Waitaká language
| Waitaká | |
|---|---|
| Goytacaz | |
| (unattested) | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Rio de Janeiro |
| Ethnicity | Goitacá |
| Extinct | by 18th century |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
4x0 | |
| Glottolog | None |
 Goytacaz | |
Waitaká (Guaitacá, Goyatacá, Goytacaz) is an extinct language of Brazil,[1] on the São Mateus River and near Cabo de São Tomé in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Not a word of it is known. Dialects, or at least tribal divisions, were Mopi, Yacorito, Wasu, and Miri.[2] Loukotka (1968) suggests it may have been one of the Purian languages,[3] though others consider this classification "circumstantial",[1] and Alfred Métraux (1946) described its classification as "[w]ithout any valid reason".[4]
Although extinct, the Goytacaz language is traditionally associated with the origin of the toponym Macaé, which is believed to have derived from the term miquié, meaning "river of catfish" in that language.[5]
Reconstruction
[edit]Operating under the assumption that Waitaká is a Purian language, Miraldi (2025) reconstructs some words and a phonology.[6]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Campbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.). The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166. ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3.
- ↑ Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South America". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
- ↑ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ↑ Métraux, Alfred (1946), "The Guaitacá" (PDF), The Marginal Tribes, Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 1, Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 521–522, retrieved 2026-07-31
- ↑ "Prefeitura Municipal de Macaé". macae.rj.gov.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-11-08.
- ↑ "Estudo Reconstrutivo Waitaká | PDF | Linguística | Famílias linguísticas". Scribd. Archived from the original on 2026-01-30. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
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