Gamela (Gamella, Acobu, Barbados) Curinsi or Acobu, is an unclassified and extinct language of the

Maranhão Maranhão () is a States of Brazil, state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of and it is divided into 217 municipalities. Clockwise from north, it ...

region of

Northeastern Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( ) is one of the five official and political regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six states, it comprises nine: Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, R ...

. It was originally spoken along the

Itapecuru River The Itapecuru River () is a river in the Maranhão state of northern Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-l ...

Turiaçu River The Turiaçu River is a river of Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Maranhão List of rivers in Maranhão (Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basin from east to west, with respective tributaries ...

, and

Pindaré River The Pindaré River is a river in Maranhão state of north-central Brazil. The Pindaré rises in the low hills which separate its basin from that of the Tocantins River to the south. In its lower reaches it is called the Pindaré-Mirim. It is a lef ...

, with ethnic descendants reported to be living in Cabo and Vianna in

State. The Gamela today speak

Xavante The Xavante (also Shavante, Chavante, Akuen, A'uwe, Akwe, Awen, or Akwen) are an indigenous people, comprising about 30,000 individuals within the territory of eastern Mato Grosso state in Brazil. They speak the Xavante language, part of the J� ...

and Portuguese. Kaufman (1994) said that 'only

Greenberg Greenberg is a surname common in North America and Anglosphere, with anglicized spelling of the German Grünberg (''green mountain'') or the Jewish Ashkenazi Yiddish Grinberg, an artificial surname.Beider, Alexander (1993). ''A Dictionary of Jewi ...

dares to classify this language', due to the lack of data on it. This is the Gamela language of Viana for which 19 words are recorded in Nimuendajú (1937:68).

Other varieties

Below are other extinct varieties, many of which have no data, that may have been related to Gamela. *Arañí - once spoken between the

Parnaíba River The Parnaíba River ( ) is a river in Brazil, which forms the border between the states of Maranhão and Piauí. Its main course is long and the Parnaíba River Basin covers .Ramos, T.P.A.; Ramos, R.T.C.; and Ramos, S.A.Q.A. (2014). Ichthyofaun ...

and

(unattested) *Puti (Poti) - once spoken at the mouth of the Poti River (unattested) *Anapurú - once spoken on the right bank of the

(unattested) *Uruati - extinct language from the mouth of the

Munim River The Munim River () is a river of Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil. It flows north for about before emptying into the Baía de São José to the south of the state capital. The river has suffered from agricultural pollution and from illegal ...

, Maranhão *Cururi - extinct language of the neighbors of the Uruati tribe *Guanare - once spoken between the

and

(unattested) *Coroatá - once spoken on the

, Maranhão (unattested) *Guaxina - once spoken at the mouth of the

(unattested) *Curinsi - an extinct dialect of the Gamela once spoken near Vianna *Tacarijú - once spoken on the Longá River in the state of

Piauí Piauí ( ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piauí has the shortest coastline of any coas ...

(unattested)

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) gives three words in Gamela: * 'pot' * 'tree' * 'tobacco' ''Gamella of Viana'' words recorded by Nimuendajú (1937:68) from his informant Maria Cafuza in Viana, Maranhão:Nimuendajú, Curt. 1937
The Gamella Indians
''Primitive Man'' 10. 58-71. :

References

Bibliography

* {{South American languages Indigenous languages of Northeastern Brazil Maranhão Extinct languages of South America Unclassified languages of South America