A digital sketch grammar of Yawarana

Florian Matter and Natalia CĂĄceres Arandia and Spike Gildea
version 0.0.3
Abstract

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:

  • vowel system (ref)
  • plural marking (ref, ref, ref)
  • constituent order (ref)
  • expression of verbal arguments (ref, ref, ref)
  • presence or absence of the ergative marker ya ‘erg’ (ref)

Phonetics and phonology

Segmental phonetics and phonemes

The consonant phonemes of Yawarana are shown in ref, vowel phonemes in ref.

Consonant phonemes
bilabial alveolar palatal velar glottal
occlusive /p/ /t/ /tÍĄÊƒ/ /k/
nasal /m/ /n/ /ÉČ/
fricative /s/ /h/
liquid /r/
glide /w/ /j/
Vowel phonemes
front central back
close /i/ /Éš/ /u/
mid /e/ /ə/ /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 ❓

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 ‘fire’

Vowel harmony

  • progressive -ri ‘pert’
  • regressive /Ă«/ > /o/

Palatalization

  • -sapĂ« ‘pfv’
  • -se ‘pst’

Prosody

Lexical stress

Intonational Phrases

❓

Intonational Melodies

Historical Considerations

Parts of speech in Yawarana

Distinguishing parts of speech

Adverbs

  • copredicative function
  • no person inflection ❓
  • deriving aderbs: -ke ‘prop’ ❓

Postpositions

  • Koehn and Koehn 1986: 111 on ApalaĂ­: “Particles follow words of any class other than the ideophone, and never occur as free forms or in isolation.”

Shared morphology

  • shared prefixes between nouns and postpositions
  • shared clitics (?) with verbs

There are person indices shared between verbs one the one, and nouns and postpositions on the other hand:

  • u- ‘1’
  • mĂ«- ‘2’
  • (ej- ‘1+2’)

ta- ‘3p / 3’ is only found in verbs, while i-/t- ‘3’ and y- ‘lk’1 are only found on nouns and postpositions. All shared morphemes are likely recent innovations; there is no original inflectional morphology on verbs. Even within this shared set, nouns and postpositions behave differently from verbs.

Behavior of person indices on different POS.
clitic vi vt postp n
0 1
u1 1 / 2 / 3 1 / 2 1 / 2 1 / 2 / 3
ta-3 1 / 3
me2 1 / 2 1 / 2 2 1 / 2
i3 3 / o 1 / 3

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«. ❓ 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. ❗ ❓

Pronouns
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/prefixes❓ 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- ‘1’ on members of all three parts of speech is illustrated in ; illustrates the same distribution for mĂ«- ‘2’.

    1. irë nwa chipëkë usamori uyïpï incharë
      irë 3ana.inan
      nwa thus
      chipëkë because
      u-samo-ri 1-cry-ipfv
      u-yïpï-∅ 1-mountain-pert
      in-charë see-imn
      ‘that's why I'm crying seeing my hills (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 723)
    2. uyarë wïrë përemekïrï
      u-yarë 1-alone
      wïrë 1pro
      përemekï-rï talk-ipfv
      ‘I just talk.’ (convrisamaj: 46)
    1. weroro wëra këyetari mëmukuru
      weroro dog
      wëra like
      këyetari ?
      më-muku-ru 2-child-pert
      ‘your children grow up like dogs (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 160)
    2. mëtojpa wïrë
      mĂ«-tojpa-∅ 2-hit-ipfv
      wïrë 1pro
      ‘I will beat you to death (auto)’ (histpajirdi: 114)
    3. ¿ mëpana ma tataja wejsapë?
      më-pana 2-dat
      ma rst
      ta-ta-ja 3p-say-neg
      wejsapë ?
      ‘didn't he say it directly to you? (auto)’ (ctovarmafl: 443)

The third person demonstrative pronouns or articles are shown in ref. ❓ None of them have shortened and phonologically bound counterparts.

Demonstrative pronouns / articles
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: ❓ <span title=‘no examples of Ă«jkĂ« ’which?’’>❓
    • anĂŻkĂŻ ‘who’ (with -santomo)
    • ati ‘what’ (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). ❗

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. ❗ 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 ‘pert’, some take -ti. Unpossessed nouns generally are unmarked, but some 15 nouns ❓ bear the suffix -tĂ« ‘npert’ 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 ‘pert’ occurs . A handful of nouns ❓ is marked with -ri/-ti ‘pert’ when possessed and with -tĂ« ‘npert’ when not possessed . Another handful is unmarked when possessed and marked with -tĂ« ‘npert’ 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 .

