Where are the Jabuti languages spoken?

These languages are spoken in the state of Rondônia, Brazil.

Total number of speakers (estimates)

Around 30 according to the UNESCO

Classification

The Jabuti language family counts 2 active languages

Arikapú: 2 speakers according to the UNESCO; Van der Voort reports the death of one of them in 2009.

Djeoromitxi (alternative name: Jabuti): 30 speakers according to the UNESCO

Notes on the Jabuti language classification

We hereby follow Campbell’s classification (1997).

However, our classification may soon evolve, as it appears that these languages are to be assimilated to the Macro-Jê family, according to Van der Voort (see sources below). This family can no longer be presented as isolated and independent.

Are the Jabuti languages endangered?

Yes, both of them are about to be extinct.

Sources

Campbell, Lyle. American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America. Oxford: Oxford University Press (1997).

Ribeiro, Eduardo & Hein van der Voort (2005). “A inclusão das línguas Jabuti de Rondônia no tronco Macro-Jê” , presentation at the conference IV Encontro Internacional sobre Línguas e Culturas Macro-Jê, 3 – 5 November 2005, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil.

Van der Voort, Hein (2007). “Proto-Jabutí: um primeiro passo na reconstrução da língua ancestral dos Arikapú e Djeoromitxí” , in: Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (Ciências humanas) 2/2:133-168.

http://marte.museu-goeldi.br/seer/index.php/boletimhumanas/article/viewFile/105/134

Van der Voort, Hein (2008) “Arikapú” , in: Encyclopedia Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Fany Pantaleoni Ricardo (ed.), São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental.

http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/arikapu

Van der Voort, Hein (2008). “Djeoromitxí”, in: Encyclopedia Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Fany Pantaleoni Ricardo (ed.),São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental.

http://pib.socioambiental.org/en/povo/djeoromitxi

Eduardo Ribeiro & Hein van der Voort (2010) “Nimuendajú was right: The inclusion of the Jabuti language family in the Macro-Jê stock”, International Journal of American Linguistics, 76/4.