Rocorona language

Rocorona, or Ocorono, is an extinct language of Bolivia of the Chapacuran family. It is known only from three short texts, namely the Lord's Prayer, Ave Maria, and Nicene Creed.

Rocorona
Ocorono
Region	Bolivia
Extinct	(date missing)
Language family	Chapacuran (unclassified) Rocorona
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	roco1235

Birchall (2013) presents an in-depth analysis of the surviving Rocorona texts from Jesuit missions in Bolivia.^[1] The texts were analyzed by Georges de Crequi-Montfort and Paul Rivet (1913).^[2]

Phonology

Consonants

Rokorona consonants^[1][3]

	Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	p	t			k	(ʔ)
Fricative		s	ʃ/ʒ ⟨ʒ⟩[a]
Nasal	m	n		(ɲ) ⟨ñ⟩[b]
Tap		ɾ
Glide				j	w

Notes

1. Is more likely to be IPA [ʃ] based on comparison with other Chapacuran languages, but exact articulation unknown
2. May not be a distinct phoneme

Vowels

Rocorona has a 5-vowel system.^[1][3]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e		o
Open		a

Noticeably unusual is the absence of the vowel /y/.

Vocabulary

Rokorona vocabuary^[1]

Rokorona	Gloss
jamarima	woman
tipra-	hand/arm
wati	person/us
treji-	ear
timak	earth
wajama	child
iten	father
ini	mother
towa	day/white
witi-	name

Sample text

A morpheme-by-morpheme gloss of the Lord's Prayer is given below, from Birchall (2013).^[1]

Corotenesi

Koro=tene-si

?=father=1PL.INCL

Dios

Dios

God

paumama

paw mama

? ?

pavim,

p-awin

OBL-high

Corotenesi Dios paumama pavim,

Koro=tene-si Dios {paw mama} p-awin

?=father=1PL.INCL God {? ?} OBL-high

'Our father who art in heaven'

oropatanapaiñtra

oropata=na pa-in=tra

hear=3SG.NFUT OBL-3N=3SG.FUT

vitim:

witi-m

name-2SG

oropatanapaiñtra vitim:

{oropata=na pa-in=tra} witi-m

{hear=3SG.NFUT OBL-3N=3SG.FUT} name-2SG

'Holy be thy name'

payguantra

pajiwan=tra

(arrive?)=3SG.FUT

reinonam

reino-nam

kingdom-2SG

payguantra reinonam

pajiwan=tra reino-nam

(arrive?)=3SG.FUT kingdom-2SG

'your kingdom will come,'

caracopiyma

ka ra ko pijim ma

NMLZ ? INFL:M/F say 2SG

aratra

ara=tra

make=3SG.FUT

patimac

pa-timak

OBL-earth

caracopiyma aratra patimac

{ka ra ko pijim ma} ara=tra pa-timak

{NMLZ ? INFL:M/F say 2SG} make=3SG.FUT OBL-earth

'your will be done on Earth'

pani

pan ne

be 3N

pavintra

p-awin=tra

OBL-high=3SG.FUT

pani pavintra

{pan ne} p-awin=tra

{be 3N} OBL-high=3SG.FUT

'as it will be in Heaven.'

Missirit

mi=sirit

give=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT

pacañica

pakanika

?

paiñ

pa-in

OBL-3N

caracaguanasit

ka ara kaw wa nasit

NOM make eat INF 1PL.EXCL

Missirit pacañica paiñ caracaguanasit

mi=sirit pakanika pa-in {ka ara kaw wa nasit}

give=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT ? OBL-3N {NOM make eat INF 1PL.EXCL}

'Give us your daily bread'

masiransirit

masiran=sirit

forgive=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT

paiñ

pa-in

OBL-3N

maram

maram

COLL

pecatonasit

pecato-nasit

sin-1PL.EXCL

masiransirit paiñ maram pecatonasit

masiran=sirit pa-in maram pecato-nasit

forgive=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT OBL-3N COLL sin-1PL.EXCL

'forgive us of our sins,'

paacarit

paakarit

?

pococon

p-okokon

OBL-3PL.MASC

maraguati

mara

COLL

coromasiram

wati

people

arit

koro-masiram=arit

?-forgive=1PL.EXCL.NFUT

paacarit pococon maraguati coromasiram arit

paakarit p-okokon mara wati koro-masiram=arit

? OBL-3PL.MASC COLL people ?-forgive=1PL.EXCL.NFUT

'as we forgive those who sin against us,'

coro

koro

enter

veneminaparit

wenemi=na-parit

?=3SG.NFUT-1PL.EXCL

parotsirit

parot=sirit

?=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT

coro veneminaparit parotsirit

koro wenemi=na-parit parot=sirit

enter ?=3SG.NFUT-1PL.EXCL ?=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT

'and not lead us into temptation'

iyo

ijo

?

taarameget

ta arameket

? ?

ecoparit

e=ko-parit

?=3SG.MASC-1.PL.EXCL

naùcam

naw kami(?)

? ?

iyo taarameget ecoparit naùcam

ijo {ta arameket} e=ko-parit {naw kami(?)}

? {? ?} ?=3SG.MASC-1.PL.EXCL {? ?}

'and deliver us from evil(?)'

parotsirit

parot=sirit

?=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT

paiñ

pa-in

OBL-3N

masinaiñ

masi=na-in

?=3SG.NFUT-3N

apitra.

api=tra

finish=3SG.FUT

Amen.

amen

amen

parotsirit paiñ masinaiñ apitra. Amen.

parot=sirit pa-in masi=na-in api=tra amen

?=3SG:1PL.EXCL.NFUT OBL-3N ?=3SG.NFUT-3N finish=3SG.FUT amen

'(For thine is the kingdom….?) Amen'