Bora-Witoto languages
| Bora–Witóto | |
|---|---|
| Witotoan | |
| Geographic distribution |
northwestern Amazon |
| Linguistic classification | Proposed language family |
| Subdivisions | |
| Glottolog |
None bora1262 (Boran) huit1251 (Huitotoan) |
 |
|
Bora–Witóto (also Bora–Huitoto, Bora–Uitoto, or, ambiguously, Witotoan) is a proposal to unite the Bora and Witotoan language families of northeastern Peru (Loreto Region), southwestern Colombia (Amazonas Department), and western Brazil (Amazonas State). Kaufman (1990) found the proposal plausible; by 1994 he had accepted it and added the Andoque language.
The classification above is based on Campbell (1997), who follows Richard Aschmann's 1993 classification and reconstruction of proto-Witotoan.
Kaufman (1994) lists Bóran and Witótoan (Huitoto–Ocaina) as separate families (they are grouped together with Andoque as Bora–Witótoan; by 2007 he moved Andoque to Witotoan). He does not show internal branching. Nipode and Mïnïca are listed as dialects of a single Meneka language (whereas Aschmann and Campbell treat these as separate languages at different branch nodes). Kaufman also includes within his Witótoan (Huitoto–Ocaina) the following extinct languages :
Andoquero, Coeruna, and Koihoma are all extinct. Nonuya is nearly extinct, but attempts are being made at revival.
Synonymy note:
Kaufman's (1994) Bora–Witótoan stock includes the Bóran and Witótoan (Huitoto-Ocaina) sub-families and also the endangered language isolate Andoque (Andoke). By 2007 he had moved Andoque to within the Witotoan branch, and included Bora–Witoto in his Macro-Andean proposal. Richard Aschmann (1993) considered Andoque an isolate. Gildea and Payne (2007) checked Bora-Witoto with Andoque, Proto-Cariban and Yagua, and found Bora-Witoto to be not related to any of the others, including Andoque. Joseph Greenberg included Bora–Uitoto within his Macro-Carib phylum, but this has not been followed by linguists working on those families.
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