Overview
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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

~1,078

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Recent Resources

No resources

Community Members

    No members

Revitalization Programs

No programs

Discussion Forum

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Language Information By Source

The Mako language: Vitality, Grammar and Classification
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Vulnerable

Native Speakers Worldwide

~1,078

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

~1,500

Non-monolingual speakers

Some (men more likely to speak Spanish than women)

More about speakers

"A comparison of the data from the 2001 census [1,130 Mako people] with that from the 2011 one [1,211 Mako people] shows that the size of the group has remained relatively stable. My personal estimate, however, puts the Mako community around over 1,500 people... Mattéi-Müller (personal communication) reports that, out of the 1,211 Makos identified in the 2011 census, 1,078 reported speaking their language while only nine reported not speaking it."

Year of info

2015

Location and Context

Countries

Venezuela

Coordinates

4.232227, -66.403103

Location description

Mako communities are located in Amazonas state, in the Atabapo municipality (in the areas of Caño Yaquivapo, Caño Guapuchí, Río Ventuari, and Caño Yureba) and the Manapiare municipality (in the areas of Río Ventuari and Caño Parú).

Government support

Official support for indigenous languages

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

Roman-based

Other writing systems

Mako communities are located in Amazonas state, in the Atabapo municipality (in the areas of Caño Yaquivapo, Caño Guapuchí, Río Ventuari, and Caño Yureba) and the Manapiare municipality (in the areas of Río Ventuari and Caño Parú).

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Spanish, Piaroa

Domains of other languages

Spanish (school, interaction with outsiders); Piaroa with Piaroa speakers

More on context

"Spanish is primarily used only in situations involving the presence of criollos... it is also used in schools. The use of Piaroa differs from community to community; it positively correlates with the number of Piaroa speakers in any given village... The legal framework and instruments to promote the use of Mako in the indigenous communities where the language is spoken and in the education system exist; however, many of these policies remain unimplemented... The Mako people whom I know and with whom I have interacted over the last three years are most definitely not ashamed of using their language—for example, they use it overtly amongst themselves while in the cities—and, in fact, seem to see it as essential to their community and their identity. It is impossible to guarantee that all the members of all the Mako communities value their language and wish to see it promoted but I think it safe to affirm that most members of the communities with whom I have worked or those I have just visited support language maintenance."

Endangered

Native Speakers Worldwide

345

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2010

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

4.2149,-65.7421

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

2500

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

Data for the number of native speakers comes from J. Miller (2002). (Unchanged 2016.)

Year of info

2009

Location and Context

Countries

Venezuela;

Coordinates

No data

Location description

Tributaries of the Ventuari River, Wapuchi, Paru, Yureba, and Marueta rivers; Marueta, Wapuchi, Porvenir, Tavi-Tavi, Mariche, Morocoto villages.

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

Tributaries of the Ventuari River, Wapuchi, Paru, Yureba, and Marueta rivers; Marueta, Wapuchi, Porvenir, Tavi-Tavi, Mariche, Morocoto villages.

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

Spanish [spa], Piaroa [pid]

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

~1,100?

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

1,130

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

2012

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

Most Mako are speakers of the language.

Threatened

Native Speakers Worldwide

2,500

Domains of Use

No data

Speaker Number Trends

No data

Transmission

No data

Speakers

Second-language speakers

No data

Semi-speakers

No data

Child speakers

No data

Young adult speakers

No data

Older adult speakers

No data

Elder Speakers

No data

Ethnic Population

No data

Non-monolingual speakers

No data

More about speakers

No data

Year of info

Location and Context

Countries

No data

Coordinates

No data

Location description

No data

Government support

No data

Institutional support

No data

Speakers’s attitudes

No data

Standard orthography

No data

Script (Writing system)

No data

Other writing systems

No data

More on writing systems

No data

Other languages used

No data

Domains of other languages

No data

More on context

No data

Media Resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

No resources

Filter By

No programs

  1. Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled by research teams at University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute for Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) at Eastern Michigan University
    2012. "Endangered Languages Catalogue Project. Compiled By Research Teams At University of Hawai'i Mānoa and Institute For Language Information and Technology (LINGUIST List) At Eastern Michigan University."
  2. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger
    Moseley, Christopher (ed.). 2010. Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger, 3rd edn. http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas. (03 June, 2011.)
    http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas
  3. World Oral Literature Project
    "World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.
    http://www.oralliterature.org
  4. Language endangerment in South America: The clock is ticking
    Crevels, Mily. 2012. "Language Endangerment in South America: The Clock Is Ticking." In The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide, edited by Hans Henrich Hock et al.. 167-234. Mouton de Gruyter.
  5. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)
    Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)
    http://www.ethnologue.com/
  6. The Piaroa: a people of the Orinoco basin: a study in kinship and marriage
    Kaplan, Joanna Overing. 1975. "The Piaroa: a People of the Orinoco Basin: a Study in Kinship and Marriage." Oxford: Clarendon Press.