Wanyam or Wanham (Wañam, Huanyam) is a Chapacuran language of Rondônia, between the rivers São Miguel and Cautário. Abitana was a dialect. It was spoken by a few families in the 1970s, but is now extinct. As of 1997, one speaker, Firmino Miguelem, was known of the Miguelenho (Uomo) variety.

Dialects

Dialects of Wanyam:

  • Cabishi (ambiguous name, not to be confused with unclassified Cabixi-Natterer)
  • Cujuna
  • Cumaná (Cutianá)
  • Matama (Matawa)
  • Urunamacan
  • Pawumwa (Abitana-Wanyam)

Lévi-Strauss had also proposed a Huanyam linguistic stock consisting of Mataua, Cujuna (Cuijana), Urunamakan, Cabishí, Cumaná, Abitana-Huanyam (from Snethlage's data), and Pawumwa (from Haseman's data).

Notes