Tariana language
Encyclopedia
Tariana is an endangered
Maipurean
language spoken along the Vaupés River in Amazonas, Brazil
by approximately 100 people. Another approximately 1500 people in the upper and middle Vaupés River
area identify themselves as ethnic Tariana but no longer speak the language.
The Tariana and East Tucano peoples are linguistically exogamous
and consider fellow speakers of their languages blood relatives. Languages, like tribal identity, are acquired through patrilineal
descent and as such are kept strictly separate from one another, with minimal lexical borrowing occurring among them. Traditionally, Indians in the Vaupés region spoke between three and ten other languages, including their mother's tongue and Spanish
and/or Portuguese
.
Speakers of Tariana have been switching to the unrelated Tucano language
(of the Tucanoan family), which became a lingua franca
in the Vaupés region in the late nineteenth century. Arriving in the region in the 1920s, Salesian missionaries promoted the exclusive use of Tucano among Indians in an effort to "civilize" them. Economic concerns have also led fathers to increasingly leave their families to work for non-Amerindian Brazilians, which has undermined the patrilineal father-child interaction through which Tariana was traditionally acquired. In 1999, efforts were made to teach Tariana as a second language in the secondary school in Iauaretê. Regular classes in Tariana have been offered at the school since 2003.
Research on Tariana, including a grammar book and a Tariana-Portuguese dictionary have been written by Alexandra Aikhenvald
from the La Trobe University
, who is a specialist on the Arawak language family.
and Tucano. It has a rare set of phonotactic restrictions that determine whether phonemes can occur initially or medially and in which types of morphemes (roots, affixes, and enclitics.) The phoneme [tʃ], for example, can occur initially in roots but not in affixes or enclitics.
Bolded letters indicate the orthography
used by Alexandra Aikhenvald in her Grammar of Tariana. IPA transcription is indicated where it differs from the standard orthography.
Phonotactic Restrictions on the Occurrence of Vowels
1ɨ occurs only in the augmentative
enclitic =pɨ and in the onomatopoeic ɨhmeni "moan". It also occasionally appears as an allophone of i in the following words: marawati→marawatɨ "a type of snuff", hitísi→hitɨsi "tear", and -pití→pitɨ "chase away, kick". Its occurrence in Tariana has been ascribed to the influence of Tucano
.
2õ occurs only in the following words: tõkẽ "firefly", siwirikõrena "tapiriri, Tapirira guianensis", nuitõ "daughter! (vocative)", and -tõreta "roll into a thin roll, like a cigarette". It also occurs word-initially in place names of Tucano origin (e.g. Õrõreana).
The phoneme /ɡ/ occurs only in loanwords from Portuguese (e.g. the names Graciliano, Gabriel).
A tendency to insert a glottal stop /ʔ/ after word-final /a/ has been noted among younger speakers. This phenomenon has been ascribed to the influence of Tucano
.
Phonotactic Restrictions on the Occurrence of Consonants
(+) indicates phoneme appears in a limited set of items.
es, and enclitics.) Vowels may be elided or reduced in rapid speech, rendering some syllables VC or CVC. For example, the word di-dusitá 'he goes back' becomes [didusta] in rapid speech, with the elision of the pre-tonic
i. Similarly, the word di-pitá=kà=sità 'he bathes' becomes [dipitakaəsta], with the pre-tonic i being elided and a [ə] inserted at the clitic boundary before the s. (Note that hyphens mark affixes; equals signs mark clitics.)
. Tariana is a pitch-accent language, with stressed syllables indicated by a higher pitch and greater intensity in pronunciation. Unstressed syllables are only differentiated from non-stressed syllables in their intensity. Long vowels are always stressed. Nasal vowels are also normally stressed. Otherwise, primary stress may fall on either the antepenultimate, the penultimate, or the final syllable. Penultimate stress in most common in monomorphemic
words (e.g. dúpu "a lizard"), though antepenultimate (e.g. képira "bird") and final stress (e.g. yapuratú "long flute used at ritual offering") also exist. All roots have underlying stress. Prefixes are unstressed, while suffixes may be stressed or unstressed. Suffixes with underlying stress generally cause penultimate stress when attached to a root (e.g. máwi "hook"→mawípi "blowgun").
In rapid speech, e, i, and a are reduced
to ə in pre- and post-tonic syllables. Pre-tonic reduction occurs in the third syllable counting left from the primary stress (e.g. yarumakási→yərumamkási "clothing") as well as in word-initial syllables (e.g. yakóreka→yəkóreka "door"). Vowels are also reduced in syllables preceding a secondary stress (e.g. makhà→məkhà "recent past non-visual"). Post-tonic reduction affects word-final syllables (e.g. yásene→yásenə "the Tucano").
