Betoi (Betoy) or Betoi-Jirara is an extinct language of Colombia and Venezuela, south of the Apure River near the modern border with Colombia. The names Betoi and Jirara are those of two of its peoples/dialects; the language proper has no known name. At contact, Betoi was a local lingua franca spoken between the Uribante and Sarare rivers and along the Arauca. Enough was recorded for a brief grammatical monograph to be written (Zamponi 2003).

Betoi
Jirara
Native toVenezuela
RegionOrinoco Llanos
Extinctmid 19th century
Betoi–Saliban?
  • Betoi
Dialects
  • Situfa
  • Airico
  • Lolaca
  • Jirara
  • Betoi
  • Ele
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
qtd
Glottologbeto1236

Classification

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Betoi is generally seen as an isolate, though Kaufman (2007) included it in Macro-Paesan.

Zamponi (2017) finds enough lexical resemblances between Betoi and the Saliban languages to conclude that a genealogical relationship is plausible.[1]

Varieties

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Historically a dialect cluster, varieties include Betoi, Jirara, Situfa, Ayrico, Ele, Lucalia, Jabúe, Arauca, Quilifay, Anabali, Lolaca, and Atabaca.[2]

Below is a full list of Betoi varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.[3]

  • Betoi / Guanero / Isabaco - extinct language once spoken on the Casanare River, Cravo Norte River, and Apure River, Arauca territory, Colombia.
  • Situfa / Cituja - extinct language once spoken on the Casanare River in the Arauca region.
  • Airico - once spoken at the sources of the Manacacías River. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 2, pp. 243-247, only a few words.)
  • Jirara - spoken once in the upper Manacacías River region. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 1, pp. 201 and 203, pt. 2, pp. 16 and 328, only a few words and phrases.)
  • Atabaca - once spoken in the upper Manacacías River region. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 2, p. 274, only a few words.)
  • Lolaca - once spoken on the confluence of the Arauca River and Chitagá River. (Unattested.)
  • Quilifay - once spoken around the confluence of the Arauca River and Chitagá River. (Unattested.)
  • Anabali - spoken south of the Atabaca tribe around the confluence of the Arauca River and Chitagá River. (Unattested.)
  • Ele - spoken on the Ele River. (Unattested.)

Lexicon

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Lexicon of Betoi compiled by Zamponi (2003) from various sources:[4]

Nouns

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English gloss Betoi Notes
earth (soil) dafibú, umena
country ajabó
sky teo-tucu lit. ‘house of the sun’
sun teo, theo, teo-umasoi lit. ‘sun-man’
moon teó-ro lit. ‘sun-woman’
star silicó
Pleiades ucasú, ocasú
wind fafuala
lightning buní
rain ofacú
water ocú, ocudú, oculiba
lake ocú = ‘water’
stone inakí
fire fútui, futuit
day munitá
month teo-ró = ‘moon’
year ucasú, ocasú = ‘Pleiades’
living being (animal, rational being) ubad-, sg. ubadoi, pl. ubadola
man humas-, umas-, sg. humasoi, pl. humasola
woman ro, pl. roducajaná
monkey sorroy
jaguar ufi
bird cosiú, cusí
duck cuiviví
hen focará
k.o. mosquito sumí
fish dujiduca duca may be the demonstrative enclitic ‘this’
ants (collective) irruqui
cock toteleló
honey alalaba
forest quaja, ucaca-ajabo ajabo = ‘country’
polypody (k.o. fern) sorroy umucosó lit. ‘hand of monkey’
maize romú
body ejebosi
head osacá
hair ubuca
forehead afubá
face afucá
eye ufonibá
nose iusaca
mouth afubó
lip afubé
tooth oxoki
tongue inecá
throat emalafadá
arm dafucá
hand umucosó, umocoso
finger umucurrú
leg, foot emocá
thigh uduba
heart ijiba
belly utucú
shoulder telisá
father babí, babbí
mother mamá
ancestors ojabolá pl.
house tucú, pl. tucujaná
road maná
needs (requirements) duiji
spirit, devil memelú
God Diosó < Spanish Dios
Father, missionary Babí = ‘father’
devil memelú-fofei lit. ‘bad spirit’
will ojaca, ajaca