  1. Nouns that take a suffix only when possessed:

    akajra-ri ‘X’s bow’ akajra ‘bow’
    y-amaka-ri ‘X’s yucca’ amaka ‘yucca’
    y-ĂĄntĂ«-ri ‘X’s fishhook’ antĂ« ‘fishhook’
    y-ateri-ri ‘X’s garden/field’ ateri ‘garden/field’
    Ă«nu-ru ‘X’s eye’ Ă«nu ‘eye’
    y-Ă«pi-ri ‘X’s medicine’ Ă«pi ‘medicine’

  1. Nouns that take one suffix when possessed and another when unpossessed:

    yĂ«-ri ‘X’s tooth’ yĂ«-tĂ« ‘tooth’
    pata-ri ‘X’s place’ pata-tĂ« ‘(part of name) San Juan de Manapiare’
    y-ese-ti ‘X’s name’ ese-tĂ« ‘name’
    y-ase-tĂŻ ‘X’s cord’ ase-tĂ« ‘cord’

  1. Nouns that take a suffix only when unpossessed:

    yĂ«jpĂ« ‘X’s bone’ yĂ«jpĂ«-tĂ« ‘bone’
    petĂŻ ‘X’s thigh’ petĂŻ-tĂ« / pej-tĂ« ‘thigh’
    y-aponi ‘X’s stool’ apon-tĂ« ‘stool’

  1. Nouns that never take a suffix, whether possessed or unpossessed:
    i-jmĂ«y ‘his egg’ Ă«jmĂ«y ‘egg’

Nominal number

There are several pluralization strategies for nouns. One is the suffix -tomo (-tom, -ton), which occurs on both possessed and unpossessed nouns .

    1. wurijyantomo rë wejsapë ijtë
      wurijyan-tomo woman-pl
      rë emp
      wejsapë ?
      ijtë ?
      ‘there were only women (auto)’ (conv1stenc: 123)
    2. tajne nankase takerejtomo ya
      tajne ?
      nanka-se find-pst
      t-akere-j-tomo 3-relative-pert-pl
      ya erg
      ‘his relatives found him (auto)’ (histpajirdi: 131)

It can be combined with the plural particle jne ; this particle can also be the only exponent of plural .

  1. wïrë najpïtomojne, wurijyantomojne sënka wara rë
    wïrë 1pro
    najpĂŻtomojne ?
    wurijyantomojne ?
    sĂ«nka-∅ finish-acnnmlz
    wara ?
    rë emp
    ‘as my grandparents disappear, the women (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 944)
  1. tipapëjsejne waijtajne
    tipa-pëj-se=jne go_in_group-plur-pst=pl
    waijta=jne mouse=pl
    ‘the mice went away.’ (ctorat: 40)

There is also the particle kontomo, which marks plurality of the possessor . Etymologically, it consists of an earlier *komo suffixed with -tomo ‘pl’.

  1. chimakontomo
    chima=kontomo path=pl
    ‘their path’ (histyarirdi: 539)

In many nouns, old plural markers have become lexicalized, like in wiriyamo ‘woman’ or waraijtokomo ‘man’, which show former *-yamĂ« and *komo.

Nominal tense

  • -jpĂ« ‘pst’

Argument prefixes

Person prefixes on nouns are conditioned by the initial segment (ref). C-initial nouns take i- ‘3’, and first and second person are bare u- ‘1’ and mĂ«- ‘2’. On V-initial nouns, third person is marked with t- ‘3’, and the first and second person prefixes combine with the linker y-. Some examples are shown in .

Possessive prefixes on nouns
_C _V
1 u- u-y-
2 më- më-y-
3 i- t-
  1. uyïwïj yawë usenejkari sukuri jwama
    u-y-ïwïj-∅ 1-lk-house-pert
    yawë loc
    u-senejka-ri 1-stay-ipfv
    sukuri silently
    jwama ***
    ‘I silently stay in my house.’ (convrisamaj: 28)
  1. tïwïj yaka waraijtokomo manikijpë
    t-ïwïj-∅ 3-house-pert
    yaka all
    waraijtokomo man
    manikijpë ***
    ‘He went to his house.’ (ctorat: 46)
  1. pïrarë ti iwenaru wejsapë
    pïrarë neg.exist
    ti hsy
    i-wena-ru 3-vomit-pert
    wej-sapë cop-pfv
    ‘their vomit was not there.’ (ctorat: 19)