H-Metathesis
H-metathesis
occurs if an h-initial root or suffix follows a prefix or a root, respectively. The process follows one of three patterns:
If there are multiple CV syllables preceding the h-initial root or suffix—where the C is a stop, nasal, or bilabial glide—the h metathesizes to the leftmost of these.
(Note: Vowel coalescence occurs here, with the a+i resulting in an e, but this occurs only in the case of h-metathesis and not elsewhere)
, with both head-marking
and dependent-marking
elements.
The following noun phrase includes thirteen of the sixteen possible structural positions. Brackets indicate syntactic structure.
Suffixes may be followed by a number of enclitics, as follows (note that ! marks a floating clitic):
The following verb construction includes eleven of the twenty possible structural positions:
-evidentiality
markers, which take the form of clitic
s on verbs. There are four tenses: present, recent past, remote past, and future. In affirmative clauses, the non-future tenses fuse with evidentials designating visual, non-visual, inferred generic, inferred specific, and reported information. The inferred specific evidential is a recent innovation and has been ascribed to the influence of Tucano. It is a combination of the anterior aspect marker -nhi and non-present visual evidentials -ka and -na producing -nhika for recent past inferred specific and -nhina for remote past inferred specific.
Tense-Evidentiality in Affirmative Clauses
In interrogative clauses, the same three non-future tenses fuse with evidentials designating visual, non-visual, and inferred information. Evidentiality in interrogative clauses indicates the speaker's assumptions about the addressee's sources of information. Use of an inferred evidential, for example, implies the speaker assumes the addressee does not have direct access to evidence on the subject at hand. Note the remote past non-visual is rarely used, except as a "conventionalized conversation sustainer," an interrogative repetition of a story-teller's predicates to indicate the listeners' attention.
Tense-Evidentiality in Interrogative Clauses
There are two future tense markers in Tariana, neither of which indicates evidentiality. The definite future marker -de may only be used in the first person, while the indefinite future marker -mahde may be used for any person.
in Tariana is "pragmatically based" and is generally free except for a handful of specific contexts.
In this example, even though the noun 'tapir' has just been introduced, the fact that the adjective 'bad' precedes it indicates that it is well-known or topical.
. Its core cases are broadly analyzed as falling into the categories of A/S 'subject' and non-A/S 'non-subject'. (Note: A stands for a transitive subject, S for a subject of an intransitive verb, Sₐ for a subject of an active intransitive verb, Sₒ for a subject of a stative intransitive verb, and Sᵢₒ for a subject of an intransitive verb with a non-canonically marked argument.) Case
marking is determined by the discourse status of the noun (i.e. topical, non-topical, focussed).
A noun in the A, Sₐ, Sₒ category is considered focussed if it meets one of the following conditions:
A noun in the non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ is considered topical if it meets one of the following conditions:
Tariana has two oblique
cases, the locational
and the instrumental
/comitative
, although only nouns may be marked for both whereas pronouns are only marked for the instrumental/comitative.
Because oblique cases are inherently non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ, they may be double-marked if they serve as the topic of the sentence as well. The following example is from a hunter's narrative about improving his house, with 'house' being the topic of the narrative. Note that in this sentence, 'house' is marked both as a topical non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ and locational.
Tariana switch reference
enclitics indicate whether the action of a dependent clause is simultaneous with or prior to the action of the main clause and whether the subject of the dependent clause is the same or different from the subject of the main clause. In rapid speech, the enclitic -hyume often becomes -yuhme or even -yume. -Kayami is occasionally pronounced -kañami or -kayãmi. Note that there are several different enclitics for the simultaneous action categories. Each enclitic has various restrictions as to which other clitics and affixes it may combine with and where it may fall within a clause or sentence.
Note: brackets indicate syntactic structure.
Endangered language
An endangered language is a language that is at risk of falling out of use. If it loses all its native speakers, it becomes a dead language. If eventually no one speaks the language at all it becomes an "extinct language"....
Maipurean
Maipurean
Arawakan , also known as Maipurean , is a language family that spans from the Caribbean and Central America to every country in South America except Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile...
language spoken along the Vaupés River in Amazonas, 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...
by approximately 100 people. Another approximately 1500 people in the upper and middle Vaupés River
Vaupés River
Vaupés River is a tributary of the Rio Negro in South America. It arises in the Guaviare Department of Colombia, flowing east through Guaviare and Vaupés Departments. It forms part of the international border between Colombia and the Amazonas state of Brazil. On the border it merges with the...
area identify themselves as ethnic Tariana but no longer speak the language.
The Tariana and East Tucano peoples are linguistically exogamous
Exogamy
Exogamy is a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside of a social group. The social groups define the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. In social studies, exogamy is viewed as a combination of two related aspects:...
and consider fellow speakers of their languages blood relatives. Languages, like tribal identity, are acquired through patrilineal
Patrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
descent and as such are kept strictly separate from one another, with minimal lexical borrowing occurring among them. Traditionally, Indians in the Vaupés region spoke between three and ten other languages, including their mother's tongue and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and/or Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
.
