Saraveca language

Saraveca
Saraveca
Sarave, Xaráy
Native to	Bolivia
Region	Eastern lowlands
Ethnicity	Sarave(ca)
Extinct	after 2000; possibly some rememberers
Language family	Arawakan Southern ? Paresí–Xingu Paresí Saraveca; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sar
Glottolog	sara1331
ELP	Saraveca

Last updated October 04, 2025

Saraveca (Xaray)^[1] is an extinct Arawakan language once spoken in Bolivia by the Sarave.^[2]^[3] By 1962, most people have switched to Chiquitano.^[4]

Numbers

It is said^[5]^[6] to be the only language with a numeral system based exclusively on five, although quinary systems exist. To some extent this is also an areal feature of other South American languages; many form their numbers 6–9 as "five + one", "five + two" and so on.

Saraveca numerals^[2]
Number	Saraveca
one	atia
two	iñama
three	anahama
four	azarakapa
five	ara-piaiče

References

↑ Godoy, Gustavo; Balykova, Kristina (2023-11-30). "Multilingual Pantanal and its decay". Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America. 19 (2): 272–293. doi:10.70845/2572-3626.1362. ISSN 2572-3626.
1 2 de Créqui-Montfort, G.; Rivet, P. (1913). "Linguistique Bolivienne. La Langue Saraveka". Journal de la Société des américanistes. 10: 497–540. ISSN 0037-9174.
↑ Danielsen, Swintha (January 2013). "Evaluating historical data (wordlists) in the case of bolivian extinct languages" . STUF - Language Typology and Universals. 66 (3). doi:10.1524/stuf.2013.0014. ISSN 2196-7148.
↑ Saraveca language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
↑ Wells, David (1997). The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers. Penguin UK. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-14-026149-3.
↑ "Numerals and numeral systems | Examples & Symbols | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-01-01.

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[1] Godoy, Gustavo; Balykova, Kristina (2023-11-30). "Multilingual Pantanal and its decay". Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America. 19 (2): 272–293. doi:10.70845/2572-3626.1362. ISSN 2572-3626.

[:0-2] 1 2 de Créqui-Montfort, G.; Rivet, P. (1913). "Linguistique Bolivienne. La Langue Saraveka". Journal de la Société des américanistes. 10: 497–540. ISSN 0037-9174.

[3] Danielsen, Swintha (January 2013). "Evaluating historical data (wordlists) in the case of bolivian extinct languages" . STUF - Language Typology and Universals. 66 (3). doi:10.1524/stuf.2013.0014. ISSN 2196-7148.

[e17-4] Saraveca language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)

[5] Wells, David (1997). The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers. Penguin UK. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-14-026149-3.

[6] "Numerals and numeral systems | Examples & Symbols | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-01-01.

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