A digital sketch grammar of Yawarana
This is a digital sketch grammar of Yawarana, an endangered language of the Cariban family, spoken in Venezuela.
Introduction
The Yawarana people and their language
Location, historical records
Current life
Sociolinguistic vitality
Previous studies on the Yawarana language
This project
Variation
Some corners of Yawarana grammar are subject to variation:
Phonetics and phonology
Segmental phonetics and phonemes
The consonant phonemes of Yawarana are shown in ref, vowel phonemes in ref.
bilabial | alveolar | palatal | velar | glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
occlusive | /p/ | /t/ | /tÍĄÊ/ | /k/ | |
nasal | /m/ | /n/ | /ÉČ/ | ||
fricative | /s/ | /h/ | |||
liquid | /r/ | ||||
glide | /w/ | /j/ |
front | central | back | |
---|---|---|---|
close | /i/ | /Éš/ | /u/ |
mid | /e/ | /É/ | /o/ |
open | /a/ |
Consonants
- add minimal pairs
/h/
- glottal fricative insertion after diphthongs
- glottal fricative insertion before occlusives
Vowels
- add minimal pairs
- add vowel plots
- what about vowel length?
- variation between Ă«/o/e and ĂŻ/i/u
- dipththongs
- /ai/, /aw/, /ei/⊠test combinations â
Morphophonological Processes
Syllable Reduction
Types
- V1rV2 to V1:
- nasal assimilation
- what consonants reduce to /j/?
Contexts
- postpositions
- verbal suffixes
- no final nominal reduction
- non-alternating reduced syllables, e.g. wajto âfireâ
Vowel harmony
- progressive -ri âpertâ
- regressive /Ă«/ > /o/
Palatalization
- -sapĂ« âpfvâ
- -se âpstâ
Prosody
Lexical stress
Intonational Phrases
â
Intonational Melodies
Historical Considerations
Parts of speech in Yawarana
Distinguishing parts of speech
Adverbs
- copredicative function
- no person inflection â
- deriving aderbs: -ke âpropâ â
Postpositions
- Koehn and Koehn 1986: 111 on ApalaĂ: âParticles follow words of any class other than the ideophone, and never occur as free forms or in isolation.â
Derivation and productivity
- changing word classes
- semantic variation & non-compositional meanings
- productive class-changing process w/ lexically conditioned suffixes
- some constructions need a different word class, no meaning change per se
Nouns
Pronouns
The personal pronouns of Yawarana are shown in ref. The system shows the usual Cariban inclusive/exclusive (1+2 and 1+3) distinction, though the 1+2 pronoun ejnĂ« does not have the /k/ found elsewhere in the family. It is likely a reflex of an old copula + infinitive *eti-nĂ«. â Regarding plural marking, it should be noted that kontomo, which appears on the second person plural pronoun, is usually restricted to verbs, while -santomo is only found with third person pronouns and demonstratives. âïž â
sg | pl | |
---|---|---|
1 | wïrë | |
1+2 | ejnë | |
1+3 | ana | |
2 | mërë | monkontomo |
3 | tëwï | tëwïsantomo |
Reduced forms of the first and second person pronouns occur as proclitics/prefixesâ attaching to nouns to indicate possessor (see ref), attached to verbs to indicate the A or P argument (see ref), or attached to postpositions to indicate the argument of the postposition (see ref). The occurrence of bound u- â1â on members of all three parts of speech is illustrated in ; illustrates the same distribution for mĂ«- â2â.
-
-
irĂ« nwa chipĂ«kĂ« usamori uyĂŻpĂŻ incharĂ«irĂ« 3ana.inannwa thuschipĂ«kĂ« becauseu-samo-ri 1-cry-ipfvu-yĂŻpĂŻ-â 1-mountain-pertin-charĂ« see-imnâthat's why I'm crying seeing my hills (auto)â (histyarirdi: 723)
-
uyarĂ« wĂŻrĂ« pĂ«remekĂŻrĂŻu-yarĂ« 1-alonewĂŻrĂ« 1propĂ«remekĂŻ-rĂŻ talk-ipfvâI just talk.â (convrisamaj: 46)
-
-
-
weroro wĂ«ra kĂ«yetari mĂ«mukuruweroro dogwĂ«ra likekĂ«yetari ?mĂ«-muku-ru 2-child-pertâyour children grow up like dogs (auto)â (histyarirdi: 160)
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mĂ«tojpa wĂŻrĂ«mĂ«-tojpa-â 2-hit-ipfvwĂŻrĂ« 1proâI will beat you to death (auto)â (histpajirdi: 114)
-
Âż mĂ«pana ma tataja wejsapĂ«?mĂ«-pana 2-datma rstta-ta-ja 3p-say-negwejsapĂ« ?âdidn't he say it directly to you? (auto)â (ctovarmafl: 443)
-
The third person demonstrative pronouns or articles are shown in ref. â None of them have shortened and phonologically bound counterparts.
