Maku language
Encyclopedia
The Borówa language, commonly known as Macu, Makú, Macó, or, to distinguish it from other languages given this name, Máku, is an unclassified language
spoken on the Brazil
–Venezuela
border in Roraima
along the Uraricoera River
. The Borowa territory was formerly between the Padamo and Cunucunuma rivers.
The last speaker died between 2000 and 2002. Aryon Rodrigues and Ernesto Migliazza have worked on the language, and there is enough material for a grammar, though as of 2010 this had not been published.
Maku
is not a proper name, but rather an Arawakan term for unintelligible languages.
Consonants are stops /p b t d k ʔ/, the affricate /ts/, fricatives /s ʃ x h/, voiced stops /b d/, nasals /m n/, the lateral "r" (perhaps /ɺ/?), and the approximants /w j/.
but no genders or classifiers. The TAM
system is very complex.
Kaufman (1990) finds the Kalianan proposal "promising", though he is now dated.
Unclassified language
Unclassified languages are languages whose genetic affiliation has not been established by means of historical linguistics. If this state of affairs continues after significant study of the language and efforts to relate it to other languages, as in the case of Basque, it is termed a language...
spoken on the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
–Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
border in Roraima
Roraima
Roraima is the northernmost and least populated state of Brazil, located in the Amazon region. It borders the states of Amazonas and Pará, as well as the nations of Venezuela and Guyana. The population is 400,000 and the capital is Boa Vista...
along the Uraricoera River
Uraricoera River
-References:*...
. The Borowa territory was formerly between the Padamo and Cunucunuma rivers.
The last speaker died between 2000 and 2002. Aryon Rodrigues and Ernesto Migliazza have worked on the language, and there is enough material for a grammar, though as of 2010 this had not been published.
Maku
Maku language
The Borówa language, commonly known as Macu, Makú, Macó, or, to distinguish it from other languages given this name, Máku, is an unclassified language spoken on the Brazil–Venezuela border in Roraima along the Uraricoera River. The Borowa territory was formerly between the Padamo and Cunucunuma...
is not a proper name, but rather an Arawakan term for unintelligible languages.
Phonology
Borowa has six oral vowels, /i y ɨ u e a/, and four nasal vowels, /ĩ ũ ẽ ã/. Length is contrastive, but only on an initial CV syllable of a polysyllabic word. The most complex syllable is CCVC. There is no contrastive stress or tone.Consonants are stops /p b t d k ʔ/, the affricate /ts/, fricatives /s ʃ x h/, voiced stops /b d/, nasals /m n/, the lateral "r" (perhaps /ɺ/?), and the approximants /w j/.
Grammar
Borowa is highly polysynthetic and predominantly suffixing. There is clusivityClusivity
In linguistics, clusivity is a distinction between inclusive and exclusive first-person pronouns and verbal morphology, also called inclusive "we" and exclusive "we"...
but no genders or classifiers. The TAM
TAM
-Finance:* Total addressable market, a financial term used to reference the revenue opportunity available for a product or service- Military :* TAM – Transporte Aéreo Militar , an airline in Bolivia...
system is very complex.
Genetic relations
Suggested genetic relations involving Borowa include- with Arawakan
- with WaraoWaraoThe Warao are an indigenous people inhabiting northeastern Venezuela and western Guyana. Alternate common spellings of Warao are Waroa, Guarauno, Guarao, and Warrau. The term Warao translates as "the boat people," after the Warao's lifelong and intimate connection to the water...
- within a Kalianan grouping with Arutani–Sape ( Makú)
- within a Macro-PuinaveanMacro-PuinaveanMacro-Puinavean is a hypothetical proposal linking some very poorly attested languages to the Nadahup family. The Puinave language is sometimes linked specifically with the Nadahup languages , as Puinave–Maku, and the Borowa language is sometimes connected to the Arutani–Sape languages in a...
grouping with Nadahup ( Makú), KatukinanKatukinan languagesKatukinan is a language group consisting of three languages in Brazil.*Kanamarí*Katawixi*Katukína-References:*Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: KATUKINA...
, & Arutani–Sape
Kaufman (1990) finds the Kalianan proposal "promising", though he is now dated.