Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 14, 2026

Cávere language

Cabre is an extinct Arawakan language of Colombia. Speakers lived along the Teviare and Zama rivers among speakers of Western Nawiki languages, but not enough is known to classify it well. Gilij cited:

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Jul 14, 2026
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Cávere
Cabre
Native toColombia
Extinct(date missing)
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
qfd
GlottologNone

Cávere (Cabere, Cabre) is an extinct Arawakan language of Colombia. Not enough is known to classify it well.1: 4–5 

Geographical distribution

Cávere was spoken along the Guaviare River in Colombia.1: 4–5  Čestmír Loukotka (1968) reports it was spoken along the Teviare and Zama rivers in Vichada Department.2

Classification

The Italian Jesuit priest Filippo Salvatore Gilij (see Campbell) cited:3: 32 

Maipure Güipunave Cávere (gloss)
yema dema shema 'tobacco'
yapa dapa shapa 'monte' (hill, bush)

Vocabulary

Very little vocabulary of Cávere was recorded. A total of three words are listed in Gilij's Saggio di Storia Americana:

Known Cávere words1
Gloss Cávere
supreme being Purrùnaminàri
tobacco scema
mountain sciapa
References

References

  1. Zamponi, Raoul (2003). Maipure. Languages of the World: Materials 192. Munich: Lincom Europa. ISBN 978-3-89586-757-6.
  2. Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Wilbert, Johannes (ed.). Classification of South American Indian Languages (PDF) (4th ed.). Latin American Center, UCLA: Latin American Center, University of California Los Angeles. ISBN 9780879031077.
  3. Campbell, Lyle (1997). American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America (PDF). Oxford studies in anthropological linguistics. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509427-5.