Pume

Pume, also known as Yaruro, is a language isolate spoken by around 9,500 members of the Pume people in the central Apure Llanos of western Venezuela, along the Orinoco, Cinaruco, Meta and Apure rivers. It has been treated as an isolate since at least the eighteenth century, though some more recent research has proposed possible distant connections to the Chocoan languages of Colombia based on shared vocabulary and sound patterns. The language has an unusually large sound inventory for the region, with nineteen consonants and fifteen vowels, and a standardized practical alphabet was developed for it in 1982 to support documentation and literacy efforts.