Maxakalí language
Maxakalí | |
---|---|
(Tikmũ'ũn) Yĩy'ax | |
Native to | Brazil |
Region | Minas Gerais |
Native speakers | 1,270 (2011)[1] |
Macro-Gê
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mbl |
Glottolog | west2636 |
ELP | Maxakalí |
Maxakalí (Yĩy'ax 'language', Tikmũ'ũn Yĩy'ax 'Maxakalí language') is a Maxakalían language spoken in fourteen villages in Minas Gerais, Brazil, by fewer than a thousand people.
Dialects
Mason (1950) identifies six varieties of Maxakali. All but Maxakalí proper are extinct:
- Maxakalí
- Caposhó (Kapoxo) (†)
- Cumanashó (Kumanaxo) (†)
- Maconí (Makuni) (†)
- Monoshó (Monaxo, Monocho) (†)
- Panyame (†)
Distribution
Maxakalí was originally spoken in the Mucuri River, Itanhém River, and Jequitinhonha River areas. Today, Maxakalí is found in four main communities (aldeias) of Minas Gerais, with a total ethnic population of about 2,000:[2]: 16
- Pradinho (Maxakalí name: Pananiy), in Bertópolis, Minas Gerais)
- Água Boa (Maxakalí name: Kõnãg Mai or Akmamo), in Santa Helena de Minas, Minas Gerais)
- Aldeia Verde (Maxakalí name: Apne Yĩxux), in Ladainha, Minas Gerais)
- Cachoeirinha (Maxakalí name: Ĩmmoknãg), in Teófilo Otoni, Minas Gerais)
Old Machacari is attested from the 19th century. Reported varieties include Monoxó, Makoni, Kapoxó, Kumanaxó, and Panhame. After the dispersion of its speakers in the 1750s, they lived between the upper Mucuri River and São Mateus River (near the present-day city of Teófilo Otoni, Minas Gerais), possibly up to Jequitinhonha in the north to the Suaçuí Grande River, a tributary of the Doce River, in the south. After 1750, the southward migration of the Botocudos forced the Machacari to seek refuge in Portuguese settlements on the Atlantic coast (in an area ranging from the mouth of the Mucuri River to the Itanhaém River), in Alto dos Bois (near Minas Novas), and in Peçanha.[3] According to Saint-Hilaire (2000: 170),[4] the Monoxó lived in Cuyaté (Doce River, near the mouth of the Suaçuí Grande River) probably around 1800, before seeking refuge in Peçanha.[3] At the beginning of the 19th century, the Panhame and other Maxakali groups allied with the Portuguese to fight the Botocudos.[3]
Modern Maxakali (called Monaxobm by Curt Nimuendajú) is distinct from Old Machacari. It was historically spoken from the Mucuri River valley up to the headwaters of the Itanhaém River in Minas Gerais.[3]
Phonology
Maxakalí has five vowels, occurring in both oral and nasal form.
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
High | i, ĩ | ɯ, ɯ̃ | |
Mid | ɛ, ɛ̃ | o, õ | |
Low | a, ã |
Consonants
Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop | p | t | k | ʔ | |
Nasal | m ~ b | n ~ d | ɡ ~ ŋ | ||
Fricative | ʃ | j ~ ʒ | h |
Allophony
The World Atlas of Language Structures claims that Maxakalí has no contrastive fricative or nasal consonants, citing "Gudschinski et al. 1970".[5][6] It is important to note that WALS did not consider [h] to be a true fricative in this judgement.
Syntax
Word order
The most common word order in Maxakalí is SOV.
Kakxop | te | xokhep | xo’op | |
child | SUB | milk | drink |
- "The child drinks milk"
Morphosyntactic alignment
Maxakalí is an ergative language. The ergative case covers transitive subjects as well as indirect objects. The absolutive case covers intransitive subjects and transitive objects.
Person | Ergative | Absolutive |
---|---|---|
1st sing | ã | ũg |
2nd sing | xa | ã |
3rd sing | tu | ũ |
1st plur incl | yũmũ’ã | yũmũg |
1st plur excl | ũgmũ’ã | ũgmũg |
ũgmũg | mõg | nãpet | ha | nũy | xa | hãpxop | ũm | pop | |
1pl:excl:ABS | go | market | to | in-order-to | 2sg:ERG | food | some | buy |
- "We (excluding you) are going to the market to buy you (indirect object) some food."
Morphology
Suppletive verb number
For some verbs, number is shown not by conjugation, but by suppletive verb stems. These verb stems can show number differences either for the subject or for the object.
Subject number
tik | yũm | |
man | sit (singular) |
- "The man sits/sat."
tik | mãm | |
man | sit (plural) |
- "The men sit/sat."
Object number
tik | te | koktix | putex | |
man | SUB | monkey | kill (singular) |
- "The man killed a monkey."
tik | te | koktix | kix | |
man | SUB | monkey | kill (plural) |
- "The man killed the monkeys."
Word shortening and expanding
Noun compounding
Maxakalí nouns readily form compounds, here are some examples:
yĩy | kox | xax | |
speak | hole | cover |
- "lips"
ãmot | xuxpex | |
sand | tasty |
- "salt"
yĩm | kutok | |
hand | child |
- "finger"
See also
References
- ^ "Maxakalí". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
- ^ Nikulin, Andrey. 2020. Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo. Doctoral dissertation, University of Brasília.
- ^ a b c d Ramirez, H., Vegini, V., & França, M. C. V. de. (2015). Koropó, puri, kamakã e outras línguas do Leste Brasileiro. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas, 15(2), 223 - 277. doi:10.20396/liames.v15i2.8642302
- ^ Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de. 2000. Viagem pelas províncias do Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte: Editora Itatiaia.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
External links
- Proel: Lengua Mashakalí
- Maxakalí–English grammar and dictionary
- Information on Maxakalí at Etnolinguistica.Org's Catalogue of South American Languages