Native to Bolivia | Native speakers 10,000 (2000–2004) | |
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Ethnicity 21,000 Moxo people (2004) Language family Arawakan
Southern
Bolivia–Parana
Moxos languages
Moxo ISO 639-3 Either:
ign – Ignaciano Moxos
trn – Trinitario Moxos Glottolog moxo1234 (Moxo)
magi1242 (Magiana) | ||
Moxo (a.k.a. Mojo, pronounced 'Moho') is any of the Arawakan languages spoken by the Moxo people of 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. Extinct Magiana was also distinct.
Contents
Moxo languages have an active–stative syntax.
Use
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.
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.
Word Set
English/Mojo Word Set
One – Ikapia
Two – Apisá
Three – Impúse
Man – Ehiro
Woman – Eseno
Sun – Sáche
Water – Uni
Fire – Yuku
Head – Nuxuti
Hand – Nubupe
Corn – Suru