Languages of the World

Machinere

Machinere

Yineru-tokanu

Other names

Manchinere, manchineri, manitenére, manitenerí, maxinéri, piro, yine

Spoken in ...

On both sides of the headwaters of the Acre River in the border area between Brazil, Bolivia and Peru (corresponding to the Brazilian state of Acre and the Bolivian department of Pando).

Number of speakers

Brazil: approximately 400.
Peru: between 1,500 and 3,000 (different sources give different figures).
Bolivia: approximately 140.

Legal status

Official language in Bolivia and Peru. Non-specific protection in Brazil.

Bolivia's constitution of 1994 does not establish an official language, but Spanish is so de facto (it is the only tongue used by the administration and in the education system and the media). Passed in the year 2000, Supreme Decree 25894 of 11 September recognises the Aymara, Araona, Ayoreo, Baure, Besiro (Chiquitano), Canichana, Cavineña, Cayubaba, Chácobo, Tsimané, Esse Ejja, Guaraní, Pauserna, Guarayo, Itonama, Leco, Machinere, Mojeno, Trinitario, Ignaciano, Itene, Mosetén, Movima, Pacahuara, Quechua, Reyesano, Sirionó, Tacana, Tapieté, Toromono, Uru-Chipaya, Wichí, Yaminahua, Yuqui and Yuracare indigenous tongues as official languages.

Portuguese is Brazil's only official language. The country's only linguistic legislation concerning other tongues refers to schooling and is restricted to bilingual and intercultural primary education (exclusively in indigenous communities), although there are actually few trained bilingual teachers.

The Peruvian Constitution establishes that Spanish is the country's official language, that Quechua, Aymara and other aboriginal tongues share that status in areas in which they are predominant, and that all citizens have the right to communicate with public bodies in their own language.

Source(s)

'Endangered Languages in South America', in UNESCO Red Book of Endangered Languages.
Website

FABRE, A. (2005) Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos.
Website

State Gazette no. 2243. DECREE no. 25894 of 11 September 2000.
Website

LECLERC, J. (2007) L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde. Quebec: TLFQ, Université Laval.
Website

QUEIXALÓS, F. and O. RENAULT-LESCURE (eds.) (2000) As línguas amazônicas hoje. São Paulo, IRD/ISA/MPEG.

Produced by the Endangered Language Study Group (Grup d'Estudi de Llengües Amenaçades or GELA) of the General Linguistics Department of the Universitat de Barcelona.
Website

Comments

This language is referred to as Piro in Peru and as Machinere in Brazil and Bolivia. There are substantial dialectal differences between the form of the language used in Peru and that spoken in Brazil and Bolivia.

All the members of the community speak their own language plus Portuguese or Spanish, depending on the country in which they live. Some of the Machinere people moved from the Brazilian state of Acre to the Bolivian department of Pando in 1985 to escape social tensions. Portuguese is consequently not only the habitual language of the Machinere living in Brazil, but also of those living in Bolivia.

The native name for the Machinere/Piro language is Yineru-Tokanu, meaning 'the language of the people'. Yineru means 'true people' and is the name by which the members of the group refer to themselves collectively.