Verbs

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English gloss Betoi Notes
advise babasa-, o- -eba -eba = ‘make, do’
assail rolea-
bathe do-
be (location verb (?) and auxiliary) -u
be (copula) aj-
be dismayed (or astonished) ijuca- -uma Italian: ‘essere sbigottito’
be good mamiaj- mamí = ‘well’
be not (copula and auxiliary) re- (sg.) ~ ref- (pl.)
be obedient obai- -omucaaj-
be pitiful dusucaaj-
bum fafole-
call cofa-
come -usa
deceive -olea, -oloa
die -iju, rijubi-
fill anu- -eba -eba = ‘make, do’
forgive -usuca = ‘pay’
give -umua
go -anu
help -ausu
illuminate tulu- -eba -eba = ‘make, do’
look for be-, cula- -atu
make, do -ebá, sa-
I must beat you robarriabarrarráácajú
pay -usuca = ‘forgive’
don’t permit jitebometú
prevent tu-
revere -omea
speak, say faá-
steal rááquirra-
take away cumi-
take care of -inefá
think o- -acaa

Adverbs

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English gloss Betoi Notes
beforehand umarrá
now maidacasí maida ‘today’
soon, already maydaytú, maydaitú maida ‘today’
afterwards, later lojenuma numa may be the root ‘all’
yesterday vita
today maidda, maida
another time jajamú
there
down umenanú = ‘on earth’
everywhere ubujenuma numa may be the root ‘all’
where día
from where diatú
well mamí
little by little caibanú
casually foirreojanudá
so mai, may
little, a bit bijeasi
sufficiently fedanú
how day = ‘what, ?how much’
very naisú

Pronouns

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English gloss Betoi Notes
I rau
you (sg.) uju
he, she, it yairi
we raufisucá
you (pl.) ujurrola
they yarola
this one (m.) irrí
this one (f.)
this one (n.) ijé
the same one oanú = ‘as’
who (sg. m.) (interrogative and relative) madoi
who (sg. f.) (interrogative and relative) mado
what, which, that (sg. n.) (interrogative and relative) majaduca
what day = ‘how, ?how much’

Other parts of speech

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English gloss Betoi Notes
this -ducá demonstrative clitic?
white cocosiajo
sweet olisa
bad fofei, fofej, fofey
wise, prudent culasa
other ed-, sg. edoi, pl. edolatu
next, coming edasu
one edojojoi
two edoi = ‘other’
three ibutú = ‘and’
four ibutú-edojojoi lit. ‘and/three one’
five rumucoso lit. ‘my hand’
many maitolá
all -numa, sg. bagenuma, pl. bolanuma
how much daitolá pl.
above ubo
inside toli
and ibutú
but uita
because day
as oanu = ‘the same one’
no ebamucá
true! tugaday
how did this happen? day día qué day = ‘what, how, ?how much’; día ‘where’, -qué = ‘interrogative’
excl. of wonder ayaddi
excl. of admiration ódique
excl. of desire and uncertainty odijá
excl. of fear odifarracá
excl. of grief ai asidí
interrogative marker -qué day = ‘what, how, ?how much’; -qué = ‘interrogative’
tag-question marker dayqué
moreover farrocafada, farrocafeda

References

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  1. ^ Zamponi, Raoul (2017). Betoi-Jirara, Sáliban, and Hod i: Relationships among Three Linguistic Lineages of the Mid-Orinoco Region. Anthropological Linguistics, Volume 59, Number 3, Fall 2017, pp. 263-321.
  2. ^ Epps, Patience; Michael, Lev, eds. (2023). Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume I: Aikanã to Kandozi-Chapra. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-041940-5.
  3. ^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
  4. ^ Zamponi, Raoul. 2003. Betoi. Languages of the World, 428. München: Lincom Europa.

Bibliography

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