The linker also occurs with (pro-)nominal possessors:

  1. toto yoti tajtoj mare
    toto non_Indian
    y-oti-∅ lk-meat-pert
    taj-toj say-circ.nmlz
    mare ?
    ‘what they call the food of the criollos (auto)’ (convcosnoind: 52)
  1. ati ke ejnë yoti yamanë wejsapë tëwï
    ati ?
    ke ins
    ejnë 1+2pro
    y-oti-∅ lk-meat-pert
    yamanĂ«-∅ make-ipfv
    wej-sapë cop-pfv
    tëwï 3pro
    ‘with that we used to prepare the meat (auto)’ (convcosnoind: 126)

There are some nouns ❗ that preserve the old second person a- ‘2’ (ref).❗

Archaic possessive prefixes on nouns
_C _V
1 u- u-y-
2 a- a-y-
3 i- t-

Root suppletion in nominal possession

  • ‘father’:
    • 1 papa
    • 2 Ă«mĂ« / omo / Ă«mo (?)
    • 3 imu
    • NP yĂŻmĂŻ
  • other candidates:
    • ‘arrow’
    • ‘house’
    • ‘poop’
    • ‘mother’
    • ‘hammock string’

Nominal Derivational Morphology

  • V → N
    • -ri ‘action nmlz’ ❗
    • -jpĂ« ‘pst.acnnmlz’
      • also ‘pst.abs.nmlz’ ❗
    • -nĂ« ‘inf’ or ‘generic action nominalizer’ ❗
      • wĂ«nkej-nĂ« from transitive wĂ«nkepĂŻ ‘forget’
    • -ni ‘agtnmlz’ ❗
    • n-V-ri only with yeme ‘eat (fruits, eggs, soup)’
    • -sapĂ« ‘abs.nmlz’ (contrast with -jpĂ« ‘pst.acnnmlz’)
    • -topo ‘circ.nmlz’
    • ‑pĂŻnĂŻ ‘priv.nmlz’ ❗
  • Adv → N
    • -mĂŻ ‘nmlz’
    • -ano ‘nmlz’
    • absence of -ato ‘nmlz’
  • Postp → N
    • -ano ‘nmlz’
  • N → N
    • discuss pĂŻjkĂ« and sere-kĂ« ‘manioc-DIM’ , reference sections
    • -imĂ«: e.g., wara ‘woman’ waraimĂ« ‘married woman’ (dictionary)
  • What about -jpĂ« ‘pst.acnnmlz’ on ad forms ? Does it derive a noun?
  1. pata penarëjpë mëtë ta, mërë Cerro Muñeca tajtoj mare toto ya
    pata ?
    penarëjpë ***
    mëtë ?
    ta ?
    mërë ?
    cerro ***
    muñeca ***
    taj-toj say-circ.nmlz
    mare ?
    toto non_Indian
    ya ?
    ‘here you can see the place where they lived, where the criollos call Cerro Muñeca (auto)’ (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 ‘kill’ takes ta- , but intransitive yaruwa ‘laugh’ does not . ❓

    1. iyawë chipëkë, tayawankase
      i-yawë 3-loc
      chipëkë because
      ta-yawanka-se 3p-kill-pst
      ‘therefore, he killed her (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 217)
    2. yaruwakontomo yatum ponoko
      yaruwakontomo ?
      yatum ?
      ponoko ***
      ‘They laugh every day.’ (convrisamaj: 42)
  • potential additional types:
    • detransitive
    • ditransitive
    • “n-adding”
    • accidental lability
    • ijtĂ«ri
  • note that all transitive verbs are consonant‑initial, whether etymologically or not because y- ‘lk’ is added to all vowel‑initial roots
  • the y‑ disappears when preceded by the detransitivizer ❗ ❓

Verbalizing suffixes

None of these are productive, although there are many lexemes derived with them.

Intransitive

❗

-ta / -na

-ta ‘vbz.intr’ derives intransitive verbs (ref).

