Hannß Katja. Uchumataqu: The lost language of the Urus of Bolivia

CNWS Publications, 2008. - 303 pp.This book is the first comprehensive grammatical description of Uchumataqu, the lost language of the Uru of Lake Titicaca in northwest Bolivia. Uchumataqu forms part of the isolated Uru-Chipaya language family, which was influenced to different degrees by Aymara, Quechua, and Spanish. The Uchumataqu language became extinct around 1950 and although several researchers had documented the language during the first half of the 20th century, their results were never considered in a comprehensive context. Some of the more substantial studies remained unpublished.
This grammatical description is based on previous publications and archival materials and provides the most complete treatment of Uchumataqu to date. The study also comprises a detailed description of the data source situation as well as a thorough introduction to previous research that resulted in the database for the present book. In addition, it contains a description of the phonological system and the morphological processes of Uchumataqu. The nominal and verbal systems are discussed in detail. Particular attention is paid to the complex person-marking system, of which the person-marking clitics distinguish Uchumataqu from the neighbouring Aymara and Quechua languages. Other important topics are nominalisation and subordination strategies and the existence of a separate word class for adjectives. The relationship between Uchumataqu and the surrounding Aymara and Quechua languages is described in detail.
This book will appeal especially to historical linguists, typologists and Andean linguists, but it should also interest anthropologists, Americanists, and linguists in general. In addition to its academic value, this book is a physical record of the extinct Uchumataqu language for the descendants of its speakers.