# Urarina language

Urarina is a language isolate spoken in Peru, specifically in the Loreto Region of Northwest Peru, by the Urarina people. There are around 3,000 speakers in Urarinas District (along the Chambira River). It uses the Latin script. It is also known as Itucali, Simacu or Shimacu.
It has a canonical word order of object–verb–subject.

## Classification

The classification of Urarina remains contentious: academics have placed the language in at least four language families including Panoan, Tupian, Macro-Tucanoan, and Amerind. However, the proposed language families share few similarities with Urarina, meaning it is likely best described as either “unclassified” or as a language isolate. It is usually assumed that it is a language isolate given Urarina’s complete lack of lexical overlap with any languages surrounding Urarina territory.

## Dialects

There are four Urarina dialect zones:
* Zone A (western area, including Tigrillo and Espejo)
* Zone B (Lower Chambira dialects, including the Asna and Airico Rivers)
* Zone C (Upper Chambira and all of its tributaries)
* Zone D (Corrientes)

## Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Arawak, Leko, and Omurano language families due to contact.

## Status

Urarina is currently spoken by the 2,000-3,000 members of the Urarina tribe, the majority of whom have retained the ability to speak the language. However, bilingualism and use of Spanish in everyday life is on the rise, as more and more Spanish-speaking mestizos have immigrated to the valley where the Urarina live. While there is a bilingual education system, most bilingual schools almost exclusively use Spanish, as the majority of the teachers do not speak Urarina. The version of Urarina that is spoken by younger generations has lost a substantial degree of grammatical complexity and vocabulary, as correlated to the loss of traditional cultural practices and beliefs. The language is considered potentially endangered.

## Phonology

The following is the phonology of Urarina as described by Olawsky.

### Consonants

| | | Labial | Dental | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Glottal | Glottal |
| | | Labial | Dental | Retroflex | Palatal | plain | labial | plain | palatal |
| Nasal | Nasal | /m/ | /n/ | | ng /ɲ/ | | | | |
| Stop | Voiceless | | /t/ | | ts /t͡ɕ/ | /k/ | kw /kʷ/ | | |
| Stop | Voiced | /b/ | /d/ | | | | | | |
| Fricative | Fricative | fw /fʷ/ | /s/ | | sh /ʃ/ | | | /h/ | hj /hʲ/ |
| Approximant | Approximant | | /l/ | r /ɽ/ | | | | | |

### Vowels

| | Front | Central | Back |
| Close | /i/ | /ʉ/ | /u/ |
| Mid | /e/ | | |
| Open | | /a/ | |
Orthography is only written where it differs from IPA

## Grammar

Urarina has several rare grammatical characteristics. The language follows the OVS word order: of all the languages that use OVS word order, Urarina is among the strictest adherents to this word order in speech. Another feature of Urarina is its complex system on all verbs (excluding borrowings). Every verb is marked according to one of three paradigms, as determined by a complicated set of pragmatic and syntactic conditions.
Urarina follows a similarly unique word class system. Numerals and adjectives that are borrowed from Quechua and Spanish are placed in a completely separate class from indigenous Urarina words. Urarina also follows syntactic rules wherein the pitch-accent system changes the tone of a word, based on the preceding word class. The language's set of unique features has recently garnered special attention from linguists. However, Urarina's distinctive grammatical features are gradually disappearing as younger generations speak a Urarina that is being influenced by a growing bilingualism in Spanish
Like many other Amazonian languages, Urarina follows a polysynthetic, agglutinative word morphology in relating to verbs.

## Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Itucale.
    glossItucale oneexlehé twokuradzá headkuxterí eyeidichú womanení fireöxsí sunenotú maizekaxturí houseluredí whitedzumaré

