Omurano language


Omurano is an unclassified language from Peru. It is also known as Humurana, Roamaina, Numurana, Umurano, and Mayna. The language was presumed to have become extinct by 1958, but in 2011 a rememberer was found who knew some 20 words in Omurano; he claimed that there were still people who could speak it.
It was spoken near the Urituyacu River, or on the Nucuray River according to Loukotka.

Classification

Tovar linked Omurano to Taushiro ; Kaufman finds the links reasonable, and in 2007 he classified Omurano and Taushiro as Saparo–Yawan languages.
Maynas, once mistaken for a synonym, is a separate language.
Despite there being previous proposals linking Omurano with Zaparoan, de Carvalho finds no evidence that Omurano is related to Zaparoan.

Language contact

Jolkesky notes that there are lexical similarities with the Urarina, Arawak, Zaparo, and Leko language families due to contact.

Vocabulary

A word list by Tessmann is the primary source for Omurano lexical data.
Loukotka lists the following basic vocabulary items.