Both the Yurakaré language and the Yurakaré people are unique. Anthropologically, it is difficult to group Yurakaré with any of their neigbours, whereas their language is mostly described as unclassified, which means there are no known languages related to it. However, socio-economically the Yurakaré can with no doubt be called lowland Amazonian, as well as their language has been in contact with other languages of the region. Yurakaré is spoken by around 2,500 people and is in danger of becoming extinct.
Yurakaré is one of the languages of the Interactive Map. Find it there and think of a way this small language could be maintained.
Why do languages become endangered? Are all small languages in danger of extinction? Find out what the factors leading to language endangerment are from Chapter 8 of the Book of Knowledge.
FURTHER INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
To find more information about Yurakaré, visit the website of the DoBeS Yurakaré Documentation Project.
Here you can find a grammar of the language (author: Erik van Gijn).
Photo: (by Sonja Gipper & Consejo Educativo del Pueblo Yurakaré)