Zaparoan is a small, severely endangered family of the western Amazon basin in Peru and Ecuador, generally treated as an independent family though sometimes linked to the Saparo-Yawan languages. Around 39 Zaparoan-speaking tribes were recorded at the start of the 20th century, but disease and warfare following European contact reduced the family to a handful of documented languages, of which fewer than 100 speakers remain today across Zaparo, with about 5 speakers, Arabela, with about 50, and Iquito, with about 35.
Facts
Speaker CountSource states fewer than 100 speakers total; recorded as an upper-bound approximation, not a precise count. Proto-Language StatusReconstructed: Proto-Záparoan reconstructed by de Carvalho (2013) 1 In the Other Atlases
- Also in Geography Atlas: Ecuador, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: Peru, found in there.
- Also in Geography Atlas: South America, found in there.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Zaparoan Languages
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction, first sentence
Zaparoan (also Sáparoan, Záparo, Zaparoano, Zaparoana) is an endangered language family of Peru and Ecuador with fewer than 100 speakers.
Proto-language section heading
Proto-Záparoan reconstructions by de Carvalho (2013):
View the Source Wikidata: Zaparoan
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