Yukpa (Yuco, Yucpa, Yuko, Yupa) is a Cariban language, spoken by 3,000 people in Zulia State in Venezuela and 3,000 across the border in Colombia. It is also known as Carib Motilón, Macoíta, Northern Motilón, and Manso.

Río Casacará (Iroka) and Río Maracas are the main dialects, and different enough to possibly be considered separate languages. Also Caño Padilla–La Laguna. The Venezuelan dialects, Yrapa and Río Negro, are closer to Río Maracas than to Río Casacará.

Similarity to Japrería, the other Yupka language, is slight.

Phonology

Consonants

LabialDental/ AlveolarPost- alveolarRetroflexPalatalVelar
plainlab.
Stoppk
Affricate
Fricative(ʃ)ʂ
Nasalm
Rhoticɾ(ɽ)
Approximantwj
  • Labial /p, m/ can become velarized as [pˠ, mˠ] when before vowels /e, a/.
  • /j/ is in free variation with [ʐ], and [ç] when before consonants.
  • A retroflex [ɽ] may also occur in place of /tʂ/ or /ʂ/ in the Sokorpa dialect.
  • In the La Paz and Menkwe dialects, retroflex consonants do not occur, so /ʂ/ is realized as [ʃ] in both dialects, and /tʂ/ is realized as [x] in the La Paz dialect, and [ts] in the Menkwe dialect.
  • Nasals /m, n/ become voiceless [m̥, n̥] when preceding voiceless stops.

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Highe ~ ɪɯu
Mido
Lowa
  • /e/ is realized between [ɪ, e] across dialects.

External links

  • Meira, Sérgio (October 27, 2005). [First Observations on the Yukpa Language] (PDF). Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America (Report) (in Spanish). University of Texas. Archived from on December 8, 2022.