Iquito
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| Iquito | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Peru | |
| Total speakers: | 25 native/fluent, 25 partial/passive | |
| Language family: | American Zaparoan Iquito |
|
| Writing system: | Roman script | |
| Official status | ||
| Official language in: | Peru | |
| Regulated by: | none | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | none | |
| ISO 639-3: | iqu | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Iquito (pronounced [iˈkitu]) is a highly endangered Zaparoan language from Peru using the Roman script. Iquito is one of 3 surviving Zaparoan] languages; the other two being Zaparo, with 1-3 speakers, and Arabela with about 75 speakers. The other four Zaparoan languages, Andoa, Omurano, Aushiri, and Cahuarano. Of the ethnic Iquito population of 500, as of 2006, there are 25 fluent or native speakers, all of whom are over 55 years old, and about 25 partial or passive speakers, all of whom are over the age of 25. Iquito is spoken in the Loreto Province, the regions of the Pintoyacu, Nanay, and Chambira rivers, and the villages of San Antonia and Atalaya. Iquito is also known by the names of Iquita, Ikito, Amacacore, Hamacore, Quiturran, and Puca-Uma, though Iquito is the most common title. It is used as an official language of Peru, though the few speakers there are, are older adults, the youngest being 52 as of 2002. The main dialect of Iquito is Pintuyacu. In the Iquito population, there is a negative attitude towards the language and thus there is mostly use of Spanish, one of the major languages of Peru. This is partially due to centuries of pressure to assimilate into Spanish-speaking culture. As a second language, the literacy rate is about 75%. The population is Christian; the Bible was translated in 1963. The people cultivate yucca, are fishermen and hunters, rubber gatherers, and traders.
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[edit] History
In the mid 1600s, where the city of Iquitos is now, there was a large group of Iquito speakers. However, by the period of 1958 to 1966, there were around 100 speakers on the verge of acculturation to Spanish. During this period, there were the population of older adults speaking Iquito and understanding Spanish, middle-aged adults bilingual in Spanish, and Spanish-speaking children who understood Iquito.
[edit] Reasons for decline
Several things affected Iquito and contributed to its decline, leading to the loss of speakers; there are 35 speakers now. Whooping cough, measles, and pneumonia had devastating effects on the speaking population. Also, the landowner system in place at the time and the rubber boom reduced the population.
[edit] Revitalization
The University of Texas is sponsoring a program run by graduate students to help the population of San Antonio revitalize the Iquito language. They are working on a 1500-word dictionary and teaching plans in order to teach the younger population Iquito.
[edit] Iquito Language Documentation Project
The Iquito Language Documentation Project (IDLP) is a community language revitalization effort to help revitalize the Iquito language.