anim | inan | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
sg | pl | sg | pl | |
prox | kërë | kërësantomo | eni | enijne |
medial/near? | michi / misi | michisantomo / michitomo | mërë | |
dist | mëjkï | mëkïsantomo | mëjnï | mëjnijne |
- nominal interrogative pronouns: â <span
title=âno examples of Ă«jkĂ« âwhich?ââ>â
- anĂŻkĂŻ âwhoâ (with -santomo)
- ati âwhatâ (no plural)
Nominal inflection
Nouns in Yawarana may bear suffixes marking their possession status (ref), number (ref), and nominal past tense (ref). Possessed nouns may bear a person prefix, or the linker y- (ref). âïž
Suffixes for possessed and non-possessed nouns
In the possession construction in Yawarana, the possessor noun occurs immediately preceding the possessed noun, which is the head of the possession phrase. âïž Alternatively, the possessor can appear as a prefix on the possessed noun. The possessor noun is never marked (for instance, with genitive case), but the possessed noun (the head) is often marked for being possessed by a suffix; an unambiguous label for this counterpart of the genitive is pertensive (Dixon 2010). The choice of suffix is lexically conditioned; while most nouns take -ri âpertâ, some take -ti. Unpossessed nouns generally are unmarked, but some 15 nouns â bear the suffix -tĂ« ânpertâ when they appear without a possessor.
Examples illustrate the possible patterns of markedness for nouns when possessed and unpossessed. The vast majority of nouns in our corpus are unmarked when unpossessed, but when possessed the suffix -ri âpertâ occurs . A handful of nouns â is marked with -ri/-ti âpertâ when possessed and with -tĂ« ânpertâ when not possessed . Another handful is unmarked when possessed and marked with -tĂ« ânpertâ when not possessed . The fourth logical category, where neither possession or non-possession is marked, contains very few members (only one attested so far). For these nouns, the difference is marked only by the presence or absence of a possessive prefix or free-form possessor .-
Nouns that take a suffix only when possessed:
akajra-ri âXâs bowâ akajra âbowâ y-amaka-ri âXâs yuccaâ amaka âyuccaâ y-ĂĄntĂ«-ri âXâs fishhookâ antĂ« âfishhookâ y-ateri-ri âXâs garden/fieldâ ateri âgarden/fieldâ Ă«nu-ru âXâs eyeâ Ă«nu âeyeâ y-Ă«pi-ri âXâs medicineâ Ă«pi âmedicineâ
-
Nouns that take one suffix when possessed and another when unpossessed:
yĂ«-ri âXâs toothâ yĂ«-tĂ« âtoothâ pata-ri âXâs placeâ pata-tĂ« â(part of name) San Juan de Manapiareâ y-ese-ti âXâs nameâ ese-tĂ« ânameâ y-ase-tĂŻ âXâs cordâ ase-tĂ« âcordâ
-
Nouns that take a suffix only when unpossessed:
yĂ«jpĂ« âXâs boneâ yĂ«jpĂ«-tĂ« âboneâ petĂŻ âXâs thighâ petĂŻ-tĂ« / pej-tĂ« âthighâ y-aponi âXâs stoolâ apon-tĂ« âstoolâ
-
Nouns that never take a suffix, whether possessed or unpossessed:
i-jmĂ«y âhis eggâ Ă«jmĂ«y âeggâ
Nominal number
There are several pluralization strategies for nouns. One is the suffix -tomo (-tom, -ton), which occurs on both possessed and unpossessed nouns .
-
-
wurijyantomo rĂ« wejsapĂ« ijtĂ«wurijyan-tomo woman-plrĂ« empwejsapĂ« ?ijtĂ« ?âthere were only women (auto)â (conv1stenc: 123)
-
tajne nankase takerejtomo yatajne ?nanka-se find-pstt-akere-j-tomo 3-relative-pert-plya ergâhis relatives found him (auto)â (histpajirdi: 131)
-
It can be combined with the plural particle jne ; this particle can also be the only exponent of plural .
-
wĂŻrĂ« najpĂŻtomojne, wurijyantomojne sĂ«nka wara rĂ«wĂŻrĂ« 1pronajpĂŻtomojne ?wurijyantomojne ?sĂ«nka-â finish-acnnmlzwara ?rĂ« empâas my grandparents disappear, the women (auto)â (histyarirdi: 944)
-
tipapĂ«jsejne waijtajnetipa-pĂ«j-se=jne go_in_group-plur-pst=plwaijta=jne mouse=plâthe mice went away.â (ctorat: 40)
There is also the particle kontomo, which marks plurality of the possessor . Etymologically, it consists of an earlier *komo suffixed with -tomo âplâ.
-
chimakontomochima=kontomo path=plâtheir pathâ (histyarirdi: 539)
In many nouns, old plural markers have become lexicalized, like in wiriyamo âwomanâ or waraijtokomo âmanâ, which show former *-yamĂ« and *komo.
Nominal tense
- -jpĂ« âpstâ
Argument prefixes
Person prefixes on nouns are conditioned by the initial segment (ref). C-initial nouns take i- â3â, and first and second person are bare u- â1â and mĂ«- â2â. On V-initial nouns, third person is marked with t- â3â, and the first and second person prefixes combine with the linker y-. Some examples are shown in .
