required subject in the lower school grades, one session per week. Perhaps half of the children learn Ignaciano. By the 1980s there were fewer than 100 monolinguals, all older than 30.

Classification

The Moxo languages are most closely related to Bauré, Pauna, and Paikonéka. Together, they form the ''Mamoré-Guaporé'' languages (named after the

Mamoré River The Mamoré is a large river in Brazil and Bolivia which unites with the Beni to form the Madeira, one of the largest tributaries of the Amazon. It rises on the northern slope of the Sierra de Cochabamba, east of the city of Cochabamba, and is kno ...

and

Guaporé River Guaporé River ( pt, Rio Guaporé, es, Río Iténez) is a river in western Brazil and northeastern Bolivia. It is long; of the river forms the border between Brazil and Bolivia. The Guaporé River is part of the Madeira River basin, which eve ...

). Classification by Jolkesky (2016): * Mamoré- Guaporé languages ** Bauré ***Bauré ***Carmelito ***Joaquiniano ***Muxojeóne **Moxeno ***Ignaciano ***Trinitário ***Loretano ***Javierano **Paikonéka ***Paikonéka ** Paunáka ***Paunáka Classification by Danielsen (2011) and Danielsen & Terhart (2014: 226): * Baure languages **Bauré **Carmelito **Joaquiniano: spoken in San Joaquín *

Pauna Pauna is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division ...

languages **Paunáka **Paikonéka *Mojo languages **Trinitário: spoken in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

**Ignaciano: spoken in San Ignacio **Loretano: spoken in Loreto **Javierano: spoken in San Javier **Muchojeone

Phonology

Consonants

* /h/ can be voiced as �between vowels. * /w/ can be heard as �before a front vowel, and as �when preceding /j/.

Vowels

* /e/ can also have an allophone of �

Word lists

The following is a wordlist containing sample words from English to Moxos: Magíana word list from the late 1700s published in Palau and Saiz (1989):Palau, Mercedes and Blanca Saiz. 1989. ''Moxos: Descripciones exactas e historia fiel de los indios, animales y plantas de la provincia de Moxos en el virreinato del Perú por Lázaro de Ribera, 1786-1794''. Madrid: El Viso. :

References

External links

Ignaciano
(

)
Trinitario
(

) {{Jesuit Missions of Moxos Arawakan languages Languages of Bolivia * Jesuit Missions of Moxos