Waorani is primarily spoken in Waorani Ethnic Reserve, which is the largest indigenous reserve in Ecuador. Other areas where it is spoken include Pastaza and Napo provinces (including the towns of Puyo and Coca), Yasuní National Park, and the TaromenaniTagaeri Intangible Zone.[3]: 1191 Waorani is considered endangered due to growing bilingualism in Quechua and Spanish and diminishing Huaorani usage among youth.[1][4]
Dialects
Huaorani has three dialects: Tiguacuna (Tiwakuna), Tuei (Tiwi Tuei, Tiwi), and Shiripuno.
Language relations
Sabela is not known to be related to any other language. However, it forms part of Terrence Kaufman's Yawan proposal.
Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with Yaruro.[5]
Phonology
Huaorani distinguishes nasal vowels from oral ones. Syllable structure is (C)V, with frequent vowel clusters. The allophones of /o/ range from [ɵ,o,ʊ,ɤ] and the allophones of /õ/ have a similar range, [ɵ̃,õ,ʊ̃,ɤ̃], and allophones of /e,ẽ/ can be heard as [ɪ,ɪ̃]. The alveolar tap[ɾ] is an allophone of /d/ and the palatal glide[j] is an allophone of /ɟ/.
^"Waorani". UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger. UNESCO. Retrieved 2018-01-23.
^Epps, Patience; Michael, Lev, eds. (2023). Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume II: Kanoé to Yurakaré. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. ISBN978-3-11-043273-2.
Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-509427-1.
Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). Language in the Americas. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language History in South America: What We Know and How to Know More. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), Amazonian Linguistics: Studies in Lowland South American languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. ISBN0-292-70414-3.
Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The Native Languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the World's Languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.