The language had an estimated 28,100 speakers in Venezuela as of 2007. The Warao people live chiefly in the Orinoco Delta region of northeastern Venezuela, with smaller communities in western Guyana and Suriname.[5]
Warao appears to be a language isolate, unrelated to any recorded language in the region or elsewhere.[7] Terrence Kaufman (1994) included it in his hypothetical Macro-Paezan family, but the necessary supporting work was never done.[8] Julian Granberry connected many of the grammatical forms, including nominal and verbal suffixes, of Warao to the Timucua language of north Florida, also a language isolate, suggesting creolization as a possible explanation for these similarities.[9]
There are "Waroid" vocabulary items in Guajiro (from toponymic evidence it seems that the Warao or a related people once occupied Goajiro country) and in Taino (nuçay/nozay [nosái] "gold" in Ciboney — cf. Warao naséi símo "gold" (lit. "yellow pebble") — and duho "ceremonial stool" in Classic Taino — cf. Warao duhu "sit, stool"). Granberry & Vescelius (2004) note that toponymic evidence suggests that the pre-Taino Macorix language of Hispaniola and Guanahatabey language of Cuba may have been Waroid languages as well.
^Campbell & Grondona, 2012, The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide
^Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
^Julian Granberry, A Grammar and Dictionary of the Timucua Language, pp. 15-32
Campbell, Lyle. 1997. American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
Granberry Julian. 1993. A Grammar and Dictionary of the Timucua Language. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0817307044
Henry A. Osborn, Jr. 1966. Warao I: Phonology and Morphophonemics. International Journal of American Linguistics Vol. 32, No. 2 (Apr., 1966), pp. 108–123
Henry A. Osborn, Jr. 1966b. Warao II: Nouns, Relationals, and Demonstratives. In: International Journal of American Linguistics 32: 253-261.
Barral, Basilio de. 1979. Diccionario Warao-Castellano, Castellano-Warao. Caracas: UCAB
Figeroa, Andrés Romero. 1997. A Reference Grammar of Warao. München, Newcastle: Lincom
Vaquero, Antonio. 1965. Idioma Warao. Morfología, sintaxis, literatura. Estudios Venezolanos Indígenas. Caracas.
Wilbert, Johannes. 1964. Warao Oral Litrerature. Instituto Caribe de Antropología y Sociología. Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales. Monograph no 9 Caracas: Editorial Sucre.
Wilbert, Johannes. 1969. Textos Folklóricos de los Indios Warao. Los Angeles: Latin American Center. University of California. Latin American Studies Vol.12