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The Aparai are mentioned in the literature as:
Appirois, Aparathy, Apareilles and Apalaii, by the travelers;
Aparis and Apalaís, more recently, by government
representatives; and finally, Aparai, which is the way
the group calls themselves today. For their part, the
Wayana are known in the literature as: Ojana, Ajana,
Aiana, Ouyana, Uajana, Upurui, Oepoeroei, Roucouyen,
Oreocoyana, Orkokoyana, Urucuiana, Urukuyana, Alucuyana
and Wayana. The terms Roucouyennes or Roucouyen (from
rocou, "urucum", in French), as well as the
corrupted forms Urucuiana or Rucuiana in Portuguese,
terms employed in the 18th and 19th centuries, originated
from the frequent use of urucu (red dye) body painting
by this population. The etymology of the word Wayana,
the present-day self-designation of this population,
is unknown. It is only known that it is a Karib word,
as the suffix –yana, which means "people"
in many languages of this family, shows.
Both the more general designations Aparai and
Wayana, and the names of the various other primordial
groups (Pirixiyana, Kumakai, Ahpamano, Arakaju, Upurui,
Kukuyana and Kumarawana, for example) are employed on
the basis of genealogical references, physical and behavioral
characteristics, besides geographical origin. In this
way, the Upurui are supposed to be more corpulent and
of darker skin, originating from the upper Jarí
River; the Apama, lighter-skinned and shorter, are supposed
to have come from the lower Jari River; the Pirixiyana,
from the Maicuru River, speak more rapidly, and so on.
Language
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Like the rest of the region, the situation on
the East Paru river is one of multi-lingualism. Every
adult individual speaks at least two or three languages,
including Aparai, Wayana, Português, Tiriyó
and, in several cases, Wajãpi, Aluku and criollo.
Nevertheless, the distribution of speakers and the use
of each of the languages are uneven. In Brazil, the
Aparai language is employed preferentially in the dialogues
between individuals belonging to distinct groups, which
is due in large part to missionary activity between
1968 and 1992. Literacy teaching of this population
is done in the Portuguese and Aparai languages, making
the latter the language of books and religious services.
However, despite the predominance of the Aparai language,
over the last decade the Wayana language has gained
an enormous prestige among the younger people, since
it is used in communication with Wayana and Tiriyó
residing in Surinam and French Guiana.
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