_C | _V | |
---|---|---|
1 | u- | u-y- |
2 | më- | më-y- |
3 | i- | t- |
-
uyĂŻwĂŻj yawĂ« usenejkari sukuri jwamau-y-ĂŻwĂŻj-â 1-lk-house-pertyawĂ« locu-senejka-ri 1-stay-ipfvsukuri silentlyjwama ***âI silently stay in my house.â (convrisamaj: 28)
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tĂŻwĂŻj yaka waraijtokomo manikijpĂ«t-ĂŻwĂŻj-â 3-house-pertyaka allwaraijtokomo manmanikijpĂ« ***âHe went to his house.â (ctorat: 46)
-
pĂŻrarĂ« ti iwenaru wejsapĂ«pĂŻrarĂ« neg.existti hsyi-wena-ru 3-vomit-pertwej-sapĂ« cop-pfvâtheir vomit was not there.â (ctorat: 19)
The linker also occurs with (pro-)nominal possessors:
-
toto yoti tajtoj maretoto non_Indiany-oti-â lk-meat-perttaj-toj say-circ.nmlzmare ?âwhat they call the food of the criollos (auto)â (convcosnoind: 52)
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ati ke ejnĂ« yoti yamanĂ« wejsapĂ« tĂ«wĂŻati ?ke insejnĂ« 1+2proy-oti-â lk-meat-pertyamanĂ«-â make-ipfvwej-sapĂ« cop-pfvtĂ«wĂŻ 3proâwith that we used to prepare the meat (auto)â (convcosnoind: 126)
There are some nouns âïž that preserve the old second person a- â2â (ref).âïž
_C | _V | |
---|---|---|
1 | u- | u-y- |
2 | a- | a-y- |
3 | i- | t- |
Root suppletion in nominal possession
- âfatherâ:
- 1 papa
- 2 ëmë / omo / ëmo (?)
- 3 imu
- NP yĂŻmĂŻ
- other candidates:
- âarrowâ
- âhouseâ
- âpoopâ
- âmotherâ
- âhammock stringâ
Nominal Derivational Morphology
- V â N
- -ri âaction nmlzâ âïž
- -jpĂ« âpst.acnnmlzâ
- also âpst.abs.nmlzâ âïž
- -nĂ« âinfâ or âgeneric action
nominalizerâ âïž
- wĂ«nkej-nĂ« from transitive wĂ«nkepĂŻ âforgetâ
- -ni âagtnmlzâ âïž
- n-V-ri only with yeme âeat (fruits, eggs, soup)â
- -sapĂ« âabs.nmlzâ (contrast with -jpĂ« âpst.acnnmlzâ)
- -topo âcirc.nmlzâ
- âpĂŻnĂŻ âpriv.nmlzâ âïž
- Adv â N
- -mĂŻ ânmlzâ
- -ano ânmlzâ
- absence of -ato ânmlzâ
- Postp â N
- -ano ânmlzâ
- N â N
- discuss pĂŻjkĂ« and sere-kĂ« âmanioc-DIMâ , reference sections
- -imĂ«: e.g., wara âwomanâ waraimĂ« âmarried womanâ (dictionary)
- What about -jpĂ« âpst.acnnmlzâ on ad forms ? Does it derive a noun?
-
pata penarĂ«jpĂ« mĂ«tĂ« ta, mĂ«rĂ« Cerro Muñeca tajtoj mare toto yapata ?penarĂ«jpĂ« ***mĂ«tĂ« ?ta ?mĂ«rĂ« ?cerro ***muñeca ***taj-toj say-circ.nmlzmare ?toto non_Indianya ?âhere you can see the place where they lived, where the criollos call Cerro Muñeca (auto)â (histyarirdi: 592)
Verbal roots and stems
Classes of verbs
Yawarana verb roots can be divided into those yielding an intransitive stem, and those yielding a transitive stem. The only inflectional criterion distinguishing the two classes is the third person prefix ta-, which only occurs (optionally, see ref) on transitive stems. Thus, transitive yawanka âkillâ takes ta- , but intransitive yaruwa âlaughâ does not . â
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iyawĂ« chipĂ«kĂ«, tayawankasei-yawĂ« 3-locchipĂ«kĂ« becauseta-yawanka-se 3p-kill-pstâtherefore, he killed her (auto)â (convfemgrme: 217)
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yaruwakontomo yatum ponokoyaruwakontomo ?yatum ?ponoko ***âThey laugh every day.â (convrisamaj: 42)
-
- potential additional types:
- detransitive
- ditransitive
- ân-addingâ
- accidental lability
- ijtëri
- note that all transitive verbs are consonantâinitial, whether etymologically or not because y- âlkâ is added to all vowelâinitial roots
- the yâ disappears when preceded by the detransitivizer âïž â
Verbalizing suffixes
None of these are productive, although there are many lexemes derived with them.
Intransitive
âïž
-ta / -na
-ta âvbz.intrâ derives intransitive verbs (ref).
