Endangered Languages Project

ALSO KNOWN AS		Mayoruna, Matse, Matís, Majoruna, Matsés, Maxuruna, Majuruna, Mayiruna, Maxirona, Magirona, Mayuzuna, Majoruna-Matsés
CLASSIFICATION		Pano-Tacanan, Mayoruna
LANGUAGE CODE		mcf, pig
VARIANTS & DIALECTS		Peruvian Matses Brazilian Matses Paud Usunkid (the last extinct)
DOWNLOAD		As csv
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS		Names involving many Panoan languages (branch of Pano-Tacanan) are confused and conflict with one another in the sources. Some were mentioned long ago and repeated though without precise information about to which group they refer and whether one group may be known by several names or whether a single name may be applied to different groups. Some of these imprecise names include: Mayoruna, Mayo, Maya, Pisabo (Pisagua, Pisahua), etc. For Fleck (2013), 'Mayoruna' names a branch of Panoan; 'Mayo' names a subgroup in that branch, which contains the real languages Matsés, Kulina of the Curuçá River, and extinct Demushbo. The names 'Mayo' and 'Maya' in the literature were homonymous with 'Mayoruna', and 'Pisabo' was said to be a 'Mayoruna' sub-tribe. A;lso, the name 'Quixito' was a homonym with 'Mayo'. Ethnologue's Pisabo [pig] (600 speakers in Peru in 2006), and Crevels' (2012: 186) Maya (Quixito) (400 speakers, 400 ethnic population in Brazil) are subsumed here under Matsés as the primary representative of the Mayo subgroup.

Compare Sources (8)

Information from: “"Documentation of the Mayoruna languages of western Amazonia: A compilation of recordings of oral history narratives and other speech genres" HRELP Abstract” . Fleck, David (2010)

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2,500
Native speakers worldwide

PLACES: Amazonian Peru, Brazil

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2200
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
There are more speakers in Peru than Brazil. The Ethnologue lists 1,000 in Brazil and 2,000 in Peru. The
Socioambiental web site puts the population at 829 in Brazil in the year 2000 ... Another web site
estimates that there are currently 760 Matsés in Brazil (http://www.korubo.com/AMAZONDOC/
amazongallery.html). Perhaps one of the most accurate estimates comes from Fleck, who
completed his Ph.D. dissertation on the Matsés in 2003. He bases his information on figures from
another researcher who conducted a census in 1998, and on estimates of population increase.
Fleck (2003:21) estimates that there was a total population of between 2,100 and 2,200 in 2003.
About 1,400 of those would be in Peru, with the remaining 800 in Brazil.

PLACES: Peru; Brazil

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The Matsés live along both sides of the upper part of the Javari River. There are fourteen Matsés villages in Peru and three in Brazil. Most Matsés do not live in Brazil’s Javari Valley Indigenous Area, thus their villages are not off limits to outsiders. Their villages are along the Javari, Jaquirana, and Pardo Rivers in Brazil. They live along the Galvez River and along Igarape Chobayacu in Peru. Some Matsés have moved downriver and settled in Atalaia do Norte or Benjamim Constant. There are also at least two uncontacted Matsés groups in Brazil. The two groups live less than 50 kilometers east of the Javari River (Fleck 2003:2). One is located east and slightly south of
Palmeiras. The other is located almost directly south of the first. It is east of Lobo and about 50
kilometers upriver from Palmeiras. (p.13)

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
2200
Native speakers worldwide
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
1,400 in Peru (2006 SIL). Population total all countries: 2,200.
(2230 [2016].)

DATE OF INFO: 2006 for Peru

PLACES: Brazil; Peru;

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Yaquerana. Also in Brazil.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Loreto Region, along the lower Yaquerana River and its tributaries; lower Yavari; along Chobayacu and Gálvez rivers

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,000
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
3,250
Native speakers worldwide

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available
4,000
Native speakers worldwide
Ethnic population
4,592
MORE ON SPEAKER NUMBERS
1500 speakers in Brazil (out of an ethnic population of 1592 people) and 2500 speakers and population in Peru.

DATE OF INFO: 2006 for Brazil

PLACES: Brazil and Peru

PLACES: Peru

LOCATION DESCRIPTION: Spoken in the basins of the Gálvez and Yaquirana rivers, and the Añushiyacu ravine, in the department of Loreto, in Peru.

