Pijao language

Pijao (Piajao, originally Pinao^[1]) is an unclassified indigenous American language that was spoken in the villages of Ortega, Coyaima (Koyai, Tupe) and Natagaima in the Magdalena River Valley of Colombia until the 1950s, by the Pijao and Panche people.^[2]

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Quick facts Native to, Region ...

Pijao
Pinao
Native to	Colombia
Region	Tolima
Ethnicity	Pijao people
Extinct	1950s
Language family	unclassified (Cariban?)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`pij`
Glottolog	`pija1235`
Map of the Pijao people and language

Subdivisions

Pijao subtribes reported by Rivet (1943, 1944) and cited in Mason (1950):^[3]

Aype, Paloma, Ambeina, Amoya, Tumbo, Coyaima, Poina (Yaporoge), Mayto (Maito, Marto), Mola, Atayma (Otaima), Tuamo, Bulira, Ocaima, Behuni (Beuni, Biuni), Ombecho, Anaitoma, Totumo, Natagaima, Pana (Pamao), Guarro, Hamay, Zeraco, Lucira, and Tonuro.

Classification

A small vocabulary list was collected in 1943; only 30 Pijao words and expressions are known.^{[citation needed]}

The few words which resemble Carib are thought to be loans; toponyms in Pijao country are also Carib. Durbin & Seijas (1973) did not detect significant connections between Pijao and other unclassified languages of the area: Colima, Muzo, Pantágora, and Panche, but these are even more poorly attested than Pijao.^[4]

Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with the Witoto-Okaina languages.^[5]

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Vocabulary

More information gloss ...

Pijao	gloss	Pijao	gloss	Pijao	gloss	Pijao	gloss	Pijao	gloss
amé	tree	alamán	crocodile	nuhúgi	woman	golúpa	cassava	orái	red
homéro	bow	tínki	tooth	oréma	man	lún	eye	toléma	snake
sumén	to drink	tána	water	yaguáde	jaguar	oléma	ear	huíl	sun
čaguála	canoe	nasés	house	núna	moon	pegil	foot	tenú	tobacco
kahírre	dog	hoté	star	ñáma	hand	tápe	stone

Subdivisions

Classification

Vocabulary

Notes

References

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