Base | Derivation |
---|---|
suku âurineâ | sujta âurinateâ |
kaimo âgameâ | kaimota âhuntâ |
yoko âpimpleâ | yokota âgrow pimpleâ |
wereyi âcloudâ | wereyta âcloud overâ |
wanapu âsavannahâ | wanaputa âgrow savannah grassâ |
sakau âsandâ | sakauta âget sandyâ |
roko âcrazyâ | rokota âbecome crazyâ |
punu âfleshâ | punta âform pulpâ |
pikĂ« âfartâ | pikĂ«ta âfartâ |
pichipichi âwhitebaitâ | pichipichita âform whitebaitâ |
naki âthirstâ | nakita âbe thirstyâ |
muku âchildâ | mukuta âhave sonâ |
moto âwormâ | motota âfill with wormsâ |
moroni âpainâ | moronta âhurtâ |
mesuku âbloodâ | mesujta âbleedâ |
kĂ«mu âpusâ | kĂ«muta âemit pusâ |
konopo ârainâ | konopota âstart rainy seasonâ |
kawono âhighâ | kawonota âget highâ |
chĂ«kĂ«y ânitâ | chĂ«kĂ«yta âfill with nitsâ |
chimichimi âworm (dog)â | chimichimita âfill with worms (dog)â |
chikĂ« âchiggerâ | chikĂ«ta âget chiggersâ |
awochi âtumorâ | awochita âform tumorâ |
asere âdry coughâ | asereta âhave dry coughâ |
aijkorono ârecoveredâ | aijkoronota ârecoverâ |
ajpachi âundergrowthâ | ajpachita âovergrowsâ |
akĂŻ âworm / maggotâ | akĂŻta âfill with wormsâ |
-pamĂŻ / -mamĂŻ
âïž âïž
Transitive
âïž
-ka
-ka âvbz.trâ derives transitive verbs. âïž
-jtë / -të
- -jtĂ« âvbz.trâ âïž
-ma / -pa
- -ma âcausâ âïž
Valency-changing affixes
âïž
Detransitivizing prefixes
- Ă«j-
- s-
- at-
â
Transitivizing suffixes
- -ma âcausâ â âïž
- does -ka âvbz.trâ go on intransitive verb stems?
Ditransitivizing suffixes
- -po âcausâ
Meaning-changing suffixes
- -po âdesâ (only occurs with -ri âipfvâ and jra ânegâ)
- -pĂ«ti âplurâ
- cess â
Verbal inflection
âïž
Person prefixes
Verbs are inflected for person with a set of prefixes, shown in ref.âïž â First and second person prefixes show ergative alignment, expressing s and p. Intransitive verbs are not overtly inflected for third person, while transitive verbs show an optional ta- in 3>3 scenarios.âïž
intr | tr | |
---|---|---|
1 | u- | u- |
2 | më- | më- |
1+2 | ej- | ej- |
3 | â | ta- |
-
-
michi ma mĂ«yapĂ«jjramamichi med.animma rstmĂ«-yapĂ«j-jrama 2-grab-prohâdo not touch this (auto)â (ctovarmafl: 324)
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mĂ«inija ka, aniki pinchi, tĂ«nĂ«sem warai yichapĂ«, okonotojpemĂ«-ini-ja 2-see-negka ?aniki whopinchi hestĂ«nĂ«sem ***warai likeyichapĂ« ***okonotojpe ***âyou have not seen a fish that is put on to dry (auto)â (histyarirdi: 633)
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tĂ«wĂŻ ma takĂŻ mĂ«yakarama chijpĂ« wararĂ« kwa ta sĂ«nkatoj mĂ«tĂ«tĂ«wĂŻ 3proma rsttakĂŻ cnfrmmĂ«yakarama ?chi-jpĂ« cop-pst.acnnmlzwararĂ« ?kwa howta ?sĂ«nka-toj finish-circ.nmlzmĂ«tĂ« ?âtell us again how they ended up there (auto)â (convhistfamsjm: 13)
-
-
-
kwase mĂ«Ă«mpamĂŻjpĂ« ejnĂ« waimu yayekwase howmĂ«-Ă«mpamĂŻ-jpĂ« 2-learn-pstejnĂ« 1+2prowaimu ?yaye locâhow you learned our language (auto)â (convhistfamsjm: 15)
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irĂ«jpĂ«, kwaraijyawĂ« rĂ« mĂ«Ă«mpamĂŻjpĂ« tajto marĂ« ti?irĂ«jpĂ« thenkwaraijyawĂ« ***rĂ« empmĂ«-Ă«mpamĂŻ-jpĂ« 2-learn-psttajto ***marĂ« ?ti hsyâAfterwards, when did you learn what you say? (auto)â (convhistfamsjm: 238)
-
-
-
mĂ«rĂ« warĂ« mĂ«yĂ«nĂ«tojpano ka uyakĂ«rĂ« mĂ«rĂ« wepĂŻrĂŻmĂ«rĂ« ?wa=rĂ« thus=empmĂ«-yĂ«nĂ«-tojpano 2-eat(meat)-fut.conclka ?u-y-akĂ«rĂ« 1-lk-withmĂ«rĂ« ?wepĂŻ-rĂŻ come-ipfvâso for you to eat you came with me? (auto)â (convfemgrme: 43)
-
mĂ«yakarama maremĂ«yakarama ?mare ?âthe one you are saying (auto)â (ctoaragrme: 5)
-
-
uyepematojpe pĂŻrarĂ« wĂŻrĂ« inawĂ«uyepematojpe ?pĂŻrarĂ« neg.existwĂŻrĂ« 1proinawĂ« haveâI can't afford to pay (auto)â (histyarirdi: 875)
Transitive local scenarios
-
-
entĂ« mĂ«inpojra wĂŻrĂ« yaentĂ« here.locmĂ«-in-po-â =jra 2-see-des-ipfv=negwĂŻrĂ« 1proya ergâI don't want to see them here (auto)â (convfemgrme: 231)
-
mĂ«ini wĂŻrĂ« yamĂ«-ini-â 2-see-ipfvwĂŻrĂ« 1proya ergâte voy a ver (auto)â (convfemgrme: 232)
-
tĂ«wĂŻ ke ma mĂ«yepema wĂŻrĂ« ya, ta ti tatĂ«wĂŻ 3proke insma rstmĂ«yepema ?wĂŻrĂ« 1proya ergta-â say-ipfvti hsyta likeâI'll pay you with this," he said (auto)â (ctovarmafl: 283)
-
- one attested case of ta- â3>3â on the lexical verb of a
-pëkë construction w/ 2nd person a on aux
â
- Ăâ â3pâ with transitive verbs with 1a or 2a
- one example of mĂ«- â2aâ on imperative verb âïž
- *tâVâse is no more â the tâ is gone, except in lexicalized items
The third person prefix ta-
Main clause tenseâaspectâmoodâpolarity suffixes
Verbs in main clauses are inflected for TAMP with a set of suffixes, shown in ref. They are discussed in ref.