				Base de Datos de Pueblos Indígenas u Originarios					Lima, Peru	http://bdpi.cultura.gob.pe/	Ministerio de Cultura										Peru	Spoken in the basins of the Gálvez and Yaquirana rivers, and the Añushiyacu ravine, in the department of Loreto, in Peru.
0199255911			2005	The World Atlas of Language Structures			Bernard Comrie and David Gil and Martin Haspelmath and Matthew S. Dryer	Oxford University Press	New York			2005. "The World Atlas of Language Structures." edited by Bernard Comrie et al. Oxford University Press.											-5.41666666667,-73.25
		16	2009	Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edition (2009)			M. Paul Lewis	SIL International	Dallas, TX	http://www.ethnologue.com/		Lewis, M. Paul (ed.). 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16 edn. http://www.ethnologue.com/home.asp. (15 February, 2011.)	ll_pub		2200	2006 for Peru	1000-9999	1,400 in Peru (2006 SIL). Population total all countries: 2,200. (2230 [2016].)	Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	Loreto Region, along the lower Yaquerana River and its tributaries; lower Yavari; along Chobayacu and Gálvez rivers	Brazil; Peru;	Yaquerana. Also in Brazil.
		3rd	2010	Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger				UNESCO Publishing	Paris	http://www.unesco.org/culture/en/endangeredlanguages/atlas	Christopher Moseley (ed.)	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.)	ll_pub		4,000		1000-9999		Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)				-5.5285,-73.4765
	Summer Institute of Languages: SIL Electronic Survey Report		2010	A Survey of the languages of the Javari River Valley, Brazil				Summer Institute of Linguistics		http://www.pnglanguages.org/silesr/2010/silesr2010-003.pdf	Anonby, Stan, and David J. Holbrook	Anonby, Stan, and David J. Holbrook. "A Survey of the languages of the Javari River Valley, Brazil." Summer Institute of Languages: SIL Electronic Survey Report. (2010).			2200		1000-9999	There are more speakers in Peru than Brazil. The Ethnologue lists 1,000 in Brazil and 2,000 in Peru. The Socioambiental web site puts the population at 829 in Brazil in the year 2000 ... Another web site estimates that there are currently 760 Matsés in Brazil (http://www.korubo.com/AMAZONDOC/ amazongallery.html). Perhaps one of the most accurate estimates comes from Fleck, who completed his Ph.D. dissertation on the Matsés in 2003. He bases his information on figures from another researcher who conducted a census in 1998, and on estimates of population increase. Fleck (2003:21) estimates that there was a total population of between 2,100 and 2,200 in 2003. About 1,400 of those would be in Peru, with the remaining 800 in Brazil.	Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)	The Matsés live along both sides of the upper part of the Javari River. There are fourteen Matsés villages in Peru and three in Brazil. Most Matsés do not live in Brazil’s Javari Valley Indigenous Area, thus their villages are not off limits to outsiders. Their villages are along the Javari, Jaquirana, and Pardo Rivers in Brazil. They live along the Galvez River and along Igarape Chobayacu in Peru. Some Matsés have moved downriver and settled in Atalaia do Norte or Benjamim Constant. There are also at least two uncontacted Matsés groups in Brazil. The two groups live less than 50 kilometers east of the Javari River (Fleck 2003:2). One is located east and slightly south of Palmeiras. The other is located almost directly south of the first. It is east of Lobo and about 50 kilometers upriver from Palmeiras. (p.13)	Peru; Brazil
				World Oral Literature Project						http://www.oralliterature.org		"World Oral Literature Project." Online: http://www.oralliterature.org.			3,250		1000-9999		Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)
			2010	"Documentation of the Mayoruna languages of western Amazonia: A compilation of recordings of oral history narratives and other speech genres" HRELP Abstract						http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=202	Fleck, David	Fleck, David. 2010. ""Documentation of the Mayoruna Languages of Western Amazonia: A Compilation of Recordings of Oral History Narratives and Other Speech Genres" HRELP Abstract." Online: http://www.hrelp.org/grants/projects/index.php?projid=202.			2,500		1000-9999		Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Amazonian Peru, Brazil		-5.283333,-73.15
			2012	Language endangerment in South America: The clock is ticking	The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide	167-234	Lyle Campbell and Veronica Grondona	Mouton de Gruyter	Berlin		Crevels, Mily	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.		4,592	4,000	2006 for Brazil	1000-9999	1500 speakers in Brazil (out of an ethnic population of 1592 people) and 2500 speakers and population in Peru.	Threatened (20 percent certain, based on the evidence available)		Brazil and Peru

Matsés

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,250

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Discussion

Matsés

Language metadata

Language information by source

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2,500

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

2200

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

3,250

Threatened

20 percent certain, based on the evidence available

4,000

Discussion

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