Speakers of Tariana have been switching to the unrelated Tucano language
Tucano language
Tucano is a Tucanoan language spoken in Amazonas, Brazil and Colombia.Many speakers of the endangered Tariana language are switching to Tucano.-Bibliography:* Campbell,...
(of the Tucanoan family), which became a lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
in the Vaupés region in the late nineteenth century. Arriving in the region in the 1920s, Salesian missionaries promoted the exclusive use of Tucano among Indians in an effort to "civilize" them. Economic concerns have also led fathers to increasingly leave their families to work for non-Amerindian Brazilians, which has undermined the patrilineal father-child interaction through which Tariana was traditionally acquired. In 1999, efforts were made to teach Tariana as a second language in the secondary school in Iauaretê. Regular classes in Tariana have been offered at the school since 2003.
Research on Tariana, including a grammar book and a Tariana-Portuguese dictionary have been written by Alexandra Aikhenvald
Alexandra Aikhenvald
Alexandra Yurievna Aikhenvald is a linguist specialising in Linguistic typology and the Arawak language family of the Brazilian Amazonia.-Biography:...
from the La Trobe University
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...
, who is a specialist on the Arawak language family.
Phonology
Tariana has a relatively large phoneme inventory compared to other Vaupés languages such as BaniwaBaniwa language
Baniwa , or Baniwa of Içana , is an Arawakan language spoken in Amazonas, Brazil, and in Venezuela.Aikhenvald considers Curripaco and Kadaupuritana to be dialects; Kaufman considers them to be distinct languages. Ethnologue distinguishes only the first...
and Tucano. It has a rare set of phonotactic restrictions that determine whether phonemes can occur initially or medially and in which types of morphemes (roots, affixes, and enclitics.) The phoneme [tʃ], for example, can occur initially in roots but not in affixes or enclitics.
Bolded letters indicate the orthography
Orthography
The orthography of a language specifies a standardized way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example Kurdish, Uyghur, Serbian or Inuktitut, there can be more than one orthography...
used by Alexandra Aikhenvald in her Grammar of Tariana. IPA transcription is indicated where it differs from the standard orthography.
Vowels
Tariana has 6 vowels, all of which may occur nasalized, except for [ɨ], or long, except for [ɨ] and [ɵ].| Short Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in... |
Nasalized Nasal vowel A nasal vowel is a vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through nose as well as the mouth. By contrast, oral vowels are ordinary vowels without this nasalisation... |
Long Vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one, such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in... |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
Front Front vowel A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also... |
Central Central vowel A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel... |
Back Back vowel A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark... |
|
| Close Close vowel A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.This term is prescribed by the... |
i | ɨ | u | ĩ | ũ | i: | u: | ||
| Close-mid Close-mid vowel A close-mid vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned two-thirds of the way from a close vowel to a mid vowel... |
e | o [ɵ] | ẽ | õ [ɵ̃] | e: | ||||
| Open Open vowel An open vowel is defined as a vowel sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue... |
a | ã | a: | ||||||
Phonotactic Restrictions on the Occurrence of Vowels
| Phoneme | Root-Initial | Affix-Initial | Enclitic-Initial | Root-Medial | Affix-Medial | Enclitic-Medial | Root-Final | Affix- or Enclitic-Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| i: | + | - | - | + | - | - | - | - |
| ĩ | - | - | - | + | - | - | + | - |
| e | + | - | - | + | + | + | + | + |
| e: | + | - | - | + | - | - | - | - |
| ẽ | - | - | - | + | - | - | + | - |
| ɨ1 | + | - | - | - | - | - | - | + |
| o | - | - | - | + | - | + | + | + one enclitic |
| õ2 | - | - | - | + | - | - | + | - |
| u | + | - | - | + | + | + | + | + |
| u: | + | - | - | + | - | - | + | - |
| ũ | + | - | - | + | - | - | - | - |
| a | + | + | + | + | + | + | + | + |
| a: | + | - | - | + | - | - | + | - |
| ã | + | - | - | + | - | - | + | - |
1ɨ occurs only in the augmentative
Augmentative
An augmentative is a morphological form of a word which expresses greater intensity, often in size, but also in other attributes...
enclitic =pɨ and in the onomatopoeic ɨhmeni "moan". It also occasionally appears as an allophone of i in the following words: marawati→marawatɨ "a type of snuff", hitísi→hitɨsi "tear", and -pití→pitɨ "chase away, kick". Its occurrence in Tariana has been ascribed to the influence of Tucano
Tucano language
Tucano is a Tucanoan language spoken in Amazonas, Brazil and Colombia.Many speakers of the endangered Tariana language are switching to Tucano.-Bibliography:* Campbell,...