Suffix | Function |
---|---|
-ri | imperfective |
-jpë | past |
-se | past perfective |
-sapë | perfect |
-sarë | imminent future |
-nëpëkë | prog.intr |
pëkë | prog.tr |
âtojpano | fut |
(-tojpe) | fut |
-ja | neg |
-se-mĂŻ | âobligationâ |
-në | impersonal S |
-topo |
Suffix | Function |
---|---|
âjrama | proh |
-i | juss |
-kĂ« / âtĂ«-kĂ« | imp / imp.pl |
-ta / -tantë-kë | imp.mot / imp.mot.pl |
Misc:
- -se=pano âpst=conclâ
- -saj=pano âpfv=conclâ
- -sarĂ«=pano âimn=conclâ
-ri
- allomorphy:
- most conservative form: -rĂŻ âipfvâ
- most conservative form: -ri âipfvâ
- -â âipfvâ, phonetic loss
- -ru âipfvâ, assimilation
- consistent zero before kontomo âplâ
- inconsistent zero before jra ânegâ, see ref
- gave rise to -ri âacnnmlzâ
- plural with kontomo âplâ
- negated with jra ânegâ , but potentially two distinct etymologies
- emerging pattern: -ri âipfvâ with postverbal (possessed?) arguments?
-
wĂŻrĂ« yaruwarijrawĂŻrĂ« 1proyaruwa-ri=jra laugh-ipfv=negâI donât laugh.â (convrisamaj: 4)
Semantics
- not specified for tense, just imperfective aspect:
-
irĂ«jpĂ« tĂ«wĂŻ waijtatomo nwajtĂ«riirĂ«jpĂ« thentĂ«wĂŻ 3prowaijta-tomo mouse-plnwajtĂ«-ri dance-ipfvâThen the mice were dancing.â (ctorat: 16)
-
-
Âż kwase ejnĂ« yaruwari?kwase howejnĂ« 1+2proyaruwa-ri laugh-ipfvâHow will we laugh?â (convrisamaj: 6)
-
-
wĂŻrĂ« yaruwarijrawĂŻrĂ« 1proyaruwa-ri=jra laugh-ipfv=negâI donât laugh.â (convrisamaj: 4)
-
uyĂŻwĂŻj yawĂ« usenejkari sukuri jwamau-y-ĂŻwĂŻj-â 1-lk-house-pertyawĂ« locu-senejka-ri 1-stay-ipfvsukuri silentlyjwama ***âI silently stay in my house.â (convrisamaj: 28)
-
-jpë
-
tĂ«wĂŻsantomo wĂŻrĂ« wejyatĂ« kĂ«yetajpĂ«jratĂ«wĂŻsantomo 3pro.plwĂŻrĂ« 1prowejyatĂ« ***kĂ«yetajpĂ«jra ?âthey did not grow up with me (auto)â (histyarirdi: 186)
-se
- allomorphy: -se/-che âptcp / supâ
- diachrony: from -se âptcp / supâ
- negation: replaced with -ja ânegâ (see also ref)
-
wĂ«jkaja, ana tĂ«se neke newĂ«jka-ja fall-negana 1+3protĂ«se ?neke cntrne intsâno nos caimos, nosotros nos fuimos (auto)â (conv1stenc: 28)
- plural: kontomo âplâ
-
tipasekontomo warĂ« irĂ«jpĂ« pĂŻrarĂ«tipa-se=kontomo go_in_group-pst=plwa=rĂ« thus=empirĂ«jpĂ« thenpĂŻrarĂ« neg.existâThey left and were gone.â (ctorat: 30)
â
-sapë
- diachrony: from -sapĂ« âabs.nmlzâ
- distribution: only occurs on the copula?
