Kanamarí, or Katukina-Kanamari, is a Katukinan language spoken by about 650 individuals in Amazonas, Brazil. It is considered endangered.
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Kanamarí | |
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Katukina-Kanamari | |
Native to | Brazil |
Region | Amazonas |
Ethnicity | 3,340 (2006–2008)[1] |
Native speakers | 1,300 (2006)[1] |
Language family | Harákmbut–Katukinan
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Dialects |
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Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | Either:knm – Kanamarikav – Katukina |
Glottolog | kana1291 |
ELP |
The two principal varieties, Kanamari (Canamarí) and Katukina (Catuquina), are mutually intelligible, and have both been confused with neighboring languages with the same or similar names.[2]
Synonyms and dialect names include Tshom-djapa, Tsohon-djapa, Wiri-dyapá, Pidá-dyapá, Kutiá-dyapá (Kadiu-diapa, Cutiadapa), Tucun-diapa, Bendiapa, Parawa.
The term Katukina is derived from the Proto-Purus term *ka-tukanɨ, meaning ‘speaker of an indigenous language’.[3] As a result, it is used to refer to a few different unrelated languages belonging to separate language families, including Panoan and Arawakan:
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
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Plosive | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | |
voiced | b | d | dʒ | |||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
Fricative | h | |||||
Approximant | l |
An alveolar lateral consonant /l/ may be realized as a retroflex lateral [ɭ]. A velar nasal [ŋ] sound is often heard when following after nasal vowels. A glottal stop [ʔ] can be heard before word-initial vowels. A word-final /k/ may also sound unreleased [k̚].
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
unrounded | rounded | |||
High | i iː | ɯ ɯː | u uː | |
Low | a aː |
/i/ and /u/ may be realized as approximant sounds [j] and [w], when preceding another vowel.[4]
The syntax of Kanamarí is characterized by ergative–absolutive alignment.[5] The absolutive argument (i.e. the subject of intransitive verbs and the object of transitive verbs) is unmarked for case, and usually appears following the verb phrase.
tyuku
die
wa:pa
dog
tyuku wa:pa
die dog
'The dog died.'
no-ti
2.SG.GEN-kill
paiko
grandfather
no-ti paiko
2.SG.GEN-kill grandfather
'You killed grandfather.'
If the absolutive argument is a pronoun, it is represented by its free-standing form.
ki:tan
sleep
idi:k
2.SG
ki:tan idi:k
sleep 2.SG
'You slept.'
The ergative argument (i.e. the agent of transitive verbs) is marked for genitive case. If the agent is a pronoun, it is represented by a genitive prefix (as in no-ti paiko 'you killed grandfather' above). If the agent is a full noun, it is linked to the verb with the case marker na, which phonologically attaches to the verb:
pi:da
jaguar
na=ti
GEN=kill
paiko
grandfather
pi:da na=ti paiko
jaguar GEN=kill grandfather
'The jaguar killed grandfather.'
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