Kuikúro language

Kuikúro
Apalakiri, Amonap
Native toBrazil
RegionXingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso
EthnicityKuikuro, Kalapalo
Native speakers
1,000 (2006)
Cariban
Dialects
  • Kuikuro
  • Kalapalo
Language codes
ISO 639-3kui Kuikúro-Kalapálo
qfy
Glottologkuik1246
ELPKuikuro
Kuikuro and Kalapalo are Vulnerable according to the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Kuikúro, also known as Amonap, Upper Xingu Cariban and Apalakiri, is a Cariban language spoken by the Kuikuro and Kalapalo peoples of Brazil. It is spoken in seven villages along the Culuene River in the Xingu Indigenous Park of Mato Grosso. The Matipuhy language, closely related and sometimes considered a distinct language, is moribund, with only 10 speakers remaining.

Although bilingualism in Brazilian Portuguese is prevalent among the men of the community, Kuikúro is not as immediately endangered as are many Brazilian languages. As of 2006, there are an estimated 1,100 native speakers of the language, including 600 Kuikúro and 500 Kalapálo, who speak the same language but are ethnically distinct. The Endangered Languages Project lists the language as "threatened".

In collaboration with linguist Bruna Franchetto, the Kuikuro have created a library of recordings that feature Kuikuro stories in the language that is archived at the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America.