- allomorphy: -sapë and -saj
- negation: with -ja ânegâ on lexical verb â
-
irĂ« wejtane mujyampe patakaja wejsapĂ«irĂ« 3ana.inanwejtane ?mujyam=pe pregnancy=esspataka-ja take_out-negwejsapĂ« ?âdespite this, she did not get pregnant (auto)â (ctoaragrme: 38)
-
apatakaja pĂŻnĂŻka wejsapĂ«apataka-ja come_out-negpĂŻnĂŻka ***wejsapĂ« ?âmaybe she did not come out (pregnant) (auto)â (ctoaragrme: 39)
-
tayakĂŻjtĂ«ja pĂŻnika wejsapĂ«tayakĂŻjtĂ«ja ***pĂŻnika ?wejsapĂ« ?âmaybe he didn't sleep with her (auto)â (ctoaragrme: 40)
-
pĂŻrarĂ« ti iwenaru wejsapĂ«pĂŻrarĂ« neg.existti hsyi-wena-ru 3-vomit-pertwej-sapĂ« cop-pfvâtheir vomit was not there.â (ctorat: 19)
-sarë
- once a converb, now âimminent futureâ
-
irĂ«jpĂ« ta ti ta konopo wejsarĂ« konopo wejsarĂ«irĂ«jpĂ« thenta-â say-ipfvti hsyta likekonopo rainwej-sarĂ« come-imnkonopo rainwej-sarĂ« come-imnâThen they said: âitâs raining, itâs rainingâ.â (ctorat: 25)
-
moyochi tasarĂ«, moyochi chipokono kojpaye pĂŻnika warotarimoyochi spider(sp.)tasarĂ« ?moyochi spider(sp.)chipokono becausekojpaye at_nightpĂŻnika ?warotari ?âcalled a spider, perhaps because the spider works at night. (auto)â (ctoaragrme: 25)
Subordinate Clause markers
âïž
- Nominalizations
- -ri âacnnmlzâ
- -jpĂ« âpst.acnnmlzâ
- -topo âcirc.nmlzâ
- Adverbial Clauses (S/A)
- -se âsupineâ
- -tane âconcessiveâ
- -sarĂ« âconverbâ
- âyapo âneg.purpâ
- others?
- Nominalization + postposition (S/P)
- -â âipfvâyawĂ« âwhenâ
- -â âipfvâ pe âessâ âwhenâ
- -saj âabs.nmlzâyawĂ« âsimultâ
- -tojpe âpurposeâ
- (âjpĂ«)=tĂ«rĂ« âafterâ
- on auxiliary: -ri + po âctrfâ
- not attested:
- se âdesâ
- -ajtawĂŻ âif whenâ
Number
- -ri=kontomo
- -sapë=kontomo
- -saj-se=jne
- -se=jne=kontomo
- -se=jne=pano (-se=jne=kontom=pano?)
- -të-kë for the imperative
- what about -i âjussâ?
Copula / Auxiliary
âïž â â âïž * there is (synchronically suppletive) stem allomorphy: chi and wej * marĂ« ârel.inanâ and manĂŻkĂŻ ârel.animâ
Postpositions
postposition
Defining the category
- monomorphemic vs bipartite (vs âstackedâ)
Inflectional morphology
Postpositions take the same inflectional prefixes as nouns (ref). â
_V | _C | |
---|---|---|
1 | u-y- | u- |
2 | më-y- | më- |
1+2 | ejnë y- | ejnë |
3 | i- | t- |
NP | y- | â |
Also:
- kontomo âplâ
- Ă«sĂ«- âdetrzâ
Locative Postpositions
- clear bipartite Ground+Path
- unproductive Bipartite X+Path?
- other forms
all | loc | |
---|---|---|
inside | yaka | yawë |
aquatic | ? | ? |
â
poye âaboveâ
po âlocativeâ
yatĂ« âlocativeâ
yapo ânegationâ?
allative:
-
tichikimuru, peti warĂ« patakasapĂ« Yakucho panatichikimuru ***peti legwa=rĂ« thus=emppatakasapĂ« ?yakucho ?pana ?âhis knee, his leg, went out (sore) towards Ayacucho (auto)â (histpajirdi: 186)
Nonlocative Oblique Postpositions
- pana âdatâ
- ke âinsâ
- wanai
Misc
- chi âcopâ combines with yawĂ« âlocâ, sometimes spelled chi yawĂ«, sometimes chawĂ«.
- syllable reduction
- postpositions on bare verbs? (e.g. wejtawë)
- particles can intervene
- pano âfmrâ
- no others found so far
-
chayi, muku tase ta makĂ« pano yachayi ***muku childta-se say-pstta likemakĂ« mompano fmrya ?âsons, daughters, said my late mother (auto)â (convamgu: 5)
-
aniki narĂ«pe yakĂ«rĂ« ejnĂ« pĂ«remekĂŻrĂŻ, ejnĂ« pĂ«kĂ«pene, waneneaniki whonarĂ«pe party-akĂ«rĂ« lk-withejnĂ« 1+2propĂ«remekĂŻ-rĂŻ talk-ipfvejnĂ« 1+2propĂ«kĂ«pene alonewanene auntâWho are we gonna talk to? Weâre alone, aunt.â (convrisamaj: 47)
Particles, ideophones and interjections
particle ideophone interjection
Particles
Three kinds of particles elsewhere in the family:
- second position (modals, focus)
- phrasal (focus)
- clause boundary
- prosodic effects?
Ideophones
- constructions with nwa âthusâ? (example with pĂŻtĂŻ âpaintâ)
Interjections
- kind of particle?
Negation
There are a number of negation strategies in Yawarana. The most general negator is the particle jra ânegâ, which can negate a number of constructions. It occurs encliticized to transitive and intransitive verbs , nouns , adverbs , and postpositions .
