Purian languages

The Purian languages are a pair of extinct languages of eastern Brazil:

• Puri
• Coroado Puri (also known as Coroado)

Purian
Puri-Coroado
Geographic distribution	East Brazil
Ethnicity	Puri people
Extinct	late 19th century
Linguistic classification	One of the world's primary language families
Subdivisions	Puri–Coroado † ?Waitaká † ?Maromomin [pt] †
Language codes
Glottolog	puri1261

Coropó (Koropó), once spoken in Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, was added by Campbell (1997), but removed again by Ramirez et al. (2015).^[1]

Purian was initially part of the Macro-Jê proposal. However, when Coropó is removed, there are not sufficient lexical connections to maintain this classification.^[2] Coroado and Puri are mutually intelligible with each other, and they are no longer regarded as being in the Macro-Jê family.^[3]

The Waitaká and Maromomin languages, both extinct, are possibly belonging to the Purian family, but this is not confirmable as no linguistic information was recorded.^[4][5]

Attestation

The Purian languages are only attested by a few word lists from the 19th century. The lists are:^[1]

Puri:

• Martius (1863: 194–195), collected in 1818 at São João do Presídio (now Visconde do Rio Branco, Minas Gerais).^[6]
• Eschwege (2002: 122–127), collected in 1815 near São João do Presídio^[7]
• Torrezão (1889: 511–513), collected in 1885 at Abre Campo (near Manhuaçu, Minas Gerais)^[8]

Coroado:

• Martius (1863: 195–198), collected in 1818 near São João do Presídio
• Eschwege (2002: 122–127), collected in 1815 near São João do Presídio
• Marlière (Martius, 1889: 198–207), collected between 1817 and 1819 at missions along the lower Paraíba do Sul River^[9]
• Saint-Hilaire (2000: 33), collected in 1816 near Valença, Rio de Janeiro^[10]

Koropó, which is now regarded as Maxakalian, is attested by two word lists:

• Eschwege (2002: 122–127), 127 words collected in 1815
• Schott (1822, pp. 48–51), 55 words collected in 1818^[11]

Geographical distribution

The Purian languages were spoken in a continuous region stretching from the Preto River to the Paraíba River (from Queluz, São Paulo to Paraibuna, São Paulo). The Puri occupied the Upper Paraíba do Sul River up to Queluz, São Paulo, and the Coroado from the Pomba River to the Doce River in Minas Gerais.^[1]

Dialects

Mason (1950) lists the following dialects of Coroado and Puri:^[12]

• Coroado
  • Maritong
  • Cobanipake
  • Tamprun
  • Sasaricon
• Puri
  • Sabonan
  • Wambori
  • Shaynishuna

Other languages

Extinct and unknown languages that may have been Purian languages:^[4]

• Caracatan - once spoken on the Caratinga River and Manhuaçu River, Minas Gerais.
• Bucan - found between Funil and Itacolumi near Mariana, Minas Gerais.
• Arasi - in Minas Gerais, Serra Ibitipoca and near Barbacena.
• Bacunin - near the city of Valença and on the Preto River.
• Airuan - Minas Gerais, between the Piranga River and Branco River.
• Bocayú - on the Pomba River.
• Aripiado - in the Serra da Araponga, Minas Gerais.
• Aredé - between Itabirito and Espinhaço.
• Guaraxué - between Ouro Preto, Mariana and Piranga.
• Sacarú - state of Rio de Janeiro on the Paraíba River.
• Paraíba - state of Rio de Janeiro on the Paraíba River.
• Pitá - state of Rio de Janeiro, on the Bonito River.
• Xumeto - in the Serra da Mantiqueira, state of Rio de Janeiro.
• Guarú - south of the Pitá tribe, state of Rio de Janeiro.
• Lôpo or Rôpo - in the Serra de Abre Campo, state of Minas Gerais.
• Abatipó - once spoken on the Matipó River, Minas Gerais.
• Caxine - in the state of Minas Gerais between the Preto River and Paraíba River, and near Valença, Rio de Janeiro.
• Caramonan - state of Minas Gerais, between the Pomba River and Doce River.
• Waitaka or Goytacaz - formerly spoken on the São Mateus River and in the vicinity of Cabo de São Tomé, state of Rio de Janeiro.

