Talk:Bohura language

Probably Bohura is just another name for Mura, Curt Nimuendaju [1] explains that different autors reports (19th and 20th centuries) that mura referred themselves as Buxivaray, Buxwarahay (<*Buxwará-hái?), the mura named Manicoré river as Bohura (<*Buxwará) and their language Bohuarai-arase, Bhurai-ada (<*buxwará-hái-ara-se?), please check that there are independent references for all for both name or merge this article with "mura language" (now redirected to Muran languages). --Davius (talk) 15:07, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Most sources list these as separate. That doesn't mean they are, of course. On the other hand, there could have been various groups that went by the same name, and we chose one variant of the name for one group, and another variant for another. That happens all the time. ("Mura" and "Bohura" are presumably just variant pronunciations of the same name.) This is compounded by the problem of distinguishing language from dialect in poorly attested languages. So we'd really need a source that these are the same, rather than just an inference on our part.

Charles Zisa (1970) lists 3 Muran langs, Mura, Pirahá, and Jahahi. Campbell (1997) lists Mura, Pirahã, Yahahí, and Bohurá. Kaufmann (2007) lists Murá, Pirahán, Yahahi, and Bohurá. Linglist has Mura as a dialect of Piraha; it seems they may have gotten that from Zisa.

Dixon & Aikhenvald say, "There were a number of dialects of Mura which appear (from the word lists collected [list]) to have been fairly close." — kwami (talk) 20:36, 10 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]

AFAICT, Mura=Bohura and Piraha were mutually intelligible, and Yahahi is not attested. That means a single language, not a family, that we know of. — kwami (talk) 22:53, 13 April 2012 (UTC)[reply]