Betoi language

{{Short description|Extinct language of Venezuela}}{{Expand language|topic=|langcode=es|otherarticle=Lenguas betoi|date=January 2025}}
{{Cleanup lang|date=January 2025|iso=mis}}{{Infobox language
| name = Betoi
| altname = Jirara
| states = [[Colombia]]
| region = [[Orinoco]] [[Llanos]]
| extinct = mid 19th century
| familycolor = American
| dia1 = Situfa
| dia2 = Airico
| dia3 = Lolaca
| dia4 = Jirara
| dia5 = Betoi
| dia6 = Ele
| iso3 = none
| linglist = qtd
| glotto = beto1236
| glottorefname = Betoi-Jirara
| fam1 = [[Duho languages|Duho]] ?
| protoname = Proto-Betoi-Jirara
| ethnicity = 394 {{ill|Betoi|es|Betoye}} (2005), Jirara
| map = Betoi language map.svg
| mapcaption = Map of the Betoi language
| fam2 = Hodï–[[Saliban languages|Saliban]] ?
| fam3 = Betoi–[[Saliban languages|Saliban]] ?
}}

'''Betoi''' (''Betoy'') or '''Betoi-Jirara''' is an extinct language of [[Colombia]] and [[Venezuela]], south of the [[Apure River]] near the modern border with Colombia. The names Betoi and Jirara are those of two of its peoples/dialects; the language proper has no known name. At contact, Betoi was a local [[lingua franca]] spoken between the [[Uribante River|Uribante]] and [[Sarare River|Sarare]] rivers and along the [[Arauca River|Arauca]]. Enough was recorded for a brief grammatical monograph to be written.{{Sfn|Zamponi|2003}}

==Classification==
Betoi is generally seen as an isolate, though Kaufman (2007) included it in [[Macro-Paesan]].

Zamponi (2017) finds enough lexical resemblances between Betoi and the [[Piaroa–Saliban languages|Saliban languages]] to conclude that a genealogical relationship is plausible.Zamponi, Raoul (2017). Betoi-Jirara, Sáliban, and Hod i: Relationships among Three Linguistic Lineages of the Mid-Orinoco Region. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', Volume 59, Number 3, Fall 2017, pp. 263-321.

Historically, Betoi was considered a [[Tucanoan languages|Tucanoan language]], hence the original name ''Betoyan'' for the family.{{Citation |last=Mason |first=J. Alden |title=The languages of South American Indians |date=1950 |work=Physical anthropology, linguistics and cultural geography of South American Indians |volume=6 |pages=157–317 |url=http://etnolinguistica.wdfiles.com/local--files/hsai:vol6p157-317/vol6p157-317_mason.pdf |access-date=2025-06-14 |series=Handbook of South American Indians |place=Smithsonian Institution, Washington |publisher=Washington: Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology}}

==Varieties==
Historically a dialect cluster, varieties include Betoi, Jirara, Situfa, Ayrico, Ele, Lucalia, Jabúe, Arauca, Quilifay, Anabali, Lolaca, and Atabaca.{{cite book |editor-last=Epps |editor-first=Patience |editor-last2=Michael |editor-first2=Lev |title=Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume I: Aikanã to Kandozi-Chapra |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |location=Berlin |date=2023 |isbn=978-3-11-041940-5}}

Below is a full list of Betoi varieties listed by [[Čestmír Loukotka|Loukotka]] (1968), including names of unattested varieties.{{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |url=http://www.etnolinguistica.org/biblio:loukotka-1968-classification |title=Classification of South American Indian languages |publisher=UCLA Latin American Center |year=1968 |location=Los Angeles |authorlink=Čestmír Loukotka}}

