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Tapayuna language

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Tapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi)
Kajkwakhrattxi kawẽrẽ
Pronunciation[kajkʰwakʰʀ̥atˈtʃi kaˈw̃ẽɾẽ]
Native toBrazil
RegionMato Grosso
EthnicityTapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi)
Native speakers
97 in Kawêrêtxikô (Terra Indígena Capoto-Jarina, 2010), several elderly speakers in Ngôsôkô (Terra Indígena Wawi (2011), unknown number in Ngôjhwêrê (2010)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologbeic1238
Villages where Tapayuna is spoken.

Tapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi or Kajkwakhratxi,[2] also spelt Tapajúna, Tapayúna: Kajkwakhrattxi kawẽrẽ [kajkʰwakʰʀ̥atˈtʃi kaˈw̃ẽɾẽ]) is a Northern Jê language (, Macro-Jê) spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil by the Tapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi) people.

The Tapayuna historically lived on the Arinos River, in the Tapajós basin, between Juruena and Aripuanã.[2]: 34–5  They were decimated in mid-20th century as a result of numerous conflicts with Brazilian settlers, rubber tappers, and ranchers; it is estimated that their population declined 90% until reaching 41 individuals in 1969,[2]: 36–40 [1][3]: 9  which has been characterized as an ethnocide.[2]: 37–38  The surviving Tapayúna were then transferred to Xingu Indigenous Park at some point between 1969 and 1970, resulting in 10 more deaths.[1] At first, they stayed with the Kĩsêdjê, speakers of a closely related language.[2]: 41–2  Later, many Tapayúna moved to Terra Indígena Capoto-Jarina, where they went on to live with the Mẽtyktire subgroup of the Kayapó people, speakers of another Northern Jê language, Mẽbêngôkre.[2]: 42–3  It is assumed that the Tapayúna language has been influenced both by Kĩsêdjê and Mẽbêngôkre.[2]: 51–5  In 2010, 97 speakers have been reported in the Kawêrêtxikô village (Capoto-Jarina). In contrast, only a few elders speak the language in the Ngôsôkô village (Wawi), where the Kĩsêdjê are the ethnic majority. The number of speakers in the Ngôjhwêrê village (Wawi) is unknown.[1]

Tapayúna is closely related to Kĩsêdjê;[4][5] together, they form the Tapajós branch of Northern Jê.[3]: 7  The common past on the Tapajós River, shared by the Tapayúna and the Kĩsêdjê, is still part of their oral history.[3]: 9  Phonological differences between the languages include the reflexes of Proto-Northern Jê *m/*mb, *mr/*mbr, *c (in onsets), (in codas), and *b (in stressed syllables). In Tapayúna, these consonants are reflected as w ([w̃]), nr ([ɾ̃]), t ([t̪]), j ([j]), and w ([w]), respectively, whereas Kĩsêdjê has m/mb, mr/mbr, s, n, and p in the same words.[3]: 85, 91 

Phonology

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Consonants

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Tapayúna innovated with respect to Proto-Tapajós via the following sound changes:

  • merger of *t̪ʰ and *t̪ as t /t̪ʰ/;[6]: 560 
  • *p > w /w/;[6]: 560 
  • *m(b), *m(b)r > w /w̃/, nr /ɾ̃/;[3]: 85 
  • *kʰj, *mbj > x /tʃ/, j /j/;[3]: 85 
  • *-m, *-n, > /-p/, /-t/, /-j/.[3]: 91 

Vowels

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The vowel inventory of Tapayuna is shown below (the orthographic representation is given in italics; the characters in slashes stand for the IPA values of each vowel).[2]: 64 

Oral Nasal
i /i/ y /ɨ/ u /u/ ĩ /ĩ/ /ɨ̃/ ũ /ũ/
ê /e/ â /ə/ ô /o/ /ẽ/ õ /õ/
e /ɛ/ à /ʌ/ o /ɔ/ ã /ɐ̃/
a /a/

Echo vowels

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Tapayúna has a phenomenon whereby an echo vowel is inserted in words whose underlying form ends in a consonant.[7]: 100  The epenthesized vowels are unstressed, as in rowo [ˈɾɔwɔ] ‘jaguar’, tàgà [ˈtʌgʌ] ‘bird’, khôgô [ˈkʰogo] ‘wind’.

Morphology

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Inflectional morphology

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Finiteness

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As in all other Northern Jê languages, verbs inflect for finiteness and thus have a basic opposition between a finite form (also Short Form and main form[2]: 123 ) and a nonfinite form (also Long Form[2]: 123 ). Finite forms are used in matrix clauses only, whereas nonfinite forms are used in all types of subordinate clauses as well as in some matrix clauses (including negated, future, and progressive clauses[2]: 123 ). Nonfinite forms are most often formed via suffixation and/or prefix substitution. Some verbs (including all descriptives with the exception of katho ‘to leave’, whose nonfinite form is kathoro) lack an overt finiteness distinction.