.
2õ occurs only in the following words: tõkẽ "firefly", siwirikõrena "tapiriri, Tapirira guianensis", nuitõ "daughter! (vocative)", and -tõreta "roll into a thin roll, like a cigarette". It also occurs word-initially in place names of Tucano origin (e.g. Õrõreana).
Consonants
Tariana has 24 consonants and makes a somewhat unusual distinction between dental and palato-alveolar articulation.| Bilabial Bilabial consonant In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:... |
Dental | Alveo-palatal Alveolo-palatal consonant In phonetics, alveolo-palatal consonants are palatalized postalveolar sounds, usually fricatives and affricates, articulated with the blade of the tongue behind the alveolar ridge, and the body of the tongue raised toward the palate... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stops Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
Voiceless | p | t [t̺] | k | |||
| Voiceless Aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
ph [pʰ] | th [t̺ʰ] | kh [kʰ] | ||||
| Voiced | b | d [d̺] | (g) | ||||
| Voiced Aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
dh [d̺ʰ] | ||||||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
s [s̺] | h | |||||
| Affricate Affricate consonant Affricates are consonants that begin as stops but release as a fricative rather than directly into the following vowel.- Samples :... |
tʃ [t͡ɕ] | ||||||
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
Plain | m | n [n̺] | ñ [ɲ] | |||
| Aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
mh [mʰ] | nh [n̺ʰ] | ñh [ɲʰ] | ||||
| Flap Flap consonant In phonetics, a flap or tap is a type of consonantal sound, which is produced with a single contraction of the muscles so that one articulator is thrown against another.-Contrast with stops and trills:... |
r [ɾ̺] | ||||||
| Lateral Lateral consonant A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth.... |
l [l̺] | ||||||
| Semi-vowel | Plain | w | y [j] | ||||
| Aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
wh [wʰ] | ||||||
The phoneme /ɡ/ occurs only in loanwords from Portuguese (e.g. the names Graciliano, Gabriel).
A tendency to insert a glottal stop /ʔ/ after word-final /a/ has been noted among younger speakers. This phenomenon has been ascribed to the influence of Tucano
Tucano language
Tucano is a Tucanoan language spoken in Amazonas, Brazil and Colombia.Many speakers of the endangered Tariana language are switching to Tucano.-Bibliography:* Campbell,...
.
Phonotactic Restrictions on the Occurrence of Consonants
| Phoneme | Root-Initial | Affix-Initial | Enclitic-Initial | Root-Medial | Affix-Medial | Enclitic-Medial | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| p | + | + | + | + | - | - | |
| ph | + | + | - | + | + | + | |
| b | + | - | + | (+) only noun roots | - | - | mostly in loans |
| t | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| th | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| d | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| dh | (+) one root | - | (+) two enclitics | - | - | - | occurs word-initially as a result of h-metathesis Metathesis (linguistics) Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:... |
| k | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| kh | + | + | + | + | - | - | |
| s | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| tʃ | + | - | - | + | - | - | |
| h | + | + | + | restricted | - | - | |
| m | + | + | + | + | + | - | |
| mh | + | (+) | (+) two enclitics | + | - | - | often as a result of h-metathesis Metathesis (linguistics) Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:... |
| n | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| nh | + | - | + | + | - | - | often as a result of h-metathesis Metathesis (linguistics) Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:... |
| ñ | + | - | (+) enclitic | + | - | + one enclitic | |
| ñh | + (two roots) | - | - | + one root | - | - | only in three roots |
| r | + | + | + | + | + | + | does not occur in word-initial position |
| l | + | - | - | + | - | - | |
| w | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
| wh | + | + | - | + | - | (+) one enclitic | result of h-metathesis Metathesis (linguistics) Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:... word-initially and word-medially |
| y | + | + | + | + | + | + | |
(+) indicates phoneme appears in a limited set of items.
Syllable Structure
Syllables in Tariana follow the pattern (C₁)V(C₂), where C₂ can only be h, y, and n. Phoneme occurrence is also restricted by morphological context, with certain phonemes only occurring in certain positions (initially and medially) within certain types of morphemes (roots, affixAffix
An affix is a morpheme that is attached to a word stem to form a new word. Affixes may be derivational, like English -ness and pre-, or inflectional, like English plural -s and past tense -ed. They are bound morphemes by definition; prefixes and suffixes may be separable affixes...
es, and enclitics.) Vowels may be elided or reduced in rapid speech, rendering some syllables VC or CVC. For example, the word di-dusitá 'he goes back' becomes [didusta] in rapid speech, with the elision of the pre-tonic
Tone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
i. Similarly, the word di-pitá=kà=sità 'he bathes' becomes [dipitakaəsta], with the pre-tonic i being elided and a [ə] inserted at the clitic boundary before the s. (Note that hyphens mark affixes; equals signs mark clitics.)
