Uru language

Uru
Uchumataqu, Kot-suñ
Native toBolivia
RegionLake Titicaca, near the Desaguadero River
Ethnicity230 Uru people (2007)
Extinct2004, with the death of Julia Vila
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3ure
Glottologuruu1244
ELPUru
Linguasphere84-MAA-aa
Map of Uru-Chipaya languages
Uru is classified as Extinct be the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

The Uru language, also known as Uchumataqu (Uru: Kot-suñ), is an extinct language formerly spoken by the Uru people. In 2004, it had 2 remaining native speakers out of an ethnic group of 140 people in the La Paz Department, Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, the rest having shifted to Aymara and Spanish.

Uru is also called Ochosuma (Uchuzuma), a historical name for the Uru ethnic group.

By 2012 the language had no speakers left. However, the Uru community has been interested in revitalizing their language and maintaining their culture.

Identification

Since one of the Urus' names for their language was "Pukina", Uchumataqu has previously been mistakenly identified with Puquina. While the personal and possessive pronouns of the unrelated Puquina bear limited similarities to those of Arawakan languages, Uru differs drastically from Arawakan languages in its person-marking system and its morphology. The pronoun system of Uchumataqu is naturally very similar instead to its close relative Chipaya. Uchumataqu has also borrowed grammatical and lexical morphemes from prolonged exposure to Aymara, with which it is not related, however. Unlike Aymara, Uru is not polysynthetic and has a phonemic five-vowel system /a e i o u/, while Aymara has a three-vowel system /a i u/. One contrast between Uru and the related Chipaya is that Uru does not identify gender morphologically as Chipaya does.

Dialects

There are mentions of two Uru dialects: Uru of Ch'imu and Sun Island, though it is unclear whether the former was a dialect or its own language. Uru of Ch'imu was spoken in the town of Ch'imu and was first recorded in 1929, and, while not published, there are detailed notes of the language in existence. The second variety was spoken on Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca and was first described in the 1960s though there it is far less documented.

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain lab. plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p t tʷ k kʷ q
aspirated pʰ tʰ kʰ qʰ
ejective pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʃ t͡k
ejective t͡sʼ t͡ʃʼ
Fricative s x h
Nasal m n ɲ
Trill r
Approximant lateral l ʎ
central j w

Vowels

Front Back
short long short long
Close i iː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Open a aː

Orthography

Uru did not have a standardized orthography.

Sample texts

naː-nak-ki

that.FEM-PL-TOP

maxnʸ a-l

early-FEM

tʰax-a-ki-č̣a

sleep-FUT-FUT.NSP-DECL

naː-nak-ki {maxnʸ a-l} tʰax-a-ki-č̣a

that.FEM-PL-TOP early-FEM sleep-FUT-FUT.NSP-DECL

They (those women) slept early

Wer-ki

INV-TOP

laŋ-ş-xapa

work-INF-BEN

tʰon-čin-č̣a

come-PST.1-DECL

Wer-ki laŋ-ş-xapa tʰon-čin-č̣a

INV-TOP work-INF-BEN come-PST.1-DECL

I have come in order to work

Wir-il

INV-1

xála

llama

k'áyǎ

buy

pẹ́k'u-čay

want-PRS.1.SG-DECL

Wir-il xála k'áyǎ pẹ́k'u-čay

INV-1 llama buy want-PRS.1.SG-DECL

I want to buy a llama

References

  1. ↑ Uru language at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Muysken, Pieter (2010-11-17), Flores Farfán, José Antonio; Ramallo, Fernando F. (eds.), "The demise and attempted revival of Uchumataqu (Uru): Values and actors", Culture and Language Use, vol. 1, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 93–118, doi:10.1075/clu.1.06muy, ISBN 978-90-272-0281-9, retrieved 2026-08-19{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  3. ↑ Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger (Report) (3rd ed.). UNESCO. 2010. p. 19.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Adelaar, Willem F. H. (2004). The languages of the Andes. Internet Archive. Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press. pp. 362–372. ISBN 978-0-521-36275-7.
  5. ↑ Campbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.). The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166. ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3.
  6. 1 2 Hannß, Katja (2008). Uchumataqu: The lost language of the Urus of Bolivia: A grammatical description of the language as documented between 1894 and 1952 (PDF). Leiden: Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies (CNWS), Universiteit Leiden.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Danielsen, Swintha (2010). "Review of "Uchumataqu: The Lost Language of the Urus of Bolivia. A Description of the Language as Documented between 1894 and 1952. Indigenous Languages of Latin America"". Anthropological Linguistics. 52: 107–111. JSTOR 40929741.
  8. ↑ Adelaar, Willem F. H. (2004). The Language of the Andes. Cambridge, GB: Cambridge Language Surveys. p. 353. ISBN 978-0-511-21050-1 – via Ebrary.
  9. 1 2 Pena, Jaime (2009). "Uchumataqu: The Lost Language of the Urus of Bolivia. A Grammatical Description of the Language as Documented between 1894 and 1952". Studies in Language. 33: 1012–1018. doi:10.1075/sl.33.4.10pen.
  10. ↑ Hannss, Katja (2009). Uchumataqu (Uro). In Mily Crevels and Pieter Muysken (eds.), Lenguas de Bolivia, Tomo I: Ambito Andino: La Paz: Plural Editores. pp. 79–115.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)