-
-
kukurujra tĂ«wĂŻkuku-ru=jra answer-ipfv=negtĂ«wĂŻ 3proâdo not imitate (auto)â (histyarirdi: 124)
-
uyarĂ« wĂŻrĂ« wĂŻnĂŻkĂŻrĂŻjrauyarĂ« ?wĂŻrĂ« 1prowĂŻnĂŻkĂŻ-rĂŻ=jra sleep-ipfv=negâI did not sleep apart (auto)â (convfemgrme: 183)
-
aaa, ijtarijra taaaa ahi-jta-ri=jra 3-foot-pert=negta ?âah, without his legs (auto)â (ctovarmafl: 36)
-
entĂ« ma teijpojra wejtaneentĂ« here.locma rstteijpo=jra far=negwejtane ?âalthough it is close to here (auto)â (convestsjm: 35)
-
toto waimu yayejratoto non_Indianwaimu ?yaye=jra loc=negânot in Spanish (auto)â (convhistfamsjm: 244)
-
On verbs, it sometimes occurs with an overt allomorph of -ri âipfvâ , sometimes its zero allomorph, shown in .
-
wĂŻrĂ« wajyakĂŻtĂŻjra taro wĂŻrĂ« ta wĂŻrĂ« yawĂŻrĂ« 1prowajyakĂŻtĂŻ-â =jra be_happy-ipfv=negtaro-â say-ipfvwĂŻrĂ« 1prota-â say-ipfvwĂŻrĂ« 1proya ergâIâm saying I am not happy.â (convrisamaj: 24)
This variation is found in other contexts as well, but the conditioning factors of the deletion are currently unknown (see ref). However, in the case of jra ânegâ, it may occur for a different reason entirely. Historically, a verb suffixed with *-rĂŻ and followed by a particle *pĂŻra was a distinct construction from a verb with an adverbializing negative suffix *-pĂŻra and followed by a copula (Gildea and Meira 2016, CĂĄceres 2016).
Verbal negation
-ja ânegâ
-ja ânegâ is pluralized with the postverbal particle kontomo âplâ. It is the negative counterpart to -se âpstâ.
âïž
-jnari ânegâ
- very rare
- etymology unknown
- occurs on verbs
- never preceded by TAM (?)
- occurs with -po âdesâ
-jrama âprohâ
-
nwarĂ« mĂ«tĂ«pĂ«tiri, tĂ«pĂ«tijra sejkĂ«nwa=rĂ« thus=empmĂ«tĂ«pĂ«tiri ?tĂ«pĂ«ti-â =jra go(PLUR)-ipfv=negsejkĂ« ?âyou're going to go like this, you can't go like this (auto)â (histyarirdi: 894)
Others
- -kempĂŻnirĂ« âptcp.nzr.gno:negâ
- âyapo âneg.purpâ
Nominal negation
jra ânegâ
Negative nonverbal predication
- pĂŻnirĂ« ânegâ
- pĂŻrarĂ« âneg.existâ
- pĂŻni ânegâ
Other negation
Auxiliarized constructions
claim: everything can take an auxiliary, except -kĂ« âimpâ
âïž â â â
Defining auxiliaries
Main clauses
- multiple auxiliaries
Subordinate clauses
- chi=pëkë
- chi=yawë/chawë
- chi-ripo
- wej-tojpe
Phrases
Noun phrases
TBD
Nonverbal predications
Gildea 2018: 366 distinguishes two main formal types of nonverbal predication in Cariban languages: juxtaposition and copular constructions.
- juxtaposed NP + ADV or NP + LOC is found in Arara, Ikpeng, Yeâkwana, Wayana, and ApalaĂ
- for PC:
- Nsubj + Npred: nominal (juxtaposition) predication. Limited in functional domains.
- Nsubj + cop + Adverbial (adverbs/postpositional phrases). Fairly unlimited.
- Innovations:
- Nsubj + cop + Npred (S&M 2009)
- Nsubj + Adverbial
Observations
Patterns
- âexistential particlesâ (mĂ«tĂ«, mĂŻntĂ«, entĂ«, ijtĂ«)
- the copulaâŠ
- almost always occurs with adverbs
- can occur with locatives and existential particles
- almost never occurs with nouns
- does not combine with pĂŻrarĂ« âneg.existâ
- is always present in subordinate clauses (chi-yawĂ« âwhenâ, chi-pĂ«ke âbecauseâ) â
- several negation strategies:
- order is fairly flexible; potentially rigid advpred npsubj cop, though negated counterexample
- unclear role of manĂŻkĂŻ ârel.animâ in nppred + npsubj construction
- construction with two copulas chi wejsapĂ«? , , , âïž
Categorization issues
Simple verbal clauses
âïž
- order of arguments re: the verb (and each other)
- case marking patterns
- indexation
- clausal particles
Intransitive clauses
First person
-
Preverbal pronounwĂŻrĂ« yaruwarijrawĂŻrĂ« 1proyaruwa-ri=jra laugh-ipfv=negâI donât laugh.â (convrisamaj: 4)
-
Postverbal pronounkĂ«yaja wĂŻrĂ«kĂ«ya-ja think-negwĂŻrĂ« 1proâno sĂ© (auto)â (convfemgrme: 298)
-
PrefixuyĂŻwĂŻj yawĂ« usenejkari sukuri jwamau-y-ĂŻwĂŻj-â 1-lk-house-pertyawĂ« locu-senejka-ri 1-stay-ipfvsukuri silentlyjwama ***âI silently stay in my house.â (convrisamaj: 28)
-
Preverbal pronoun and prefixaaa usukuru morone ta, wĂŻrĂ« usujta ta neaaa ahu-suku-ru 1-urine-pertmorone hurtingta likewĂŻrĂ« 1prou-sujta-â 1-urinate-ipfvta likene intsâMy urine hurts, I will urinate.â (ctorat: 23)