Stress
Tariana has both primary and secondary stressStress (linguistics)
In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word, or to certain words in a phrase or sentence. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense.The stress placed...
. Tariana is a pitch-accent language, with stressed syllables indicated by a higher pitch and greater intensity in pronunciation. Unstressed syllables are only differentiated from non-stressed syllables in their intensity. Long vowels are always stressed. Nasal vowels are also normally stressed. Otherwise, primary stress may fall on either the antepenultimate, the penultimate, or the final syllable. Penultimate stress in most common in monomorphemic
Morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest semantically meaningful unit in a language. The field of study dedicated to morphemes is called morphology. A morpheme is not identical to a word, and the principal difference between the two is that a morpheme may or may not stand alone, whereas a word,...
words (e.g. dúpu "a lizard"), though antepenultimate (e.g. képira "bird") and final stress (e.g. yapuratú "long flute used at ritual offering") also exist. All roots have underlying stress. Prefixes are unstressed, while suffixes may be stressed or unstressed. Suffixes with underlying stress generally cause penultimate stress when attached to a root (e.g. máwi "hook"→mawípi "blowgun").
Phonological Processes
Vowel ReductionIn rapid speech, e, i, and a are reduced
Vowel reduction
In phonetics, vowel reduction is any of various changes in the acoustic quality of vowels, which are related to changes in stress, sonority, duration, loudness, articulation, or position in the word , and which are perceived as "weakening"...
to ə in pre- and post-tonic syllables. Pre-tonic reduction occurs in the third syllable counting left from the primary stress (e.g. yarumakási→yərumamkási "clothing") as well as in word-initial syllables (e.g. yakóreka→yəkóreka "door"). Vowels are also reduced in syllables preceding a secondary stress (e.g. makhà→məkhà "recent past non-visual"). Post-tonic reduction affects word-final syllables (e.g. yásene→yásenə "the Tucano").
H-Metathesis
H-metathesis
Metathesis (linguistics)
Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:...
occurs if an h-initial root or suffix follows a prefix or a root, respectively. The process follows one of three patterns:
- CV- + hVX → ChVX → CʰVX, if C is a stop, nasal, or bilabial glide.
- di- '3sngnf' + -híma 'hear' → dhi-ima 'he hears'
If there are multiple CV syllables preceding the h-initial root or suffix—where the C is a stop, nasal, or bilabial glide—the h metathesizes to the leftmost of these.
- ñamá 'two' + -hípa 'numeral classifier: human' → ñhamá-ipa 'two humans'
- V₁- + hV₂X → hV₁V₂X (→hV₂X if V₁=V₂)
- i- '2pl' + -hípa 'grab' → hi-ipa → hípa 'you pl. grab'
- CV + VwhV → ChVwV → CʰVw, when C is a stop, nasal, or bilabial glide.
- pá: 'one' + -iwhi 'classifier: thin particle-like things' → phéwi 'one thin particle-like thing'.
(Note: Vowel coalescence occurs here, with the a+i resulting in an e, but this occurs only in the case of h-metathesis and not elsewhere)
Morphology
Tariana is a polysynthetic languagePolysynthetic language
In linguistic typology, polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i.e., languages in which words are composed of many morphemes. Whereas isolating languages have a low morpheme-to-word ratio, polysynthetic languages have extremely high morpheme-to-word ratios.Not all languages can be...
, with both head-marking
Head-marking language
A head-marking language is one where the grammatical marks showing relations between different constituents of a phrase tend to be placed on the heads of the phrase in question, rather than the modifiers or dependents. In a noun phrase, the head is the main noun and the dependents are the...
and dependent-marking
Dependent-marking language
A dependent-marking language is one where the grammatical marks showing relations between different constituents of a phrase tend to be placed on the dependents or modifiers, rather than the heads of the phrase in question. In a noun phrase, the head is the main noun and the dependents are the...
elements.
Nouns
Nominal words may include up to sixteen structural positions, which are defined as follows (note that hyphens mark affixes while equals signs marks clitics):- PossessivePossessive caseThe possessive case of a language is a grammatical case used to indicate a relationship of possession. It is not the same as the genitive case, which can express a wider range of relationships, though the two have similar meanings in many languages.See Possession for a survey of the different...
