Waimiri-Atroarí language
The Waimiri Atroari language is spoken by the Waimiri Atroari people. The current population is 2,009 (PWA, 2018),[3] and they have 19 villages spread along the rivers of Camanau/Curiau, Alalaii, Jauaperi, and Rio Branquinho (Bruno 2003, 12).[4] These are located in the northern part of the State of Amazonas, and the southern part of the State of Roraima (Bruno 2003, 10).[4] The people call themselves Kinja and call their language, Kinja Iara (meaning “people’s language”) (Do Vale).[5] The language has many other names such as, Atroahy, Atroahí, Atroarí, Atroaí, Atrowari, Atruahi, Atruahí, Ki'nya, Krishaná, Waimirí, Waimirí-atroarí, Yawaperí (Glottolog).[6] This language seems to have a high transmission as it is spoken by all members of the community and is the main language used for reading and writing (Do Vale).[5]
| Atruahí | |
|---|---|
| Waimiri-Atroarí | |
| Native to | Brazil |
Native speakers | 930 (2001)[1] |
Cariban
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | atr |
| Glottolog | waim1253[2] |
Contact
First contact with the Waimiri Atroari occurred in the 17th century with the Spanish and Portuguese crown spreading to gain more territory (Do Vale).[5] First official contact with the Waimiri Atroari took place in 1884 with Joãno Barbosa Rodrigues who enlisted the Waimiri Atroari as guides. At this point in time the Waimiri Atroari already had a reputation for being violent and Rodrigues sought to change the stereotypes associated with the group(Do Vale).[5]
In 1911 a member of the SPI (Indian Protection Services) made contact with the Waimiri Atroari, the following year the First Indian Attraction Station was established (Do Vale).[5] Despite friendly contact the government of this region saw the great wealth of resources that the native land possessed and encouraged the invasion of the land in order to exploit the natural resources (Do Vale).[5] As a result, the Waimiri Atroari took up defense of their land with bows and arrows. This led to many acts of violence between the Waimiri Atroari and non-indigenous people, with military forces used to combat the indigenous group and wiping out entire villages (Do Vale).[5] The next large scale conflict with the Waimiri Atroari that has been documented is in the 1960s with the Amazonas State and Roraima Territory Government's plan for a highway between Manaus and Caracarai, cutting directly through indigenous land (Do Vale).[5] This project brought in individuals and teams to “pacify” the Waimiri Atroari as well as Military forces to build the highway and intimidate the indigenous people (Do Vale).[5] As a result of high tension and disagreements most of the non-indigenous pacifists were killed by the Waimiri Atroari (Do Vale).[5]
In 1971 the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Reservation was created, however between plans for Amazonas expansion and the discovery of cassiterite deposits, the government continued to infringe on the land (Do Vale).[5] The reserve was demoted to a Temporary Restricted Area for the Attraction and Pacification of the Waimiri Atroari Indians in 1981 in order to exclude the mineral deposits from their land (Do Vale).[5] Later more land was taken from the Waimiri Atroari as a hydroelectric plant project flooded over 30,000 hectares of their land (Do Vale). Today the Waimiri Atroari have their own school system which they control independently (Do Vale).[5]
Language Family
Waimiri Atroari belongs to the Carib language family, which is centralized in Northern South America. The Carib languages in northern Brazil are fairly similar, while Waimiri-Atroari is rather different (Moore, 2006, 119).[7] Carib can be categorized into three groups: Northwest Amazon, Guiana area and Upper Xingu Basin. Waimiri Atroari seems to fall into the second group, Guiana area (Bruno 2003, 16).[4]
Documentation
João Barbosa Rodrigues’ wordlist seems to be the first to document the language in 1885 and he refers to the people as “Crichanas” (Bruno 2003, 12).[4] A century later, in 1985, a phonological proposal and alphabet were developed by a Catholic missionary couple from the Indigenous Missionary Council (Bruno 2010, 85).[8] A year after, in 1986, another missionary couple from the Evangelical Mission of the Amazonian (MEVA), created a more accurate orthography (Bruno 2010, 86).[8]
