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Language Family

Yanomaman

South American Language Families

Yanomaman is a family of six languages spoken by about 20,000 Yanomami people across southern Venezuela and the Brazilian states of Roraima and Amazonas, none of them mutually intelligible with the others. Following a 2019 classification by Helder Perri Ferreira and colleagues, the family splits into a Ninam-Yanomam-Yaroame branch of four languages and a single-language Sanuma branch; speaker counts range from about 20,000 for Yanomamo and 6,000 for Yanomam down to a few hundred for Ninam and Yaroame and 178 for Yanoma. Yanomaman is counted among the world's primary language families, with no demonstrated relationship to any other; proposed links to Macro-Chibchan and to Panoan have not been accepted by the broader linguistic community.

Facts
Region
Southern Venezuela and northwestern Brazil (Roraima and Amazonas states) 1
Speaker Count
20,000 1
Figure is for Yanomamö, the family's largest branch by speaker count; the smallest branch, Yãnoma, has only 178 speakers.
Proto-Language Status
Usually not connected with any other language family; Joseph Greenberg suggested a relationship with Macro-Chibchan, and Migliazza (1985) suggested a connection with Panoan and Chibchan, but neither proposal is widely accepted. 1
In the Other Atlases
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Brazil, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: South America, found in there.
  • Also in Geography Atlas: Venezuela, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Yanomaman Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Introduction, first sentence
    Yanomaman...is a family of languages spoken by about 20,000 Yanomami people in southern Venezuela and northwestern Brazil (Roraima, Amazonas).
  • Genetic relations section
    Yanomaman is usually not connected with any other language family. Joseph Greenberg has suggested a relationship between Yanomaman and Macro-Chibchan.
  • Subdivision, Ferreira et al. (2019) section
    Yanomamö has the most speakers (20,000), while Yãnoma has the fewest (178).
View the Source
Wikidata: Yanomaman
Wikidata Q576879, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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