Moxo (also known as Mojo, pronounced 'Moho') is any of the Arawakan languages spoken by the Moxo people of the Llanos de Moxos in northeastern Bolivia. The two extant languages of the Moxo people, Trinitario and Ignaciano, are as distinct from one another as they are from neighboring Arawakan languages. The extinct Magiana was also distinct. Moxo languages have an active–stative syntax. It's one of the National Languages of Bolivia

Sociolinguistic background

The languages belong to a group of tribes that originally ranged through the upper Mamoré, extending east and west from the Guapure (Itenes) to the Beni, and are now centered in the Province of Moxos, Department of Beni, Bolivia. They form part of the Mamoré-Guaporé linguistic area. Moxo was also the primary lingua franca used in the Jesuit Missions of Moxos. Ignaciano is used in town meetings unless outsiders are present, and it is a required subject in the lower school grades, one session per week. Perhaps half of the children learn Ignaciano. By the 1980s there were fewer than 100 monolinguals, all older than 30.

Classification

The Moxo languages are most closely related to Bauré, Pauna, and Paikoneka. Together, they form the Mamoré-Guaporé languages (named after the Mamoré River and Guaporé River). Classification by Jolkesky (2016): Classification by Danielsen (2011) and Danielsen & Terhart (2014: 226):

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Word lists

The following is a wordlist containing sample words from English to Moxos: Magíana word list from the late 1700s published in Palau and Saiz (1989): ! Spanish gloss !! English gloss !! Magíana