The available nonfinite suffixes are /-ɾ/ (the most common option, found in many transitive and intransitive verbs), /-j/ (found in transitive verbs and in some intransitives whose stem ends in the vowel /a/), as well as /-k/ and /-p/ (found in a handful of intransitive verbs which take a nominative subject when finite), as shown in the table below.[2][3]: Appendix D 

Nonfinite suffixes in Tapayúna
finite nonfinite gloss
suffix /-ɾ/ (/-j/ after /a/)
to go (plural)
to kill (singular)
to swim
wy wyry to take (singular)
twâ twâ to bathe
nghre ngere to dance
khrẽ khẽrẽ to eat (singular)
khu khuru to eat (plural)
ikhwâ khwâ to defecate
ithu thuru to urinate
awi tàwiri to go up
suffix /-j/
j to scratch
wa waj to hear, to understand
kawa kawaj to extract (singular)
nta ntaj to bite
wu wuj to see
jarẽ jarẽj to say
wẽ wẽj to throw (singular)
kahõ kahõj to wash
kuhwê kuhwêj to sweep
ru ruj to spill
suffix /-p/
thẽ thẽw to go (singular)
ikhõ khõw to drink
ta w to be, to stand (singular)
suffix /-k/
thy thyk to die

In Proto-Northern Jê, several verbs derived their finite forms by means of leniting the stem-final consonant (*-t, *-c, *-k*-r, *-j, *-r).[6]: 544  In Tapayúna, at least two verbs retain this pattern, though the relation between the finite and nonfinite forms has been obfuscated by a series of regular sound changes, including *-ôj > -wâj (-âj after a labial), *-c > -t.[2]

Nonfinite suffixes in Tapayúna
finite nonfinite gloss Proto-Northern Jê finite Proto-Northern Jê nonfinite
ngõrõ nhõn to sleep *ŋõr *ñõt
wâj wôt to arrive *bôj *bôc

The erstwhile palatalizing prefix

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In Proto-Northern Jê, a small set of verbs formed their nonfinite forms by employing one of the aforementioned processes and a morphophonological process whereby the onset of the stressed syllable became palatal, and the nucleus of the stressed syllable was raised (if possible); this has been attributed to the influence of an underlying palatalizing nonfinite prefix. In Tapayúna, at least two verbs still follow the archaic pattern.[6]

finite nonfinite gloss
ka to roast
ngõ nhõn to sleep

Prefix substitution or loss

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In addition to the aforementioned processes, the finiteness inflection may involve prefix substitution or loss. For example, the valency-reducing prefixes are a(j)- (anticausative) and a- (antipassive) in finite verb forms, but wi- and tá-/tu-, respectively, in the nonfinite forms.[6]: 541, 544  In addition, some verbs which denote physiological activities or movement have a prefix (i- and a-, respectively) in their finite forms but not in the nonfinite form. Some examples are given below.[3]: Appendix D 

finite nonfinite gloss
anticausatives
ajkhẽ wikhẽj to have fun
antipassives
awi wiri to go up
physiological verbs
ikhõ khõw to drink
ikhwâ khwârâ to defecate
ithu thur to urinate
movement verbs
a tárá to enter (singular)

Nominal number

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Nouns which denote human beings may receive the plural suffix -jê,[2]: 70, 87  as in wẽwyjê ‘men’ (← wẽwy) ‘man’.

Derivational morphology

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Productive affixes

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Tapayúna makes use of the diminutive suffixes -tĩ and -re, as well as of the augmentative suffix -txi.[2]: 69, 79–81  Examples include: tara ‘its small wing’ or taratĩre ‘its tiny wing’ (← tara ‘its wing’, an inflected form of jara ‘wing’), hry ‘small, narrow path’ or hrytĩre ‘a very narrow path’ (← hry ‘path’), thêtxi ‘tick’ (← thê), wĩtxi ‘alligator’ (← ).

Nominalizations which denote instruments and places are formed by means of attaching the suffix -tà to the nonfinite form of a verb: kahõ ‘to sweep’ → kahõj ‘to sweep (nonfinite)’ → kahõj ‘broom’; wẽ ‘people’ + khrĩ ‘to sit (plural, finite = nonfinite)’ → wẽkhrĩ ‘seat’.[2]: 81 

Agent nominalizations are formed by means of attaching the suffix -kanê to the nonfinite form of a verb: hwitô ‘leaf; paper’ + tôk ‘to paint; to write’ → hwĩtôtôkkanê ‘teacher’.[2]: 82 

Lexicon

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Predicate number

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Tapayúna commonly employs different lexemes for the so called singular and plural predicates (see Northern Jê languages#Verbal number for more information about the semantic counterparts of this distinction in the Northern Jê languages).[2]: 127–31 

Verbal number in Tapayúna
singular plural gloss
kura thithik to hit
hwa to kill
tẽ to go

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Tapayuna". Povos indígenas no Brasil. Instituto Socioambiental. July 26, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Camargo, Nayara da Silva (2015). Tapayuna (Jê): aspectos morfossintáticos, históricos e sociolinguísticos (PDF) (PhD dissertation). Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Nikulin, Andrey (2020). Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (PDF) (PhD dissertation). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
  4. ^ Rodrigues, Cíntia Karla Coelho (2011). "Comparando as consoantes das línguas Tapajúna e Suyá". Alfa: Revista de Linguística. 55 (2): 601–11. doi:10.1590/S1981-57942011000200011.
  5. ^ Santos, Ludoviko Carnasciali dos (1997). Descrição de aspectos morfossintáticos da língua Suyá (Kĩsêdjê), família Jê (PDF) (PhD dissertation). Florianópolis: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
  6. ^ a b c d e Nikulin, Andrey; Salanova, Andrés Pablo (October 2019). "Northern Jê Verb Morphology and the Reconstruction of Finiteness Alternations". International Journal of American Linguistics. 85 (4): 533–567. doi:10.1086/704565.
  7. ^ Camargo, Nayara da Silva (2010). Língua Tapayúna: aspectos sociolingüísticos e uma análise fonológica preliminar (PDF) (MA thesis). Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
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