Moxo languages
# Moxo languages

Moxo (also known as Mojo, pronounced 'Moho') is any of the Arawakan languages spoken by the Moxo people of the Llanos de Moxos in northeastern Bolivia. The two extant languages of the Moxo people, Trinitario and Ignaciano, are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Arawakan languages. The extinct Magiana was also distinct.

Moxo languages have an active–stative syntax.

## Sociolinguistic background

The languages belong to a group of tribes that originally ranged through the upper Mamoré, extending east and west from the Guapure (Itenes) to the Beni, and are now centered in the Province of Moxos, Department of Beni, Bolivia. They form part of the Mamoré-Guaporé linguistic area.

Moxo was also the primary lingua franca (Spanish: lengua general) used in the Jesuit Missions of Moxos.

Ignaciano is used in town meetings unless outsiders are present, and it is a required subject in the lower school grades, one session per week. Perhaps half of the children learn Ignaciano. By the 1980s there were fewer than 100 monolinguals, all older than 30.

## Classification

The Moxo languages are most closely related to Bauré, Pauna, and Paikonéka. Together, they form the Mamoré-Guaporé languages (named after the Mamoré River and Guaporé River). Classification by Jolkesky $(2016):^{:8}$

* Mamoré-Guaporé languages
   * Bauré
      * Bauré
      * Carmelito
      * Joaquiniano
      * Muxojeóne
   * Moxeno
      * Ignaciano
      * Trinitário
      * Loretano
      * Javierano
   * Paikonéka
      * Paikonéka
   * Paunáka
      * Paunáka

Classification by Danielsen (2011) and Danielsen & Terhart (2014: 226):

* Baure languages
   * Bauré
   * Carmelito
   * Joaquiniano: spoken in San Joaquín
* Pauna languages
   * Paunáka
   * Paikonéka
* Mojo languages
   * Trinitário: spoken in Trinidad
   * Ignaciano: spoken in San Ignacio
   * Loretano: spoken in Loreto
   * Javierano: spoken in San Javier
   * Muchojeone

## Phonology

### Consonants

Consonants in Ignaciano Mojeno :

| | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | | |
| Stop | p | t | | k | ʔ |
| Affricate | | ts | tʃ | | |
| Fricative | β | s | ʃ | x | |
| Rhotic | | r | | | |
| Approximant | w | l | j | | |

Consonants in Trinitario Mojeno :

| | Labial | Labial | Labial | Alveolar | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Velar | Glottal | Glottal | Glottal |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | plain | pal. | lab. | plain | pal. | Palatal | plain | pal. | plain | pal. | lab. |
| Nasal | m | mʲ | mʷ | n | n | ɲ | | | | | |
| Stop | p | pʲ | | t | t | c | k | kʲ | ʔ | ʔʲ | |
| Affricate | | | | ts | tsʲ | tʃ | | | | | |
| Fricative | | | | s | sʲ | ç | | | h | hʲ | hʷ |
| Liquid | | | | ɾ | ɾʲ | | | | | | |
| Approximant | w | β̞ʲ | | | | j | | | | | |

* /h/ can be voiced as [ɦ] between vowels.
* /w/ can be heard as [β] before a front vowel, and as [ɥ] when preceding /j/.

### Vowels

Vowels in Ignaciano Mojeno :

| | Front | Central | Back |
| - | - | - | - |
| High | i | | u |
| Mid | e | | |
| Low | | a | |

* /e/ can also have an allophone of [ɛ].

Vowels in Trinitario Mojeno :

| | Front | Central | Back |
| - | - | - | - |
| High | i iː | | u uː |
| Mid | e eː | ə͡e ə͡eː | o oː |
| Low | | a aː | |

## Word lists

The following is a wordlist containing sample words from English to Moxos:

English-Moxos :

| English | Moxos |
| - | - |
| One | Ikapia |
| Two | Apisá |
| Three | Impúse |
| Man | Ehiro |
| Woman | Eseno |
| Sun | Sáche |
| Water | Uni |
| Fire | Yuku |
| Head | Nuxuti |
| Hand | Nubupe |
| Corn | Suru |

Magíana word list from the late 1700s published in Palau and Saiz $(1989):^{:170}$

    Spanish glossEnglish glossMagíana buenogoodshiomá malobadshiomallama el padrefatherpapá la madremotherkay el hermanobrothernomasqui unoonehuestiche dostwoheravetá