It seems that the first detailed description was done by Ana Carla Bruno. She released a dissertation in 2003 on the descriptive grammar of the Waimiri-Atroari language. She extensively described the phonology, morphology, lexicon, and syntax of the language. In addition, she has continued detailing the typology of Waimiri-Atroari in further works. In 2004, she published a paper on reduplication in the language. The following two years, she detailed its pronominal system (2005)[9] and causative construction (2006).[10] Then, in 2008 and 2009, she further analyzed the syntactic features of case-marking; phrase structure, clauses and word order. Most recently, she explored the value of linguistic analysis to better language revitalization by analyzing the syllable structure in the orthography and formal education of Waimiri-Atroari (2010).[8]
Projects
While there are currently no language documentation projects for Wairmiri Atroari, there are projects for other languages in the Carib family. Carib language documentation supported by DOBES include the following languages: Kuikuro, documented by Bruna Franchetto, as well as Kaxuyana and Bakairi, which have been documented by Sergio Meira (Báez et al., 2016, 32).[11]
Phonology
Morphology
Bruno (2003) creates a thorough documentation of the morphology of Waimiri Atroari which includes nouns of possession, relational morphemes, derivational morphemes, pronouns, non-third person pronouns and third-person pronouns. Verbs have also been documented, covering tense/aspect suffixes, mood (imperatives and negation suffix), interrogative clitic, interrogative forms, causative forms and desiderative suffix. Waimiri Atroari also has documentation of adverbs, postpositions, particles and case markings (Bruno 2003).[4]
Pronouns
Bruno states that pronouns can take both subject and object positions in Waimiri Atroari (76).[4]
1st Person: awy, aa, kara~kra
Subject position
Bruno states that kara~kra is used when responding to a question or to emphasize that the person did an action or wants something. It is also the only pronoun that can be used in the OSV order (77).[4]
(1) wasypy-pa kra w-ia
hungry-Emph 1PRO 1-COP
‘I am hungry.’
(2) meprypyny kara h-yn-iany.
Tapir meat 1PRO LA-eat-T/A
'I was eating tapir meat.
Object position
It seems that for a 1st person singular object, aa can be used (Bruno 81).
(3) ka ram aa=ini-pia.
3PRO 2PART 1o-see-iM.p
'He saw me.'
2nd Person: amyry-amyra
Subject position
(Bruno 2003, 78-79)[4]
(4) amyry m-om-pia syna kaka
2PRO 2S-dive-IM.P water LOC
‘You dove into the water.’
Object position
It seems that the morpheme a is used to express a 2nd person singular object as in the examples (5) (Bruno 2003, 100) and (6) (Bruno 2003,118) below.[4]
(5) ka ram a-wen-tah-py-pia.
3PRO 2PART 2o-threw up-VERBL-CAUS-IM.p
'She/he made you throw up.
(6) Ka ram a-ini-piya.
3PRO 2PART 2o-see-imd.past
'He saw you.'
1+2 we inclusive : kyky and 1+3 we exclusive: a’a
Subject position
(Bruno 2003, 79-80)[4]
(7) araky ram kyky h-y-sa xiba myryka-se
Today 2PART 1+2PRO 1+2S-go-T/A fish fish-in order to
‘Today we go fishing.’
(8) a’a n-itxi-piany kaapa taka
1+3 1+3S-go-REC.P garden AL
‘We went to the plantation garden.’
Object position
(Bruno 2003, 123)[4]
(9) Irɨ k-ini-pe-s na.
3PRO 1+2o-see-?-DESID COP
‘She/he wants to see us.’
(10) Ka ram a’=ini-pia.
3PRO 2PART 1+3o-see-IMD.PAST
‘She/he saw us.’
Anaphoric (he, she, they, it): mykyky, mykyka'a, ka, iry
Subject position
(Bruno 2003, 80-81)
(10) mykyky ty-se kinj-e
3PRO 3REFLX-foot wash-T/A
‘He is washing his own foot’
(11) mykyky ty-se kinj-e
3PRO 3REFLX-foot wash-T/A
‘He is washing his own foot’
(12) mykyka’a ram n-yma-pa
3PRO 2PART 3S-fall-REM.P
‘He fell’
(13) Ka ram ka ini-huwa na
3PRO 2PART 3PRO see-NEG COP
‘He does not see him’
(14) iry n-aryma-pa te’xy n-eeni-pa
3PRO 3S-come back-REM.P DESID 3S-stay-REM.P
‘He did not want to come back’
Object position
Mykyka and ka can appear in object position, but Bruno notes that ka seems to be the preferred morpheme in her data (81).[4]
(Bruno 2003, 79 & 81)[4]
(15) amyra mykyka m-ary-py-pia mykyka ini-se.
