Yate, also known as Fulnio or Iate, is a language isolate of Brazil and the only indigenous language still spoken in the country's northeastern region, used in the municipality of Aguas Belas in the state of Pernambuco. As of 2020 it had about 500 fluent speakers within a total Fulni-o population of roughly 7,000, and it comprises two closely related varieties, Fulnio, used mainly during religious retreats, and Yate, used in everyday life. Some scholars have proposed placing it within the Macro-Je languages, but researcher Eduardo Ribeiro found no supporting evidence and treats it as an isolate, a conclusion supported by later work from Nikulin in 2020. UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger classifies Yate as severely endangered.
Facts
RegionSpoken in Aguas Belas, Pernambuco, in northeastern Brazil; Yate is the only indigenous language remaining in that part of the country. 1 Speaker Count500 fluent speakers as of 2020 out of a total Fulni-o population of about 7,000; the Fulnio ritual dialect and the everyday Yate dialect are counted together in the source. Proto-Language StatusYate is treated as a language isolate with no proto-language reconstructed. Kaufman proposed placing it within the Macro-Je family, but later classifiers working on Brazilian languages find no evidence for that link and treat Yate as independent. 1 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Yate Language
WikipediaGeographic distribution section
Today, the language is spoken in Águas Belas, Pernambuco.
Speakers section, 2020 count
As of 2020, there were 500 fluent speakers of Yatê out of 7,000 Fulni-ô.
Classification section, Ribeiro assessment
However, Eduardo Ribeiro of the University of Chicago, who is working on large-scale classification of Brazilian languages, finds no evidence to support this, and treats it as an isolate.
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