Bora–Witóto (also Bora–Huitoto, Bora–Uitoto, or, ambiguously, Witotoan) is a proposal to unite the Boran and Witotoan language families of southwestern Colombia (Amazonas Department) and neighboring regions of Peru and Brazil. Kaufman (1994) added the Andoque language.

Family division

Kaufman (1994) lists Bóran and Witótoan (Huitoto–Ocaina) as separate families (they are grouped together with Andoque as Bora–Witótoan; by 2007 he moved Andoque to Witotoan). (Note that Andoque was later demonstrated to be part of the Andoque–Urequena family.)

Genetic relations

Aschmann (1993) proposed Bora–Witoto as a connection between the Boran and Witotoan language families. Echeverri & Seifart (2016) refute the connection. Kaufman (2007) includes Bora-Witoto in his Macro-Andean proposal, and added the Andoque language to the Witotoan family. (Aschmann had considered Andoque a language isolate.) These proposals have not been accepted by other linguists. Gildea and Payne (2007) checked Bora-Witoto with Andoque, Proto-Cariban and Yagua, and found Bora-Witoto to be not related to any of the others. Mason (1950: 236–238) groups Bora–Witoto, Tupian, and Zaparoan together as part of a proposed Macro-Tupí-Guaranían family.

Vocabulary

Below is a comparison of selected basic vocabulary items in Proto-Bora-Muinane (i.e., Proto-Boran), Bora, Proto-Witotoan, Witoto, and Andoque. ! gloss !! Proto-Bora-Muinane !! Bora !! Proto-Witotoan !! Witoto !! Andoque ! head ! hair ! eye ! ear ! nose ! tooth ! tongue ! mouth ! hand ! foot ! breast ! meat ! blood ! bone ! person ! name ! dog ! fish ! louse ! tree ! leaf ! flower ! water ! fire ! stone ! earth ! salt ! road ! eat ! die ! I ! you