Tapayuna Language

Tapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi or Kajkwakhratxi, 'big trunk of the sky' also spelt ''Tapajúna'', Tapayúna: ''Kajkwakhrattxi kawẽrẽ'' ) is a Northern Jê language ( Jê, Macro-Jê) spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil by the Tapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi) people.

The Tapayuna historically lived on the Arinos River, in the Tapajós basin, between Juruena and Aripuanã. They were decimated in mid-20th century as a result of numerous conflicts with Brazilian settlers, rubber tappers, and ranchers; it is estimated that their population declined 90% until reaching 41 individuals in 1969, which has been characterized as an ethnocide. The surviving Tapayúna were then transferred to Xingu Indigenous Park at some point between 1969 and 1970, resulting in 10 more deaths. At first, they stayed with the Kĩsêdjê, speakers of a closely related language. Later, many Tapayúna moved to Terra Indígena Capoto-Jarina, where they went on to live with the Mẽtyktire subgroup of the Kayapó people, speakers of another Northern Jê language, Mẽbêngôkre. It is assumed that the Tapayúna language has been influenced both by Kĩsêdjê and Mẽbêngôkre. In 2010, 97 speakers have been reported in the Kawêrêtxikô village ( Capoto-Jarina). In contrast, only a few elders speak the language in the Ngôsôkô village ( Wawi), where the Kĩsêdjê are the ethnic majority. The number of speakers in the Ngôjhwêrê village ( Wawi) is unknown.

Tapayúna is closely related to Kĩsêdjê; together, they form the Tapajós branch of Northern Jê. The common past on the Tapajós River, shared by the Tapayúna and the Kĩsêdjê, is still part of their oral history. Phonological differences between the languages include the reflexes of Proto-Northern Jê ''*m/*mb'', ''*mr/*mbr'', ''*c'' (in onsets), ''*ñ'' (in codas), and ''*b'' (in stressed syllables). In Tapayúna, these consonants are reflected as ''w'' ( ̃, ''nr'' ( �̃, ''t'' ( ̪, ''j'' ( , and ''w'' ( , respectively, whereas Kĩsêdjê has ''m/mb'', ''mr/mbr'', ''s'', ''n'', and ''p'' in the same words.

Phonology

Tapayúna innovated with respect to Proto-Tapajós via the following sound changes:
*merger of ''*t̪ʰ'' and ''*t̪'' as ''t'' /t̪ʰ/;
*''*p'' > ''w'' /w/;
*''*m(b)'', ''*m(b)r'' > ''w'' /w̃/, ''nr'' /ɾ̃/;
*''*kʰj'', ''*mbj'' > ''x'' /tʃ/, ''j'' /j/;
*''*-m'', ''*-n'', ''-ñ'' > /-p/, /-t/, /-j/.

Consonants

* /k/ can be heard as ʰwhen before /h/ or in stressed syllable-medial position before back vowels, and as �when in unstressed syllable-medial position between vowels.
* /t/ can be heard as ʰwhen before /h/ or in stressed syllable-medial position before back vowels.
* Nasal sounds /m, n, ŋ/ can be heard as prenasalized stop sounds ��b, ⁿd, ᵑɡwhen in syllable-onset position.
* /ɾ/ can have the following allophones �when following /ŋ/, �when in a branched syllable-onset after a voiced sound, �̥when in a branched syllable-onset after /k/, and as when in an initial and medial syllable onset.
* /j/ can be heard as an affricate ʒwhen in an initial and medial syllable-onset, with a prenasalized ��dʒin free variation.
* Sounds /w, ɾ, j/ are heard as nasalized ̃, ɾ̃, j̃when in nasal positions.

Vowels

The vowel inventory of Tapayuna is shown below (the orthographic representation is given in italics; the characters in slashes stand for the IPA values of each vowel).

Echo vowels

Tapayúna has a phenomenon whereby an echo vowel is inserted in words whose underlying form ends in a consonant. The epenthesized vowels are unstressed, as in ''rowo'' �ɾɔwɔ‘jaguar’, ''tàgà'' �tʌgʌ‘bird’, ''khôgô'' �kʰogo‘wind’.

