Uru language

Since one of the Urus' names for their language was "Pukina", Uchumataqu has previously been mistakenly identified with Puquina. While the personal and possessive pronouns of the unrelated Puquina bear limited similarities to those of Arawakan languages, Uru differs drastically from Arawakan languages in its person-marking system and its morphology. The pronoun system of Uchumataqu is naturally very similar instead to its close relative Chipaya. Uchumataqu has also borrowed grammatical and lexical morphemes from prolonged exposure to Aymara, with which it is not related, however. Unlike Aymara, Uru is not polysynthetic and has a phonemic five-vowel system /a e i o u/, while Aymara has a three-vowel system /a i u/. One contrast between Uru and the related Chipaya is that Uru does not identify gender morphologically as Chipaya does.

There are mentions of two Uru dialects: Uru of Ch'imu and Sun Island, though it is unclear whether the former was a dialect or its own language. Uru of Ch'imu was spoken in the town of Ch'imu and was first recorded in 1929, and, while not published, there are detailed notes of the language in existence. The second variety was spoken on Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca and was first described in the 1960s though there it is far less documented.

Consonants

Vowels

Uru did not have a standardized orthography.

naː-nak-ki

that.FEM-PL-TOP

maxnʸ a-l

early-FEM

tʰax-a-ki-č̣a

sleep-FUT-FUT.NSP-DECL

naː-nak-ki {maxnʸ a-l} tʰax-a-ki-č̣a

that.FEM-PL-TOP early-FEM sleep-FUT-FUT.NSP-DECL

They (those women) slept early

Wer-ki

INV-TOP

laŋ-ş-xapa

work-INF-BEN

tʰon-čin-č̣a

come-PST.1-DECL

Wer-ki laŋ-ş-xapa tʰon-čin-č̣a

INV-TOP work-INF-BEN come-PST.1-DECL

I have come in order to work

Wir-il

INV-1

xála

llama

k'áyǎ

buy

pẹ́k'u-čay

want-PRS.1.SG-DECL

Wir-il xála k'áyǎ pẹ́k'u-čay

INV-1 llama buy want-PRS.1.SG-DECL

I want to buy a llama