Native to Venezuela, Brazil ISO 639-3 bae | Native speakers 240 (2011) Linguist list qth (Guiano) | |
Language family Arawakan
Northern
Upper Amazon
Central (Orinoco)
Barawana Glottolog bare1276 (Baré)
guin1258 (Guinau)
mara1409 (Maragua) | ||
Barawana (Baré) is an Arawakan language of Venezuela and Brazil, where it is nearly extinct. It was spoken by the Baré people. Aikhenvald (1999) reports "just a few old speakers left" of Baré proper, and that the Guinau variety was extinct. Kaufman (1994) considers Baré proper, Guinau, and extinct Marawá to be distinct languages; Aikhenvald, dialects of a single languages. (Marawá is not the same language as Marawán.)
Baré is a generic name for a number of Arawakan languages in the area, including Mandahuaca, Guarequena, Baniwa, and Piapoco. Barawana is the language given this name in Kaufman, Aikhenvald, and Ethnologue. It is also known as Ibini (a typo for Ihini ~ Arihini?) and Mitua.
References
Barawana language Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA