Saparo–Yawan languages
Encyclopedia
Saparo–Yawan is a language family proposal uniting two small language families of the western Amazon. It was first proposed by Swadesh (1954), and continues through Payne (1984) and Kaufman (1994).
There are also four language isolate
s and otherwise unclassified language
s which have been indirectly linked to Saparo–Yawan, and for convenience they are included here. Tovar (1984) proposed a connection between Zaparoan and the otherwise unclassified Taushiro; Stark (1985) and Gordon (2005) see a connection with the extinct Omurano language. The extinct Awishiri and the Candoshi isolate have lexical similarities with Taushiro, Omurano, and each other; however, the four languages also have lexical similarities with Zaparoan, Jivaroan
, and Arawakan
. These six languages and families in the table at right have not been linked in any coherent fashion. Given that Candoshi is well described, this is something which may be resolved relatively soon.
It forms part of Kaufman's Macro-Andean
proposal.
There are also four language isolate
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
s and otherwise unclassified language
Unclassified language
Unclassified languages are languages whose genetic affiliation has not been established by means of historical linguistics. If this state of affairs continues after significant study of the language and efforts to relate it to other languages, as in the case of Basque, it is termed a language...
s which have been indirectly linked to Saparo–Yawan, and for convenience they are included here. Tovar (1984) proposed a connection between Zaparoan and the otherwise unclassified Taushiro; Stark (1985) and Gordon (2005) see a connection with the extinct Omurano language. The extinct Awishiri and the Candoshi isolate have lexical similarities with Taushiro, Omurano, and each other; however, the four languages also have lexical similarities with Zaparoan, Jivaroan
Jivaroan languages
Jivaroan is a small language family, or perhaps a language isolate, of northern Peru and eastern Ecuador.-Family division:Jivaroan consists of 4 languages:-Genetic relations:...
, and Arawakan
Arawakan languages
Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean based on the Arawakan languages. Sometimes the proposal is called Arawakan, in which case the central family is called Maipurean....
. These six languages and families in the table at right have not been linked in any coherent fashion. Given that Candoshi is well described, this is something which may be resolved relatively soon.
It forms part of Kaufman's Macro-Andean
Macro-Andean
Macro-Andean is a speculative proposal by Kaufman linking languages of the northern Andes.Kaufman found lexical support for proposals linking the Jivaro–Cahuapanan families as suggested by Swadesh and others. By 2007 he had tentatively added Saparo–Yawan, which is itself provisional, and...
proposal.