Yukpa (Yuco, Yucpa, Yuko, Yupa) is a Cariban language, spoken by 3,000 people in Zulia State in Venezuela and 3,000 across the border in Colombia.[1] It's also known as Carib Motilón, Macoíta, Northern Motilón, Manso.

Yukpa
Yupka wonkü
Native toVenezuela, Colombia
EthnicityYukpa people
Native speakers
6,000 (2007–2009)[1]
Cariban
  • (unclassified)
    • Yupka languages
      • Yukpa
Language codes
ISO 639-3yup
Glottologyukp1241
ELPYukpa

Río Casacará (Iroka) and Río Maracas are the main dialects, and different enough to possibly be considered separate languages. Also Caño Padilla–La Laguna. The Venezuelan dialects, Yrapa and Río Negro, are closer to Río Maracas than to Río Casacará.

Similarity to Japrería, the other Yupka language, is slight.

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Dental/
Alveolar
Post-
alveolar
Retroflex Palatal Velar
plain lab.
Stop p k
Affricate
Fricative (ʃ) ʂ
Nasal m
Rhotic ɾ (ɽ)
Approximant w j
  • Sounds /p, m/ can become velarized as [pˠ, mˠ] when before vowels /e, a/.
  • /j/ can have an allophone of [ʐ] in free variation, and [ç] when before consonants.
  • A retroflex [ɽ] may also occur simultaneously in the place of /tʂ/ or /ʂ/ in the Sokorpa dialect.
  • In the La Paz and Menkwe dialects, retroflex consonants do not occur, so /ʂ/ is heard as [ʃ] in both dialects, and /tʂ/ is heard as either [x] in the La Paz dialect, and [ts] in the Menkwe dialect.
  • Nasal sounds /m, n/ become voiceless [m̥, n̥] when preceding voiceless stops.

Vowels

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Front Central Back
High e ~ ɪ ɯ u
Mid o
Low a
  • /e/ ranges between sounds [ɪ, e] across dialects.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b Yukpa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Largo, Wilson (2011). Una Gramática del Yukpa Colombia (PDF) (in Spanish). Fundación Para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Marginados (FDPM).
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