Waitaká language
| Waitaká | |
|---|---|
| Goytacaz | |
| (unattested) | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Rio de Janeiro |
| Ethnicity | Goitacá |
| Extinct | by 18th century |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
4x0 | |
| Glottolog | None |
 Goytacaz | |
Waitaká (Guaitacá, Goyatacá, Goytacaz) is an extinct language of Brazil,[1] on the São Mateus River and near Cabo de São Tomé in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Not a word of it is known. Tribal divisions of the Goyatacá were Mopi, Yacorito, Wasu, and Miri.[2] It may have been one of the Purian languages,[3] though others consider this classification "circumstantial",[1] and Alfred Métraux (1946) described its classification as "[w]ithout any valid reason".[4]
The Goytacaz language is traditionally associated with the origin of the toponym Macaé, which is believed to have derived from the term miquié, meaning "river of catfish" in that language.[5]
Reconstruction
Operating under the assumption that Waitaká is a Purian language, Miraldi (2025) reconstructs some words and a phonology.[6]
References
- 1 2 Campbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.). The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166. ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3.
- ↑ Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South America". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
- ↑ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ↑ Métraux, Alfred (1946), "The Guaitacá" (PDF), The Marginal Tribes, Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 1, Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 521–522, retrieved 2026-07-31
- ↑ "Prefeitura Municipal de Macaé". macae.rj.gov.br (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-11-08.
- ↑ "Estudo Reconstrutivo Waitaká | PDF | Linguística | Famílias linguísticas". Scribd. Archived from the original on 2026-01-30. Retrieved 2025-10-02.