*'''Betoi''' / '''Guanero''' / '''Isabaco''' - extinct language once spoken on the [[Casanare River]], [[Cravo Norte River]], and [[Apure River]], Arauca territory, Colombia.
*'''Situfa''' / '''Cituja''' - extinct language once spoken on the [[Casanare River]] in the Arauca region.
*'''Airico''' - once spoken at the sources of the [[Manacacías River]]. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 2, pp. 243-247, only a few words.)
*'''Jirara''' - spoken once in the upper [[Manacacías River]] region. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 1, pp. 201 and 203, pt. 2, pp. 16 and 328, only a few words and phrases.)
*'''Atabaca''' - once spoken in the upper [[Manacacías River]] region. (Gumilla 1745, pt. 2, p. 274, only a few words.)
*'''Lolaca''' - once spoken on the confluence of the [[Arauca River]] and [[Chitagá]] River. (Unattested.)
*'''Quilifay''' - once spoken around the confluence of the [[Arauca River]] and [[Chitagá]] River. (Unattested.)
*'''Anabali''' - spoken south of the Atabaca tribe around the confluence of the [[Arauca River]] and [[Chitagá]] River. (Unattested.)
*'''Ele''' - spoken on the [[Ele River]]. (Unattested.)
Glottolog groups Betoi dialects as follows:{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 5.2 - Betoi-Jirara |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/beto1236 |access-date=2025-05-29 |website=glottolog.org}}

{{Tree list}}
*Betoi-Jirara
**Nuclear
***Betoi
***Jirara
***Lolaca
***Mafilito
***Quilifay
**Situfa-Ayrico
***Ayrico
***Situfa
{{Tree list/end}}

== Phonology ==

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Betoi phonology{{Cite book |url=https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110419405/html |title=Language Isolates I: Aikanã to Kandozi-Shapra: An International Handbook |date=2023-01-16 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-041940-5 |editor-last=Epps |editor-first=Patience |doi=10.1515/9783110419405 |editor-last2=Michael |editor-first2=Lev}}
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" |[[Bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]{{Efn|Betoi likely did not have dental consonants, like its geographic neighbors.}}
! rowspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!plain
![[Labialization|lab.]]
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive|Stop]]
!voiceless
|
|{{IPAlink|t}}
|
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|({{IPA link|kʷ}})¹
|
|-
!voiced
|{{IPAlink|b}}
|{{IPAlink|d}}
|
|{{IPAlink|g}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
|{{IPA link|ɸ}}
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|
|
|
|{{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|{{IPAlink|l}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|{{IPAlink|r}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Semivowel|Glide]]
|{{IPA link|w}}
|
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|
|}

# {{IPAblink|kʷ}} may be present in the words {{Lang|mis|cuivivì}} 'duck' and {{Lang|mis|quaja}} 'forest'. It is also present in the nearby [[Saliban language|Saliban languages]] and [[Uwa language|Tunebo]] (Uwa).

=== Vowels ===
Betoi appears to have a 5-vowel system, as illustrated below.{{Sfn|Zamponi|2003}}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!
!Front
!Central
!Back
|-
!High
|{{IPA link|i}}
|
|{{IPA link|u}}
|-
!Mid
|{{IPA link|e}}
|
|{{IPA link|o}}
|-
!Low
|
|{{IPA link|a}}
|
|}
{{IPAblink|i}} was written as {{Angbr|y}} as a part of diphthongs.

== Notes ==

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{sister project |project=wiktionary |text=[[Wiktionary]] has a word list at '''''[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Betoi word list|Appendix:Betoi word list]]'''''}}
*{{cite dictionary
|first=Alain
|last=Fabre
|year=2005
|title=Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: BETOI
|url=http://www.ling.fi/Entradas%20diccionario/Dic=Betoi.pdf
}}
*{{cite book |url=https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Linguistics/Mega%20linguistics%20pack/South%20American/Other/Betoi%20%28Zamponi%29.pdf |title=Betoi |volume=Languages of the World/Materials |first=Raoul |last=Zamponi |publisher=Lincom |year=2003 |isbn=3-89586-757-8 |series=428 |page=66}}

{{Languages of Venezuela}}
{{South American languages}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Language isolates of South America]]
[[Category:Extinct languages of South America]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Languages of Venezuela]]
[[Category:Macro-Paesan languages]]