Language Division
Yanomaman consists of 4 languages, very similar with each other, sometimes classified as a dialect continuum:
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- Yanam (AKA Ninam, Yanam-Ninam)
- Sanumá (AKA Tsanuma, Sanima)
- Yanomámi (AKA Waiká)
- Yanomamö (AKA Yanomame, Yanomami)
Sunumá is the most lexically distinct. Yanomamö has the most speakers (17,600) while Yanam has the fewest (560).
Read more about this topic: Yanomaman Languages
Famous quotes containing the words language and/or division:
“Different persons growing up in the same language are like different bushes trimmed and trained to take the shape of identical elephants. The anatomical details of twigs and branches will fulfill the elephantine form differently from bush to bush, but the overall outward results are alike.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“In this world, which is so plainly the antechamber of another, there are no happy men. The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge.”
—Victor Hugo (1802–1885)