Chacobo language

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Chácobo
Native toBolivia
RegionBeni Department
Ethnicityc.1,600–2,000 Chacobo (2018)[1]: viii 
Native speakers
c. 1,400 (2018)[1]: viii 
Panoan
  • Mainline Panoan
    • Nawa
      • Bolivian
        • Chácobo
Official status
Official language in
 Bolivia
Language codes
ISO 639-3cao
Glottologchac1251
ELPChácobo

Chácobo is a Panoan language spoken by about 1,400 out of the 1600 to 2000 Chácobo people of the Beni Department northwest of Magdalena, Bolivia. Chácobo children are learning the language as a first language.

Geographical distribution

Most speakers of Chacobo live in their Native Community Lands (Tierra Comunitaria de Origen, TCO), spanning 500,000 hectares in the Beni department of Bolivia. They are estimated to number 1,400. Beginning in the 1990s, many of them have moved to the town of Riberalta, around 100 kilometers north of the Chacobo TCO, where about 300 to 400 now live.[1]

Classification

It is closely related to, and may form a dialect group with, the moribund Pakawara language,[2] spoken by only three people as of 2018, though mutual intelligibility is low,[1] as well as the extinct Karipuna, also called Jaunavô (Jau-Navo, Jaũn Àvo) and Éloe. (This Karipuna is distinct from the Karipuna language of Rondônia, a Tupian language, also spoken in Brazil.[3])

Several unattested extinct languages were reported to have been related, perhaps dialects. These include Capuibo and Sinabo/Shinabo of the Mamoré River. However, nothing is actually known of these purported languages.[4]

History

It is unclear whether or not the Chacobo are identical to the Pacahuara of historical records. In 1767, Lorenzo Hervás described the Pacabara language as spoken in San Borja, south of the current location fo Chacobo and Pakawara. The name Chacobo itself is first mentioned in 1845 by explorer José Agustin Palacios.[1]

Status

Most Chacobo live in their own communities, maintaining a traditional way of life and teaching the language to children as a first language. Outsiders are generally forbidden from living in the villages, unless they are teahers or married to a Chacobo. Most Chacobo people living in Riberalta do not speak the language, however. It is one of 36 official languages of Bolivia.[1][5]

Phonology

Consonants

Bilabial Alveolar Retroflex Post-alv./
Palatal		 Velar Glottal
Nasal m n
Stop p t k ʔ
Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ
Fricative β s ʂ ʃ h
Tap ɽ
Approximant w j
  • Sounds /t͡ʃ, ʃ/ may also be heard as palatalized [t͡ʃʲ, ʃʲ] when before vowels in free variation.
  • /k/ may be heard as a voiced fricative [ɣ] when in between the positions of /ɨ/.
  • /t͡ʃ/ assimilates to a retroflex [t͡ʂ] when /ʂ/ is in the following syllable.
  • /n/ can be heard as [ɲ] as a realization of the sequence /ni/.

Vowels

Front Central Back
High i ɨ o
Mid
Low a
  • /o/ may be heard as [u] when occurring within the environment of high vowels.[1]

Vocabulary

Some Chácobo words are given below.[6]

Numerals

Chácobo Gloss
nicatsu 1
dafuira 2
unamarana 3
atchayuna 4
chayuna 5

Pronouns

Chácobo Gloss
hiasro I
miani you
zonihua he/she/it/they
noquirzo we
zunimato you (pl.)

Vocabulary

Chácobo Gloss
chii fire
huisruhuaina rain
jini water
mai earth
oriquiti food
osse moon
rsepo chicha
rsiqui maize
vari sun
vistima star

References

  1. Tallman, Adam J. R. (2018). A Grammar of Chácobo, a southern Pano language of the northern Bolivian Amazon. University of Texas at Austin.
  2. "The last of Bolivia's Pacahuara tribe". BBC News. Retrieved 2025-09-13.
  3. Hammarström, Harald (September 2015). "Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: A comprehensive review: Online appendices". Language. 91 (3): s1–s188. doi:10.1353/lan.2015.0049. ISSN 1535-0665.
  4. Fleck, David (October 10, 2013). Panoan Languages and Linguistics. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History #99. ISBN 978-0-9852016-2-3. ISSN 0065-9452.
  5. "Justia Bolivia :: Nueva Constitución Política Del Estado > PRIMERA PARTE > TÍTULO I > CAPÍTULO PRIMERO :: Ley de Bolivia". bolivia.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-05.
  6. Montaño Aragon, M. Guía etnográfica lingüística de Bolivia'' La Paz: Editorial Don Bosco, 1987
  • Tallman, Adam J. (2018). A grammar of Chácobo, a southern Pano language of the northern Bolivian Amazon (Ph.D. thesis). The University of Texas at Austin. doi:10.26153/tsw/1343. hdl:2152/74212.