Moxo languages


Moxo is any of the Arawakan languages spoken by the Moxo people of Northeastern Bolivia. The two extant languages of the Moxo people, Trinitario and Ignaciano, are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Arawakan languages. Extinct Magiana was also distinct.
Moxo languages have an active–stative syntax.

Sociolinguistic background

The languages belong to a group of tribes that originally ranged through the upper Mamoré, extending east and west from the Guapure to the Beni, and are now centered in the Province of Moxos, Department of Beni, Bolivia.
Ignaciano is used in town meetings unless outsiders are present, and it is a required subject in the lower school grades, one session per week. Perhaps half of the children learn Ignaciano. By the 1980s there were fewer than 100 monolinguals, all older than 30.

Classification

The Moxo languages are most closely related to Bauré, Pauna, and Paikonéka. Together, they form the Mamoré-Guaporé languages. Classification by Jolkesky :
Classification by Danielsen and Danielsen & Terhart :
The following is a wordlist containing sample words from English to Moxos:
EnglishMoxos
OneIkapia
TwoApisá
ThreeImpúse
ManEhiro
WomanEseno
SunSáche
WaterUni
FireYuku
HeadNuxuti
HandNubupe
CornSuru

Magíana word list from the late 1700s published in Palau and Saiz :