// Workers AI · dad joke modeDoes Hixkaryana grammar have a tense relationship?
| Hixkaryána | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Upper Nhamundá River, Amazonas |
| Ethnicity | 1,242 Hixkaryana (2012)[1] |
Native speakers | 600 (2012)[2] |
Carib
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | hix |
| Glottolog | hixk1239 |
| ELP | Hixkaryana |
Hixkaryana (/ˌhɪʃkæriˈɑːnə/ HISH-karr-ee-AH-nə)[3] is a Cariban language spoken by 600 people on the Nhamundá River, a tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil. It is one of 17 languages that have object–verb–subject word order, initially described by linguist Desmond C. Derbyshire.[4]
History
[edit]The Hixkaryana are first recorded under the name "Babui" or "Wabuí" in 1725. A wordlist appearing under this name published in 1947 is essentially identical with modern Hixkaryana. The name "Hixkaryana" was originally the name of one of their clans.[5] Čestmír Loukotka (1968) lists both "Hishcariana" and "Uaiboí" in his "Waiwai group" in the Cariban languages.[6]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar/ palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ ⟨ny⟩ | |||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | tʃ ⟨tx⟩ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ ⟨dy⟩ | |||
| Fricative | ɸ ⟨f⟩ | s | ʃ ⟨x⟩ | h | ||
| Tap | ɾ | 𝼈 ⟨ry⟩ | ||||
| Approximant | j ⟨y⟩ | w | ||||
/𝼈/ is a retroflex tap with a lateral release. Before the close vowel /e/, only /𝼈/ may occur, but in other environments it is contrastive with /ɾ/.[5]
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | ɯ ⟨ɨ⟩, u ⟨u⟩ | |
| Close-mid | e ⟨e⟩ | |
| Open-mid | ɔ ⟨o⟩ | |
| Open | æ ⟨a⟩ |
/e/ has a number of allophones in certain environments; it is realized as closer [i] after a postalveolar consonant, a long [i] with a central glide [iːᵊ] preceding a syllable with a back vowel, as close, less tense [ɪ] in unstressed syllables followed by a syllable which does not have stressed /e/, and as [e] elsewhere.[5]
Grammar
[edit]In Hixkaryana, arguments are indexed on the verb by personal prefixes, which form an inverse-like pattern in which the argument highest in the hierarchy 2nd > 1st > 3rd is indexed on the verb. If the object of a transitive verb outranks the subject, the appropriate O-prefix is used; otherwise, an A-prefix is used.
| A-prefixes | O-prefixes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1A | 0-/ɨ- | 1O | r(o) |
| 2A | m(ɨ)- | 2O | o(j)-/a(j)- |
| 1+2A | t(ɨ)- | 1+2O | k(ɨ)- |
| 3A | n(ɨ)-/j- | ||
Intransitive verbs take prefixes mostly similar to the transitive prefixes, with an active–stative. The arguments' grammatical number is indexed on the verb by portmanteau suffixes that combine tense, aspect, mood, and number.
Hixkaryana has an object–verb–subject word order. In most cases, the person prefixes clearly indicate which arguments are the subject and object. When both the subject and the object are third person, however, the person prefix is inadequate to fully determine the identity of the arguments, requiring word order. The example below, toto yonoye kamara, cannot be given the AVO reading 'the man ate the jaguar'; the OVA reading – 'the jaguar ate the man' – is the only possible one.[4]
toto
person
y-
3SG-
ono
eat
-ye
-DIST.PAST.COMPL
kamara
jaguar
'The jaguar ate the man.'
Indirect objects, however, follow the subject:
bɨryekomo
boy
y-
3SG-
otaha
hit
-ho
-CAUS
-no
-IMM.PAST
wosɨ
woman
tɨnyo
her-husband
wya
by
'The woman caused her husband to hit the boy.'
Moreover, the word order in non-finite embedded clauses is SOV.[7] Like most other languages with objects preceding the verb, it is postpositional.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Hixkaryana - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2025-09-28.
- ↑ Crevels, Mily (2012-01-13), "Language endangerment in South America: The clock is ticking", in Campbell, Lyle; Grondona, Verónica (eds.), The Indigenous Languages of South America, DE GRUYTER, pp. 167–234, doi:10.1515/9783110258035.167, ISBN 978-3-11-025513-3, retrieved 2025-09-28
- ↑ Bauer, Laurie (2010). The linguistics student's handbook (PDF) (Repr ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2758-5.
- 1 2 Kalin, Laura (November 2014). "The syntax of OVS word order in Hixkaryana". Natural Language & Linguistic Theory. 32 (4): 1089–1104. doi:10.1007/s11049-014-9244-x. ISSN 0167-806X.
- 1 2 3 4 Derbyshire, D. (1985). Hixkaryana and Linguistic Typology. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 0-88312-082-8.
- ↑ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Wilbert, Johannes (ed.). Classification of South American Indian Languages (PDF) (4th ed.). Latin American Center, UCLA: Latin American Center, University of California Los Angeles. p. 239. ISBN 9780879031077.
- ↑ "Word Order Variation: The head parameter" (PDF). ling.umd.edu. 2006-07-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-02-21. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
Bibliography
[edit]- Aikhenvald, A. & Dixon, R. (Eds.) (1999). The Amazonian Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-521-57021-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Derbyshire, D. (1979). Hixkaryana. Lingua Descriptive Studies vol. 1. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing. ISBN 0-7099-0877-6.
External links
[edit]| National | |
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| Other | |