, negative ma-, or relativeRelative clauseA relative clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun phrase, most commonly a noun. For example, the phrase "the man who wasn't there" contains the noun man, which is modified by the relative clause who wasn't there...
ka- prefix - RootRoot (linguistics)The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
- Gender-sensitive derivationalDerivation (linguistics)In linguistics, derivation is the process of forming a new word on the basis of an existing word, e.g. happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from determine...
suffix - Derivational classifierClassifier (linguistics)A classifier, in linguistics, sometimes called a measure word, is a word or morpheme used in some languages to classify the referent of a countable noun according to its meaning. In languages that have classifiers, they are often used when the noun is being counted or specified...
suffix - PluralPluralIn linguistics, plurality or [a] plural is a concept of quantity representing a value of more-than-one. Typically applied to nouns, a plural word or marker is used to distinguish a value other than the default quantity of a noun, which is typically one...
marker - PejorativePejorativePejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
=yana (plural -pe) - Approximative =iha 'more or less'
- DiminutiveDiminutiveIn language structure, a diminutive, or diminutive form , is a formation of a word used to convey a slight degree of the root meaning, smallness of the object or quality named, encapsulation, intimacy, or endearment...
=tuki (plural =tupe) or augmentativeAugmentativeAn augmentative is a morphological form of a word which expresses greater intensity, often in size, but also in other attributes...
=pasi (plural =pe) - TenseGrammatical tenseA tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
(past or future) - ExtralocalityLocality (linguistics)In linguistics, locality refers to the proximity of elements of a linguistic structure. Theories of transformational grammar attempt to explain restrictions on syntactic movement using syntactic locality constraints....
=wya and restrictivity =mia 'just, only' - Oblique caseOblique caseAn oblique case in linguistics is a noun case of synthetic languages that is used generally when a noun is the object of a verb or a preposition...
=ne 'comitative-instrumentalInstrumental caseThe instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
' - Oblique case -se 'locativeLocative caseLocative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
' - Contrastive =se
- Coordinative =misini, =sini 'also'
- Focussed A/S =ne/=nhe
- Topical non-subject =nuku
The following noun phrase includes thirteen of the sixteen possible structural positions. Brackets indicate syntactic structure.
- nu-phe-ru-ma-pe=yana-pe=tupe=miki]-ite]=ne=se=misini=nuku]
- 1sg-older.sibling-FEM-CL:FEM-PL=PEJ-PL=DIM:PL=PAST:PL=CL:PERSON=COMIT=CONTR=TOO:PART.CONTR=TOP.NON.A/S
- "with this very person belonging to my bad little older sisters, too"
Verbs
Predicates in Tariana may include up to nine affixes, which are defined as follows:- Cross-referencing prefixes or negative ma- or relative ka-
- RootRoot (linguistics)The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
- Thematic syllable
- CausativeCausativeIn linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
-i - Negative -(ka)de
- ReciprocalReciprocal (grammar)A reciprocal is a linguistic structure that marks a particular kind of relationship between two noun phrases. In a reciprocal construction, each of the participants occupies both the role of agent and patient with respect to each other...
-kaka - -ina 'almost, a little bit'
- Topic-advancing -ni, or passivePassive voicePassive voice is a grammatical voice common in many of the world's languages. Passive is used in a clause whose subject expresses the theme or patient of the main verb. That is, the subject undergoes an action or has its state changed. A sentence whose theme is marked as grammatical subject is...
-kana, or purposive non-visual -hyu or purposive visual -karu - Verbal classifiers
- Benefactive -pena
Suffixes may be followed by a number of enclitics, as follows (note that ! marks a floating clitic):
- Intentional, 'be about to' =kasu
- Mood (imperativeImperative moodThe imperative mood expresses commands or requests as a grammatical mood. These commands or requests urge the audience to act a certain way. It also may signal a prohibition, permission, or any other kind of exhortation.- Morphology :...
, declarative, frustrative, conditionalConditional moodIn linguistics, the conditional mood is the inflectional form of the verb used in the independent clause of a conditional sentence to refer to a hypothetical state of affairs, or an uncertain event, that is contingent on another set of circumstances...
, apprehensive, interrogative fused with evidentialityEvidentialityIn linguistics, evidentiality is, broadly, the indication of the nature of evidence for a given statement; that is, whether evidence exists for the statement and/or what kind of evidence exists. An evidential is the particular grammatical element that indicates evidentiality...
and tense) - Aspect 'zone' I, includes habitual prescribed =hyuna 'what you do and what you ought to do, customary =kape, habitual repetitive -nipe, anterior =nhi
- a/b ! Evidentiality and tense (e.g. =mha=na 'non-visual-remote.past')
- Epistemic =da 'doubt', =pada 'isn't it true that'
- Aktionsart (manner or extent of associated action, e.g. 'split open', 'step on and feel pain', 'away')
- ! Degree: augmentative 'indeed', diminutive, approximative, excessive
- Aspect 'zone' II, includes prolonged/ongoing =daka 'yet, still', perfective =sita 'already accomplished', ! repetitive =pita, =ta 'once again', ! completive =niki 'totally, completely'
- Switch referenceSwitch referenceIn linguistics, switch-reference describes any clause-level morpheme that signals whether certain prominent arguments in 'adjacent' clauses co-refer...
and clause-chaining - ! Emphatic enclitics a/ya, wani; evidence sõ
The following verb construction includes eleven of the twenty possible structural positions:
- ma-thuka-i-ta-kade-kaka=tha=pidana=bosa=niki=ka
- NEG-break-CAUS1-CAUS2-NEG-REC=FRUST=REMP.P.INFR=SPLIT.OPEN=COML=SUB
- "While (they) apparently did not break each other by splitting open totally in vain..."