- not attested: prefixed verb followed by pronoun
Second person
-
Prefixtototomo pata yaka mĂ«tĂ«jatoto-tomo non_Indian-plpata ?yaka allmĂ«-tĂ«-ja 2-go-negâyou can't (can't) go to the creoles' village (auto)â (convamgu: 7)
- not attested: pronoun
Third person
-
ZerowĂŻnĂŻjsewĂŻnĂŻj-se sleep-pstâHe slept.â (ctorat: 6)
-
Preverbal NPirĂ«jpĂ« tĂ«wĂŻ waijtatomo nwajtĂ«riirĂ«jpĂ« thentĂ«wĂŻ 3prowaijta-tomo mouse-plnwajtĂ«-ri dance-ipfvâThen the mice were dancing.â (ctorat: 16)
-
Postverbal NPwepĂŻrĂŻ makĂ«wepĂŻ-rĂŻ come-ipfvmakĂ« momâmi mamĂĄ comes (auto)â (histgrme: 83)
-
Preverbal pronountĂ«wĂŻ nwajtĂ«nĂ«pĂ«kĂ«tĂ«wĂŻ 3pronwajtĂ«-nĂ«pĂ«kĂ« dance-prog.intrâhe... he was dancing all the time. (auto)â (desccasagrme: 28)
-
Postverbal pronounĂ«'Ă«, tawara takĂŻ chapĂ«tiri tĂ«wĂŻĂ«'Ă« yestawara tootakĂŻ cnfrmchapĂ«tiri ***tĂ«wĂŻ 3proâyes, it also shouts that (auto)â (convfemgrme: 113)
- tĂ« âgoâ has an irregular third person marker ij- â3â
-
waraijtokon maniki irĂ«jpĂ« ijtĂ«sewaraijtokon manmaniki rel.animirĂ«jpĂ« thenij-tĂ«-se 3-go-pstâThen the man went.â (ctorat: 45)
Transitive clauses
There are several factors that play a role here:
- presence or absence of prefix
- presence or absence of pronouns and NPs
- order of free arguments
- presence or absence of ya âergâ
Third on third
-
preverbal pronoun with yatĂ«wĂŻ ya nepĂŻjpĂ« wejsapĂ«tĂ«wĂŻ 3proya ergnepĂŻ-jpĂ« bring-pstwej-sapĂ« cop-pfvâhe brought it (auto)â (convcosnoind: 132)
Questions
TBD
Multiclausal
Historically, the function of subordinate clauses was covered by nominalizations and adverbializations. For instance, a meaning like âafter I slept, I ateâ was expressed as âafter my sleepingâ, the verb being a noun syntactically, followed by a postposition.
argument of the matrix clause
adverbial adjunct
relative clause
differences & similarities to simple verb clauses?
order of arguments re: the verb (and each other)
case marking patterns
indexation
clausal particles
+mapping between matrix and subordinate
Word order variation
Transitive clauses
- clear tendency for VCop (as opposed to CopV)
-
wĂŻrĂ« inija tĂ«wĂŻwĂŻrĂ« 1proini-ja see-negtĂ«wĂŻ 3proâI did not see that (auto)â (histyarirdi: 615)
Nonverbal predication
Pragmatically marked constructions
- participant nominalizations for pseudo-clefts
Detransitive voice
- functions of detrz:
- antipassive
- passive
- reflexive
- reciprocal
- anticausative
- other strategies for removing participant:
- -se-mĂŻ âgnomicâ
- -nĂ« âinfâ
- what is not used for voice?
- -sapë
- participle
Issues with transitivity
- ya âergâ occurs with intransitives
- some transitive verbs occur with oblique-marked P arguments:
-
ati rĂ« warai mĂ«rĂ« iniri, irĂ«jpĂ« mĂ«yarika tiati whatrĂ« empwarai likemĂ«rĂ« 2proini-ri see-ipfvirĂ«jpĂ« thenmĂ«-yarika-â 2-laugh-ipfvti hsyâYou see something and then you laugh.â (convrisamaj: 1)
- some intransitive verbs can look like transitives:
-
Âż ati ejnĂ« yaruwari?ati whatejnĂ« 1+2proyaruwa-ri laugh-ipfvâWhat are we going to laugh about?â (convrisamaj: 12)
- not all transitive verbs take identifiable objects:
-
wĂŻrĂ« inija ta rĂ«wĂŻrĂ« 1proini-ja see-negta likerĂ« empâI havenât seen.â (convrisamaj: 44)
References
- CĂĄceres, Natalia. 2016. Nominal negation in Cariban. (Presentation given at Estructura de las Lenguas AmazĂłnicas VI).
- Gildea, Spike and Meira, SĂ©rgio. 2016. A Comparative survey of Verbal Negation in the Cariban Family. (Talk held at AmazĂłnicas VI).
- Gildea, Spike. 2018. Reconstructing the copula and nonverbal predicate constructions in Cariban. In Overall, Simon E. and Vallejos, Rosa and Gildea, Spike (eds.), Nonverbal predication in Amazonian languages, 365â402. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Koehn, Edward and Koehn, Sally. 1986. Apalai. In Derbyshire, Desmond C. and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (eds.), Handbook of Amazonian Languages, 33â127. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Dixon, Robert M. W. 2010. Basic linguistic theory volume 2: Grammatical topics. (2.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.