Morphology

Inflectional morphology

Finiteness

As in all other Northern Jê languages, verbs inflect for finiteness and thus have a basic opposition between a ''finite'' form (also ''Short Form'' and ''main form'') and a ''nonfinite form'' (also ''Long Form''). Finite forms are used in matrix clauses only, whereas nonfinite forms are used in all types of subordinate clauses as well as in some matrix clauses (including negated, future, and progressive clauses). Nonfinite forms are most often formed via suffixation and/or prefix substitution. Some verbs (including all descriptives with the exception of ''katho'' ‘to leave’, whose nonfinite form is ''kathoro'') lack an overt finiteness distinction.

The available nonfinite suffixes are ''/-ɾ/'' (the most common option, found in many transitive and intransitive verbs), ''/-j/'' (found in transitive verbs and in some intransitives whose stem ends in the vowel ''/a/''), as well as ''/-k/'' and ''/-p/'' (found in a handful of intransitive verbs which take a nominative subject when finite), as shown in the table below.

In Proto-Northern Jê, several verbs derived their finite forms by means of leniting the stem-final consonant (''*-t'', ''*-c'', ''*-k'' → ''*-r'', ''*-j'', ''*-r''). In Tapayúna, at least two verbs retain this pattern, though the relation between the finite and nonfinite forms has been obfuscated by a series of regular sound changes, including ''*-ôj'' > ''-wâj'' (''-âj'' after a labial), ''*-c'' > ''-t''.

The erstwhile palatalizing prefix

In Proto-Northern Jê, a small set of verbs formed their nonfinite forms by employing one of the aforementioned processes and a morphophonological process whereby the onset of the stressed syllable became palatal, and the nucleus of the stressed syllable was raised (if possible); this has been attributed to the influence of an underlying palatalizing nonfinite prefix. In Tapayúna, at least two verbs still follow the archaic pattern.

Prefix substitution or loss

In addition to the aforementioned processes, the finiteness inflection may involve prefix substitution or loss. For example, the valency-reducing prefixes are ''a(j)-'' (anticausative) and ''a-'' (antipassive) in finite verb forms, but ''wi-'' and ''tá-/tu-'', respectively, in the nonfinite forms. In addition, some verbs which denote physiological activities or movement have a prefix (''i-'' and ''a-'', respectively) in their finite forms but not in the nonfinite form. Some examples are given below.

Nominal number

Nouns which denote human beings may receive the plural suffix ''-jê'', as in ''wẽwyjê'' ‘men’ (← ''wẽwy'') ‘man’.

Derivational morphology

Productive affixes

Tapayúna makes use of the diminutive suffixes ''-tĩ'' and ''-re'', as well as of the augmentative suffix ''-txi''. Examples include: ''taratĩ'' ‘its small wing’ or ''taratĩre'' ‘its tiny wing’ (← ''tara'' ‘its wing’, an inflected form of ''jara'' ‘wing’), ''hrytĩ'' ‘small, narrow path’ or ''hrytĩre'' ‘a very narrow path’ (← ''hry'' ‘path’), ''thêtxi'' ‘tick’ (← ''thê''), ''wĩtxi'' ‘alligator’ (← ''wĩ'').

Nominalizations which denote instruments and places are formed by means of attaching the suffix ''-tà'' to the nonfinite form of a verb: ''kahõ'' ‘to sweep’ → ''kahõj'' ‘to sweep ''(nonfinite)''’ → ''kahõjtà'' ‘broom’; ''wẽ'' ‘people’ + ''khrĩ'' ‘to sit ''(plural, finite = nonfinite)''’ → ''wẽkhrĩtà'' ‘seat’.

Agent nominalizations are formed by means of attaching the suffix ''-kanê'' to the nonfinite form of a verb: ''hwitô'' ‘leaf; paper’ + ''tôk'' ‘to paint; to write’ → ''hwĩtôtôkkanê'' ‘teacher’.

Lexicon

Predicate number

Tapayúna commonly employs different lexemes for the so called singular and plural predicates (see Northern Jê languages#Verbal number for more information about the semantic counterparts of this distinction in the Northern Jê languages).

References

External links

* Lapierre, Myriam. 2018.
Kajkwakhrattxi Field Materials
'. Survey of California and Other Indian Languages.

{{Macro-Jê languages

Jê languages
Languages of Brazil