Tense-Evidentiality
Tariana has a system of obligatory tenseGrammatical tense
A tense is a grammatical category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.Bernard Comrie, Aspect, 1976:6:...
-evidentiality
Evidentiality
In linguistics, evidentiality is, broadly, the indication of the nature of evidence for a given statement; that is, whether evidence exists for the statement and/or what kind of evidence exists. An evidential is the particular grammatical element that indicates evidentiality...
markers, which take the form of clitic
Clitic
In morphology and syntax, a clitic is a morpheme that is grammatically independent, but phonologically dependent on another word or phrase. It is pronounced like an affix, but works at the phrase level...
s on verbs. There are four tenses: present, recent past, remote past, and future. In affirmative clauses, the non-future tenses fuse with evidentials designating visual, non-visual, inferred generic, inferred specific, and reported information. The inferred specific evidential is a recent innovation and has been ascribed to the influence of Tucano. It is a combination of the anterior aspect marker -nhi and non-present visual evidentials -ka and -na producing -nhika for recent past inferred specific and -nhina for remote past inferred specific.
Tense-Evidentiality in Affirmative Clauses
| Present | Recent Past | Remote Past | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual | -naka | -ka | -na |
| Non-Visual | -mha | -mahka | -mhana |
| Inferred Generic | - | -sika | -sina |
| Inferred Specific | - | -nihka | -nhina |
| Reported | -pida | -pidaka | -pidana |
In interrogative clauses, the same three non-future tenses fuse with evidentials designating visual, non-visual, and inferred information. Evidentiality in interrogative clauses indicates the speaker's assumptions about the addressee's sources of information. Use of an inferred evidential, for example, implies the speaker assumes the addressee does not have direct access to evidence on the subject at hand. Note the remote past non-visual is rarely used, except as a "conventionalized conversation sustainer," an interrogative repetition of a story-teller's predicates to indicate the listeners' attention.
Tense-Evidentiality in Interrogative Clauses
| Present | Recent Past | Remote Past | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visual | -nha | -nihka | -nhina |
| Non-Visual | -tha,-mha | -mha | (-mhana) |
| Inferred | - | -sika | -sina |
There are two future tense markers in Tariana, neither of which indicates evidentiality. The definite future marker -de may only be used in the first person, while the indefinite future marker -mahde may be used for any person.
Word Order
Word orderWord order
In linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the order of the syntactic constituents of a language, and how different languages can employ different orders. Correlations between orders found in different syntactic subdomains are also of interest...
in Tariana is "pragmatically based" and is generally free except for a handful of specific contexts.
- ComplementsComplement (linguistics)In grammar the term complement is used with different meanings. The primary meaning is a word, phrase or clause that is necessary in a sentence to complete its meaning. We find complements that function as an argument and complements that exist within arguments.Both complements and modifiers add...
of the positive copulaCopulaIn linguistics, a copula is a word used to link the subject of a sentence with a predicate . The word copula derives from the Latin noun for a link or tie that connects two different things.A copula is often a verb or a verb-like word, though this is not universally the case...
alia must precede the copula. - Interrogative words typically occur clause-initially.
- Clause and sentence connectors occur sentence-initially.
- Predicates occur clause-finally in dependent clauses.
- Subjects of imperative and apprehensive constructions follow the verb.
- In "double S-clauses"--idiomatic clauses that "refer to emotional states and contain an inalienably possessed body part"--the body part must precede the predicate.
- du-kare du-wara-ka
- 3sgf-heart 3sgnf-diminish-REC.P.VIS
- "She is worried (lit. she diminished with respect to her heart)."
Noun Phrases
Noun phrases comprise a head, which may be a noun, adjective, demonstrative, specifier article, quantifier, or deictic, as well as one or more modifiers. Modifiers must agree with the head in animacy and in number if the head is animate. Specifier articles, demonstratives, and the quantifier kanapada 'how many, how much; this many, this much' always precede the head. All other modifiers may either precede or follow the head. In general, modifiers precede a definite or topical noun and follow an "indefinite, non-specific, or otherwise inconsequential nominal referent."- ne ma:tʃite hema-yana di-swa-nhi-na
- then bad+NCL:ANIM tapir-PEJ 3sgnf-lie-ANT-REM.P.VIS
- "Then a naughty (well-known) bad tapir was lying (there)."
In this example, even though the noun 'tapir' has just been introduced, the fact that the adjective 'bad' precedes it indicates that it is well-known or topical.
