// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Caquetío language say? It's a talkative tongue.

Caquetío
Native to	Venezuela Aruba Bonaire Curaçao
Region	Falcón, ABC Islands
Ethnicity	Caquetío
Extinct	1800
Language family	Arawakan Northern Ta-Arawakan Caquetío
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	arub1238
Map of the Caquetío nation

Caquetío, also called Caquetío Arawak, is an extinct Arawakan language. The language was spoken along the shores of Lake Maracaibo, in the coastal areas of the Venezuelan state of Falcón, and on the Dutch islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. Only some short wordlists still exist of Caquetío.

Name

An important discovery was the term kakïtho used by the Lokono to refer to "people" or "living beings", which encompasses a broader meaning than the term loko. The Lokono term "kakïtho" is related to the Caquetío word kaketío, and both are also related to Pre-Andes Maipuran terms for "person". The Piro (Yine language) and Apurinã respectively use the terms kaxiti and kakiti to designate "people". Given the widespread use of this term, it is believed to have originated from Proto-Maipuran. Some suggest that the name "Caquetío" may have originated from the Caqueta River. The misspelling of "Caquetío" as "Caiquetio" stems from an early Spanish document.

History

Around 500 BCE, the Caquetío language group separated from the Middle to Upper Orinoco areas, migrated alongside the Apure River, and headed northwest to Venezuela. Eventually, they reached the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. Simultaneously, other groups like the Carib, Lokono, and Taíno evolved due to migrations from the Orinoco to the Caribbean region. The Caquetio switched to Papiamento in 1800.

Geographical distribution

Caquetío was spoken not only on the ABC islands but also along the Venezuelan coast, particularly in the Yaracuy, Portuguesa, and Apure river regions, today the states of Falcón and Lara. The language declined as the indigenous Amerindian population decreased during Spanish occupation.

Vocabulary

With the arrival of Europeans, the dominant Caquetío language emerged. Many place names (toponymy) and personal names (anthroponymy) persist along the Falcón coast, and some have survived on Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire. Although Caquetío's influence on Papiamento is limited, some originally Caquetío words are present in Papiamento.

Toponymy

Indigenous names are prevalent in specific regions of Aruba, such as Sasiriwichi at the northwestern tip, near the California lighthouse. Additionally, the hilly areas in eastern Aruba, from Cashiunti, Huliba, Kiwarcu to Coashiati or Jamanota, and the north coast between Andicuri and Oranjestad, abound in Caquetío toponyms.

Influence

Notably, many Caquetío words in Papiamento pertain to local flora and fauna, unfamiliar to European settlers and the African slaves who arrived in the area in early 16th century.

Sample words

In the first table a few words and expressions of the Caquetio language, which could still be recalled by a few elders (with some difficulty as the language had already been dead at the time) and which were recorded by Dutch pastor A.J. van Koolwijk in Aruba in 1880.

Caquetío	Dutch	English
Hida? Hida meeuw?	Hoe gaat het?	How's it going?
Auw (as an answer to "Hida (meeuw)?")	Goed	Good
Hafe dobo danwajete!	Ga zitten!, Ga zitten op de stoel!	Sit down (on the chair)!
Cautje baulete!	Geef mij te eten!	Give me food!
Dat je!	Ga weg!	Go away!
Mimanta	Ik ben geschrokken	I got spooked
Carebe	Een eetlepel	Spoon
Totoemba, Waidanga	Een kalebas om uit te drinken	Drinking bowl or bottle made from a calabash
Dauchikki, Dousebou	Een zak	Bag, Pocket
Bouseranja	Huismeubelen	Furniture
Caula	Een ding	Thing
Adamoedoe	Regen	Rain
Baroe hantoe wou	(Gebed na het eten)	(Prayer at the end of a meal)
Kajappa	Arbeiders om te planten	Workers for planting
Marakka	Castagnet	Castanet
Aboussoe	Een maïskoek	Maze cookie
Sako den comanari maria di watapoena fafa na douée sodji na ditiéri	(Bezwering na het vangen van een leguaan)	(Prayer after having caught an iguana)
Pekinini	Een kind	Child
Dori	Roodbilkikker	Colombian four-eyed frog
Waltakka	Gestreepte Anolis	Curaçao striped anole

In the summer of 1882, Alphonse Pinart collected some vocabulary of the native language of Aruba. His vocabulary is presented below.

gloss	Caquetio
rain	adamudu
to ask for something to eat	bāru xantu uōu
sack, pouch	danshikki, danshēbu
be gone!	datiē!
devil, wicked spirit	kāfa
thing, object	kanla (kaula?)
give me to eat!	kantie baulēte!
spoon	karebe
sit down!	ꭓāba dōboꭓedan guayete!
good morning!	ꭓida mēo!
phantom, hobgoblin	ꭓomoi
how do you do?	ꭓute kontābo?
water-gourd	totumba, waidānga
fruit of Libidibia coriaria	dividivi
Spondias mombin	jobo
Cereus repandus	kadushi
Agaricus	kipopo
Mimosa unguiscata	lokiloki
Abrus precatorius	makura
Cytisus catjan	nandu
Malpighia glabra	shimaruko
Cratera gynandra	surun
Ragara octandra	takamahak
Robinia pulcherrima	tuturutu
Sapindus coriaria	watapana
Theretia neriflora	yoroyoro
Diodon hystrix	ginga
Characinus cyprinioides	karmā-u
Chaetodon fromitus	kurkur
Epinephelus fasciatus	puruntsi
Cymindes illigeri	kinikini
Fulica sp.?	krabete
Orpheus americanus	shushubi
Cathartes curasoica	warawara
Rana sp. (?)	dori
Sitophilus granarius	guruguru
Formica cephalota	hanahana
Cassiopea frondosa	kimakima
Termes fatalis	kumexen
Conops sanguisuga	lembelembe
Ichneumon niger	mamondenga
Mytilus edulis	paluli
lizard	waltaka

Sample phrases

Pinart also collected the following exorcist's or conjurer's "formulas":

Usage	Caquetio
maledictory formula	ꭓerebēte den kāfa magolotchi
for frightening children	tue daye datiēʹ gidioʹ dimi guriō yatabo
to remove cactus-spines from the body	una areya rafayete dudrea ebanero abonō, caburo copudabo daburi.
	yuni roba rapebo tchaba na aripebo, duda banabo pebo, home daba burvo, damei bo bakuna, daodao fuda dada.
to remove fishbones or other obstructions from the throat	vidiē pahidiē, maranakō tubara tchira deburro, hadāra karara
for hunting the iguana	Sako den komanari manadi watapuna fāfa na douēre sadii na ditieri.

Sources

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