Yao language (Cariban)

Yao (Jaoi, Yaoi, Yaio, "Anacaioury") was a Cariban language that was spoken in Trinidad and French Guiana up until its extinction in the 17th century. The language was attested in a single 1640 word list recorded by Joannes de Laet. It is thought that the Yao people migrated from the Orinoco to the islands perhaps a century earlier, after the Kaliña. The name 'Anacaioury' is that of a number of chiefs encountered over a century or so.