Case Marking
Tariana exhibits an essentially nominative–accusative morphosyntactic alignmentMorphosyntactic alignment
In linguistics, morphosyntactic alignment is the system used to distinguish between the arguments of transitive verbs and those of intransitive verbs...
. Its core cases are broadly analyzed as falling into the categories of A/S 'subject' and non-A/S 'non-subject'. (Note: A stands for a transitive subject, S for a subject of an intransitive verb, Sₐ for a subject of an active intransitive verb, Sₒ for a subject of a stative intransitive verb, and Sᵢₒ for a subject of an intransitive verb with a non-canonically marked argument.) Case
Grammatical case
In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor...
marking is determined by the discourse status of the noun (i.e. topical, non-topical, focussed).
| Grammatical Function | Discourse Status | Nouns | Pronouns |
|---|---|---|---|
| A, Sₐ, Sₒ | non-topical/topical | -Ø | -Ø |
| A, Sₐ, Sₒ | focussed | -nhe/-ne | |
| Non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ and also Sᵢₒ | non-topical | -Ø | -na |
| topical | -nuku/-naku | ||
A noun in the A, Sₐ, Sₒ category is considered focussed if it meets one of the following conditions:
- A/Sₐ/Sₒ us a key participant in contrastive focus to another argument.
- A/Sₐ/Sₒ is presented as a main participant in the discourse; or is a newly introduced but already know participant important for the future discourse.
- A/Sₐ/Sₒ have to be disambiguated.
A noun in the non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ is considered topical if it meets one of the following conditions:
- The noun is (or is going to be) the topic of the narrative.
- The noun is referential, specific, and/or definite.
- The noun is important (but is not necessarily contrastive).
Tariana has two oblique
Oblique case
An oblique case in linguistics is a noun case of synthetic languages that is used generally when a noun is the object of a verb or a preposition...
cases, the locational
Locative case
Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"...
and the instrumental
Instrumental case
The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action...
/comitative
Comitative case
The comitative case , also known as the associative case , is a grammatical case that denotes companionship, and is used where English would use "in company with" or "together with"...
, although only nouns may be marked for both whereas pronouns are only marked for the instrumental/comitative.
| Case Grammatical case In grammar, the case of a noun or pronoun is an inflectional form that indicates its grammatical function in a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, a pronoun may play the role of subject , of direct object , or of possessor... |
Nouns | Pronouns |
|---|---|---|
| Locational Locative case Locative is a grammatical case which indicates a location. It corresponds vaguely to the English prepositions "in", "on", "at", and "by"... |
-se | (none) |
| Instrumental Instrumental case The instrumental case is a grammatical case used to indicate that a noun is the instrument or means by or with which the subject achieves or accomplishes an action... /Comitative Comitative case The comitative case , also known as the associative case , is a grammatical case that denotes companionship, and is used where English would use "in company with" or "together with"... |
-ne | -ine |
Because oblique cases are inherently non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ, they may be double-marked if they serve as the topic of the sentence as well. The following example is from a hunter's narrative about improving his house, with 'house' being the topic of the narrative. Note that in this sentence, 'house' is marked both as a topical non-A/Sₐ/Sₒ and locational.
- nu-ñha nu-dia nhua nu-ya-dapana-se-nuku
- 1sg-eat 1sg-return I 1sg-POSS-CL:HAB-LOC-TOP.NON.A/S
- "I'll go back to eat (my catch) in my very house.'
Switch Reference
| Same Subject | Different Subject | |
|---|---|---|
| Prior | -hyume/-yuhme 'after; because' | -kayami 'after' |
| Simultaneous | -nikhe, -kakari 'during, while' | -nisawa, -kanada, -nipua, -piyana, -kariku, -kapua 'while, during' |
Tariana switch reference
Switch reference
In linguistics, switch-reference describes any clause-level morpheme that signals whether certain prominent arguments in 'adjacent' clauses co-refer...
enclitics indicate whether the action of a dependent clause is simultaneous with or prior to the action of the main clause and whether the subject of the dependent clause is the same or different from the subject of the main clause. In rapid speech, the enclitic -hyume often becomes -yuhme or even -yume. -Kayami is occasionally pronounced -kañami or -kayãmi. Note that there are several different enclitics for the simultaneous action categories. Each enclitic has various restrictions as to which other clitics and affixes it may combine with and where it may fall within a clause or sentence.
- [inari na-matʃika-hyume] nhemathani-pidana
- mucura.rat 3pl-be bad+TH-AFTER:SS 3pl+shout-REM.P.REP
- "After they transformed into mucura rats, they shouted."
Note: brackets indicate syntactic structure.
External links
- Telling the Truth in Tariana - ABC radio documentary transcript
- The Tariana Language of Northwestern Brazil (at Dr. Aikhenvald's site) - dictionary and other documents are available for download