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.^[4]

gloss	Puri	Coroado	Koropó
one	omi	shombiuan	ipáĩn
two	kuriri	chiri	alinkrin
three		pátapakon	patepakon
tongue	an-gué	topé	pitao
foot	cha-peré	txa-peré	cham-brim
fire	pothe	poté	ké
tree	mpó	ambó	mebm
jaguar	paüan	pauan
house	ngguára	guar	sheume
white	begotara	katáma	guatháma

Proto-language

Silva Neto (2007) reconstructs 47 Proto-Purian forms.^{[13]: 39–41} Reconstituted forms by Silva Neto (2007) for Puri, Coroado, and Koropó synthesized from historical sources are also provided.

no.	English gloss (translated)	Portuguese gloss (original)	Proto-Purian	Puri	Coroado	Koropó
1	water	água	*yaman	yaman	yaman
2	you (sg.)	você	*gá		gá	gá
3	tapir	anta	*painan	penán	painá
4	here	aqui	*kará		kará	kra
5	tree	árvore	*mpó	mpo	ãmpo
6	drink	beber	*mpa	mpa	pa
7	mouth	boca	*čore	čore	čore	šore, čore
8	hair	cabelo	*ké	ke	gué	iče, ke
9	head	cabeça	*kwe	kwe	ke
10	eat	comer	*maše	paše	maše	makšina, maše
11	finger	dedo	*šapere	šabrera	šapere
12	day	dia	*opé	opé	ope
13	tooth	dente	*če	uče	če
14	star	estrela	*yuri	šuri	yuri	dzuri, yuri
15	arrow	flecha	*apon	apon	apon
16	fire	fogo	*poté	poté	poté
17	cat	gato	*šapé		šapi	šapé
18	brother	irmão	*čatay	šatã	čatay	šatay, čatay
19	daughter	filha	*šampe	šampe-mpayma	šãpe	boema
20	leaf	folha	*čope	dzoplé	čope	čupe
21	man	homem	*kwayman	kuayma, hakorema	kwayman	kwayman
22	moon	lua	*petara	petara	petara
23	mother	mãe	*ayan	ayan	ayan	ayan
24	maize	milho	*makπ	makπ	makπ
25	hand	mão	*šapore	kore, šapeprera	šapore, kokor¤e
26	mountain	monte	*pré	pré	pre	pré
27	large mountain	monte grande	*pré-heroyma	pré deka	pré-heroyma	pré-heroyma
28	much, very	muito	*purika	prika	purika
29	woman	mulher	*poyman	mpayma	poyman	boeman
30	nose	nariz	*ni	ni	yẽ
31	boy	menino	*šapoma		šapona	šapoma
32	night	noite	*miriponan	miriponan	maripoyan	merĩdan
33	eye	olho	*merĩ	miri	merĩ	šwarĩ
34	ear	orelha	*pepéna	bipina	pepéna
35	father	pai	*are	are	uaré
36	bird	pássaro	*šipu	šipu	šapu
37	foot	pé	*čapere	šaprera	čapere	čamprĩ
38	feather	pluma	*pé	šipupé	pe
39	pig	porco	*šorã	sotanšira	šorã
40	river	rio	*rorá	mñama róra	yamã rora	kwã
41	sun	sol	*opé	opé	ope
42	afternoon	tarde	*tušahi	tošora, tušahi	šare
43	earth	terra	*oše	guašé, ušó	oše
44	trunk	tronco	*pranü	pon-réna	põ pranü
45	wind	vento	*džota	džota	nan dota	narã dzota
46	belly	ventre, barriga	*tikĩ	tikĩ	tekĩ	ičĩ
47	herb, plant, grass	erva, planta, capim	*šapuko	šapúko, spangué	šapuko	šapuka

However, similarities in Koropó were later found to be loanwords by Ramirez et al. (2015), who classifies Koropó as Maxakalían.^[1] Nikulin (2020) also classifies Koropó as Macro-Jê (Maxakalían branch).^[14]