2PRO 3PRO 2A-order-CAUS-IM.P 3PRO see-in order to
'You ordered him to see him.'
(16) ka ram ka ini-huwa na.
3PRO 2PART 3PRO see-NEG COP
'He does not see him.'
Proximal: (h)anji, kanji, anjinji, byby, by
Subject position
(Bruno 2003, 81-82)[4]
(17) apia hanji? aa=samka ram kanji
What this 1POS=hammock 2PART this
‘What is this?’ ‘This is my hammock.’
(18) pip-ky anjinji i-etaty
Look for-IMP here/this REL-name
‘Look here for the names!”
(19) byby maryba ka-tape.
3PRO song sing-REM.F
‘He will sing.’
By is used to describe animate objects (Bruno 2003, 81).[4]
(20) bypa i-eka by karyka-e’?
Whose REL-pet this chicken-INT
‘Whose is this chicken?’
Medial: myry and Distal: mo’o, mymo’, myky
Subject position
(Bruno 2003, 82-83)[4]
Myry can only be used to describe inanimate objects (Bruno 82).
(21) wyty ka myry
Meat EVID this
‘This is meat.’
Mymo’ and mo’o are used with inanimate objects, while myky is used with animate objects (Bruno 82).
(22) mymo’ marehe ram abremyhsa
That sieve-2PART round
'That sieve is round’
(23) myky ram tabe’a mo’o ka samka
That 2PART capybara There EVID hammock ‘That is a capybara’ ‘There, is the hammock.’
Object position
(Bruno 2003, 84)[4]
(24) a'a txi-piany mo'o ase mydy taka.
1+3PRO go-REC.P there new house AL
'We went there to the new village.'
Negation particle
Waimiri Atroari uses non-verbal negation, that is, negation marked by particles kap~kapy~kapa and wan. These particles act to indicate negation rather than negation being marked on a verb and are often used to negate existence as seen below (Bruno 115).
(25) aiana ram wyty kapa
Sp.bird 2PART meat/food NEG
‘Any-preto is not food.’
(26) wyty wan naminja
Meat NEG dog
“Don’t eat the food, dog!’
Causative forms
There are two kinds of causative forms that can be used to signify if a subject causes an event. First, there is the -py morpheme that indicates if someone “made” someone else do something or if they are not resistant to “cause” an event to happen. There is one construction where the morpheme -py appears with the lexicalized verb, such as in examples (27) and (28), where -py attaches to the verb for ‘tell’ (Bruno 100).
(27) Aa Kaina h-ary-py-pia kyrywu ini-se.
1PRO Kaina 1s-tell-CAUS-IM.P snake see-in order to.
'I told/dictated to Kaina to see the snake.'
(28) Paruwe aa-iry-py-pia woky yry-ky Marta inaka
Paruwe 1o-tell-CAUS-IM.P banana give-IMP Marta DAT
'Paruwe told/dictated to me to give the banana to Marta.'
There is also a form where -py doesn't appear with a lexicalized verb, such as in examples (29) and (30), where -py attaches to the verbs ‘bleed’ and ‘laugh’. It also seems that intransitive verbs like these, behave like transitive verbs when they take a causative form like V[Intr+Caus [A O]] (Bruno 101).
(29) kyka ram ka hu-myny-tah-py-pia.
1+2PRO 2PART 3PRO 1+2A-bleed-VERBL-CAUS-IM.P
'We made him bleed.'
(30) Ka k-yeepitxah-py-pia.
3PRO 1+2o-laugh-CAUS-IM.P
'She/he made us laugh.'
Second, there is a form that indicates if the subject is “letting” the event happen. Someone is ordered or permitted to do something without forcing the other or knowing if the other may fulfill the event. It seems that there is an absence of the morpheme -py, as in examples (31) and (32), and the particle tre’me is notable, however Bruno notes that the particle tre’me may not mean “let” because of example (33), in which it does not indicate “let/permit” (Bruno 103).