### Flora and fauna

List of selected plant and animal names in Urarina:
| Urarina | Local Spanish | English | Scientific name | Family |
| aʉeno | sacha culantro | (coriander-like herb) | Eryngium foetidum | Apiaceae |
| aari | topa | balsa wood tree | Ochroma pyramidale | Bombacaceae |
| aari | arambaza | (type of bee) | | |
| aaĩ | otorongo | jaguar | Panthera onca | |
| aerana | pucalupuna | lighthouse tree (type) | Ceiba pentandra (type) | |
| ahai ɲe | paiche | giant arapaima (fish) | Arapaima gigas | Arapaimidae |
| ahariri | gamitana | tambaqui (fish) | Colossoma macropomum | Characidae |
| ahjaʉi | uvilla | (type of tree) | Pourouma cecropiifolia | Moraceae |
| ahjaaone | santa maria | (type of pepper plant) | Piper peltatum | Piperaceae |
| ajtɕuhiri | armadillo grande | giant armadillo | Priodontes maximus | |
| akʉaraa | pona | white nist palm | Dictyocaryum ptarianum | Arecaceae |
| akaa | toé | angel trumpet vine, datura | Brugmansia sp. | Solanaceae |
| akii | camote | morning glory (vine) | Ipomoea sp. | Convolvulaceae |
| alaa | aguaje | swamp palm | Mauritia flexuosa | Palmae |
| alaaeri | caimitu | yellow star apple (tree) | Pouteria caimito | Sapotaceae |
| alajtɕõo | jergón | South American lancehead snake | Bothrops atrox | |
| alau | maquisapa | spider monkey | Ateles paniscus | |
| alauihja | pero caspi | (type of tree) | | |
| alõori | panguana | tinamou (partridge) | Crypturellus undulatus | |
| anaahe | uvos | hog plum, yellow mombin (tree) | Spondias mombin | Anacardiaceae |
| anajsihje | mucura | anamu (herb) | Petiveria alliacea | Phytolaccaceae |
| anaue | pichico | tamarin (monkey) | Saguinus spp. | |
| arauata | choro | woolly monkey | Lagothrix lagothricha | |
| aresi ɲe | mojara | type of tetra (fish) | Acestrocephalus boehlkei | Characidae |
| atari | paufil | razor-billed curassow (bird) | Crax, Mitu | |
| auri | paucar | oriole type (bird) | Psarocolius sp. | Icteridae |
| baka isitɕi | teta de vaca | (type of plant) | Solanum mammosum | |
| ʤaruba | vaca marina | Amazonian manatee | Trichechus inunguis | |
| darane | mojara | (type of fish) | related to Acestrocephalus boehlkei | Characidae |
| duhwa | cedro masha | cancharana (tree) | Cabralea sp. | Meliaceae |
| ejtɕu | cashapona | stilt palm | Socratea exorrhiza | Palmae |
| elelia, elele | chevón | (type of tree) | | |
| enʉasoone | nobia | (type of catfish) | Ageneiosus atronasus | Auchenipteridae |
| esʉ | shimbillo; guaba | ice-cream bean (tree) | Inga edulis | Fabaceae |
| etoe | musmuqui | owl monkey | Aotus nigriceps | |
| fwafwafwa katʉ | sapucho; sapo platano | (type of banana) | Musa sp. | |
| fwafwafwa | huapapa bird | boat-billed heron | Cochlearius cochlearius | |
| fwanara lanahaj | guineo | (type of banana) | Musa sp. | |
| haja | mullaca caspi | (type of tree) | Physalis angulata | |
| hi ɲori | ? | (type of tree) | | |
| hiriri ɲo | bagre | (type of catfish) | Pinirampus pirinampu | Pimelodidae |
| hjaane | achiote | annatto (tree, herb) | Bixa orellana | Bixaceae |
| hjarana | isana, caña brava | arrow cane | Gynerium sagittatum | Graminae |
| itɕai | saeha papa | (type of tuber) | Dioscorea trifida | Dioscoreaceae |
| kahjaʉsi | cortadera | (type of herb) | Scleria | Cyperaceae |
| kajahuri | cumala | (type of tree) | | Myristicaceae - any type |
| kakʉri | trompetero | grey-winged trumpeter (bird) | Psophia crepitans | |
| kameranati | guineo pindorito | (type of banana) | | |
| kati | mono negro | dark capuchin monkey | Cebus apella | |
| kirimata | boquichico | tilapia (fish) | Prochilodus | Prochilodontidae |
| komokomo | comocomo, garza blanca | great egret | Casmerodius alba | |
| kukuri | carachupa | Southern naked-tailed armadillo | Cabassous unicinctus | |
| kurari | palometa; macane | silver dollar (fish) | Mylossoma/Metynnis/Myleus spp. | Characidae |
| kuri | jagua, sacha huito | (type of tree) | Tocoyena williamsii | Rubiaceae |
| kwairi | ayahuasca | (type of liana) | Banisteriopsis caapi | Malpighiaceae |
| laano | yuca | cassava; manioc | Manihot esculenta | Euphorbiaceae |
| lerano | macana | (type of knifefish) | Adontosternarchus balaenops | |
| meseri | cocona | peach tomato (bush) | Solanum sessiliflorum | Solanaceae |
| nekwʉri | puma garza | rufescent tiger-heron | Botaurus pinnatus, Tigrisoma lineatum | |
| nekwʉʉri | garabata | (type of liana) | similar to Uncaria spp. | Rubiaceae |
| obana | sajino | collared peccary | Pecari tajacu | |
| ohwa | huicungo | (type of tree) | Astrocaryum murumuru | Palmae |
| raana | huangana | white-lipped peccary | Tayassu pecari | |
| rihje | pijuayo, pifayo | peach palm | Bactris gasipaes | Palmae |
| risi ɲe | chambira | chambira palm | Astrocaryum chambira | Arecaceae |
| ruru | coto | red howler monkey | Alouatta seniculus | |
| siria | dorado | (type of catfish) | Brachyplatystoma filamentosum | Pimelodidae |
| suseri | unchala | grey-necked wood-rail (bird) | Aramides cajanea | |
| tariatɕa | taricaya | yellow-spotted river turtle | Podocnemis unifilis | |
| tururi | llanchama | (type of fig tree) | Poulsenia armata | Moraceae |
| urwari | huitina | arrowleaf (tuber) | Xanthosoma sagittifolium | Araceae |
| ʃabẽeto | guayaba | (type of tree) | Psidium guajava | Myrtaceae |
| ʃeremia | pandisho, pan de árbol | breadfruit tree | Artocarpus altilis | Moraceae |
| ʉkʉari | oso hormiguero | giant anteater | Myrmecophaga tridactyla | |
| ʉkiasi | renaco | fig tree | Ficus spp., Coussapoa spp. | Moraceae |
| ʉnee | kinkajou | kinkajou | Bassaricyon alleni | |
| ʉrerej | otorongo | jaguar | Panthera onca | |