(31) Aa wo'nj-e'me h-aminjaky-piany a-wenpa-typah tre'me tyruwa kapry pyky. 1PRO clay-VAL LA-permit/let-REC.P 2o-leam-? PART pan make how ‘I permitted you to/let you dabble in the clay to learn how to make a ceramic pan.'
(32) Aa ka m-injaky-piany wyty ipy-na tre'me.
1PRO ka 2o-permit/let-REC.P meat look for-? PART
‘I permitted you to/let you leave to hunt.’
(33) Aa k-aa-piany maryba taka a-iwapy-try pyky a-wenpa-typa tre'me.
1PRO 2o-take-REC.P party/song AL 2o-sing-? how 2o-leam-? PART
'I took you to the party for you to learn how to sing.'
Syntax
Split System-S
Waimiri Atroari is what Gildea (1998)[12] classifies to as an Inverse Split system-S. Characteristics of this language system include A and O nominals having no case marking, a lack of auxiliaries and personal prefix set as well as the collective number suffixes (Bruno 2015, 5). In Inverse Split System-s, also referred to as Set I systems the OV unit may either precede or follow the A, in Wamiri Atroari the order is AOV (Bruno 2015, 7).[13]
A Verb-Phrase may be formed with just the verb (Bruno 2015, 7)[13]
(1) Ka-ky!
speak - IMPER
"Speak!"
A verb may be preceded by an Noun-Phrase (Bruno 2015, 8).[13]
(2) bahinja maia kɨnk-E
Children knife break-T/ASP
"The children break the knife."
The particle ram cannot separate elements of a single phrase, however it can be used as a tool to determine which element is moved within a sentence (Bruno 2015, 8).[13]
(3)a. tahkome i-inɨ-pia ram Irikwa
elders REL-eat-IMD-PAST 2PART Irikwa
‘Irika (a mythological entity) ate the elders.’
b. *[tahkome ram i-inɨ-pia] Irikwa
elders 2PART REL-eat-IMD.PAST Irikwa
In OSV contexts the object may move independently to subject position rather than the Verb-Phrase preceding the Noun-Phrase through the process of topicalization in which its components cannot be separated (Bruno 2015, 8).[13]
(4) woky i-eki kra h-ee-ia
Banana REL-juice 1PRO 1A-drink-T/ASP
‘I drink the banana juice’
Hierarchy
Hierarchical relationships exist in Waimiri Atroari in which the third person is ranked lower than the first, second and first plural inclusive and exclusive person. In situations where second person acts on first person, or first person acts on second person there is may be subject agreement or object agreement. Therefore, it is necessary that subject and object marking follow a hierarchy : 1=2, 1+2/1+3>3. The following table provided by Bruno (2015, 11)[13] illustrates how case is marked in Waimiri Atroari as well as the hierarchy present in the language.
| 1A3O | Aa ram ka h-ini-pia
1PRO 2PART 3PRO 1A-see-IMD.PAST ‘I saw him.’ |
| 2A3O | Amɨra ram ka m-ini-pia.
2PRO 2PART 3PRO 2A-see-IMD.PAST ‘You saw him.’ |
| 3A3O | Mɨkɨka ram ka Ø-ini-pia.
3PRO 2PART 3PRO Ø-see-IMD.PAST ‘She/he saw him/her’. |
| 1+2A3O | Kɨka ram ka h-ini-pia.
1+2PRO 2PART 3PRO 1+2A-see-IMD.PAST ‘We saw him.’ |
| 3A1O | Ka ram aa=ini-pia.
3PRO 2PART 1O-see-IMD.PAST ‘She/he saw me.’ |
| 3A2O | Ka ram a=ini-pia.
3PRO 2PART 2O-see-IMD.PAST ‘She/he saw you.’ |
| 3A1+3O | Ka ram a’=ini-pia.
3PRO 2PART 1+3O-see-IMD.PAST ‘She/he saw us.’ |
| 3A1+2O | Irɨ k-ini-pe-s na.
3PRO 1+2O-see-?-DESID COP ‘She/he wants to see us.’ |
| 1A2O | Aa ram k-ini-pia.
1PRO 2PART 2O-see-IMD.PAST ‘I saw you’ |
| 2A1O | Amɨra ram aa=ini-pia
2PRO 2PART 1O-see-IMD. PAST or Amra aa=k-ini-pia |
Semantics
Quantification
Adverbial quantifiers
Noun phrases which possess quantifiers show positional variation, as seen in examples (5) to (9). Adverbials quantifiers may be positioned on either side of the head noun. Bruno (2003)[4] explains the relative mobility of these quantifiers by categorizing them as adjuncts.
(5) waha xiba (6) xiba waha
many fish fish many
'many fish' 'many fish'
(7) kinja wyty ipo-piany wapy
people meat look.for-REC.P many
'People hunted a lot.'
(8)kinja wapy wyty ipo-piany (9) wapy kinja wyty ipo-piany
people many meat look.for-REC.P many people meat look.for-REC.P
'Many people hunted.' 'Many people hunted.'
Numeral noun phrases
Examples (10) to (12) provide examples of the occurrence of the numeral one. (11) is unique in the set as it refers to ‘one group’ while (10) and (12) refer to one individual (Bruno 2003, 108).[4] Example (13) demonstrates use of the number two and examples (14) and (15) provide depictions of the use of number three (Bruno 2003, 140)[4].
amini ~ awinini -awinihe -awynihe (one, alone) (Bruno 2003, 108)[4]
(10) awinihe petxi ka-ky ampa ia
one wild pig talk-PAST other to.
'One petxi talked to the other.'
(11) awinih-pa ka kinja txi-pia itxi taka
alone-EMPH EVID people go-IM.P jungle AL
‘The kinja went to the jungle alone.’
(12) awynihe petxi Kwawura i-atyka-pa ty-kyda tohnaka
One pig Kwawura REL-put-REM 3REFL-back over
‘One wild pig put Kwawura on his own back.’
Typytyna (two, a couple, a pair) (Bruno 2003, 140)[4]
(13) typytyna karyka
two chickens
‘two chickens’
Takynynapa (three) (Bruno 2003, 140)[4]
(14) weri samka ka-pia takynynapa
Woman hammock make-IM three
‘The woman made three hammocks.’
(15) takynyny pahky kaminja n-apynaka.
three only non-native 3-escape
‘Only the three white men escaped.’
Loan Word Influence
As of recently, due to western influence, Portuguese loanwords are also used to refer to amounts higher than three, and it is common for younger speakers to use them for amounts lower than three (Bruno 2003, 140).[4]
(16) dois kinja xiba myry-myry-pia quatro pahky.
Two people fish REDUP-fish-IM four only
‘Two people caught only four fish.’
(17) amy kinja dezessete apytphy
Other people seventeen behind
amy kinja dezessete nate’me
Other people seventeen behind
‘Seventeen people were in front, and seventeen were behind.’
Many
Many However, traditionally, it is common for the Kinja people to use waha~wapy (many, a lot) for amounts more than three because they did not count up to three (Bruno 2003, 140).[4]
References
- Atruahí at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Waimiri-Atroari". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- "Waimiri Atroari - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
- Bruno, Ana Carla (2003). Waimiri Atroari Grammar: Some Phonological, Morphological, and Syntactic Aspects. Tucson: University of Arizona.
- Do Vale, Maria Carmen. "Waimirir Atraori". pib.socioambiental.org.
- "Waimiri-Atroari". Glottolog 3.3. Retrieved 28 Sep 2018.
- Moore, D. (3 April 2008). "Brazil: Language Situation". The encyclopaedia of language and linguistics: 117–128.
- Bruno, Ana Carla (2010). "Lessons from Waimiri Atraori Syllable Structure". LIAMES. 10: 85–99.
- Bruno, Ana Carla (2005). "Reduplicacao em Waimiri Atraori". Amerindia. especial sobre linguas Carib, no. 28: 88–94.
- Bruno, Ana Carla (2006). "The Causative Construction in Waimiri Atraori". LIAMES. 6: 101–108.
- Báez, Gabriela Pérez, Chris Rogers, and Jorge Emilio Rosés Labrada, eds (2016). Language Documentation and Revitalization in Latin American Contexts: Latin American Contexts. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
- Gildea, Spike. “On Reconstructing Grammar: Comparative Cariban Morphosyntax.” Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics, vol. 18, Oxford: Oxford Press (1998).
- Bruno, Ana Carla. "Case Marking in Waimiri Atroari: typical nominative/accusative or nominative with some inverse/split-s features." Revista Linguíʃtica 4.2 (2015)
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