Lexemes derived with -ta
Base Derivation
suku ‘urine’ sujta ‘urinate’
kaimo ‘game’ kaimota ‘hunt’
yoko ‘pimple’ yokota ‘grow pimple’
wereyi ‘cloud’ wereyta ‘cloud over’
wanapu ‘savannah’ wanaputa ‘grow savannah grass’
sakau ‘sand’ sakauta ‘get sandy’
roko ‘crazy’ rokota ‘become crazy’
punu ‘flesh’ punta ‘form pulp’
pikĂ« ‘fart’ pikĂ«ta ‘fart’
pichipichi ‘whitebait’ pichipichita ‘form whitebait’
naki ‘thirst’ nakita ‘be thirsty’
muku ‘child’ mukuta ‘have son’
moto ‘worm’ motota ‘fill with worms’
moroni ‘pain’ moronta ‘hurt’
mesuku ‘blood’ mesujta ‘bleed’
kĂ«mu ‘pus’ kĂ«muta ‘emit pus’
konopo ‘rain’ konopota ‘start rainy season’
kawono ‘high’ kawonota ‘get high’
chĂ«kĂ«y ‘nit’ chĂ«kĂ«yta ‘fill with nits’
chimichimi ‘worm (dog)’ chimichimita ‘fill with worms (dog)’
chikĂ« ‘chigger’ chikĂ«ta ‘get chiggers’
awochi ‘tumor’ awochita ‘form tumor’
asere ‘dry cough’ asereta ‘have dry cough’
aijkorono ‘recovered’ aijkoronota ‘recover’
ajpachi ‘undergrowth’ ajpachita ‘overgrows’
akï ‘worm / maggot’ akïta ‘fill with worms’
-pamĂŻ / -mamĂŻ

❗ ❗

Transitive

❗

-ka

-ka ‘vbz.tr’ derives transitive verbs. ❗

-jtë / -të
  • -jtĂ« ‘vbz.tr’ ❗
-ma / -pa
  • -ma ‘caus’ ❗

Valency-changing affixes

❗

Detransitivizing prefixes

  • Ă«j-
  • s-
  • at-

❓

Transitivizing suffixes

  • -ma ‘caus’ ❓ ❗
  • does -ka ‘vbz.tr’ go on intransitive verb stems?

Ditransitivizing suffixes

  • -po ‘caus’

Meaning-changing suffixes

  • -po ‘des’ (only occurs with -ri ‘ipfv’ and jra ‘neg’)
  • -pĂ«ti ‘plur’
  • cess ❓

Verbal inflection

❗

Person prefixes

Verbs are inflected for person with a set of prefixes, shown in ref.❗ ❓ 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.❗

Person marking prefixes on verbs
intr tr
1 u- u-
2 më- më-
1+2 ej- ej-
3 ∅ ta-
  • mĂ«- ‘2’ marking A in
  • is the verb in transitive?
  • those in and are subordinate
    1. michi ma mëyapëjjrama
      michi med.anim
      ma rst
      më-yapëj-jrama 2-grab-proh
      ‘do not touch this (auto)’ (ctovarmafl: 324)
    2. mëinija ka, aniki pinchi, tënësem warai yichapë, okonotojpe
      më-ini-ja 2-see-neg
      ka ?
      aniki who
      pinchi hes
      tënësem ***
      warai like
      yichapë ***
      okonotojpe ***
      ‘you have not seen a fish that is put on to dry (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 633)
    3. tëwï ma takï mëyakarama chijpë wararë kwa ta sënkatoj mëtë
      tëwï 3pro
      ma rst
      takĂŻ cnfrm
      mëyakarama ?
      chi-jpë cop-pst.acnnmlz
      wararë ?
      kwa how
      ta ?
      sënka-toj finish-circ.nmlz
      mëtë ?
      ‘tell us again how they ended up there (auto)’ (convhistfamsjm: 13)
    1. kwase mëëmpamïjpë ejnë waimu yaye
      kwase how
      më-ëmpamï-jpë 2-learn-pst
      ejnë 1+2pro
      waimu ?
      yaye loc
      ‘how you learned our language (auto)’ (convhistfamsjm: 15)
    2. irëjpë, kwaraijyawë rë mëëmpamïjpë tajto marë ti?
      irëjpë then
      kwaraijyawë ***
      rë emp
      më-ëmpamï-jpë 2-learn-pst
      tajto ***
      marë ?
      ti hsy
      ‘Afterwards, when did you learn what you say? (auto)’ (convhistfamsjm: 238)
    1. mërë warë mëyënëtojpano ka uyakërë mërë wepïrï
      mërë ?
      wa=rë thus=emp
      më-yënë-tojpano 2-eat(meat)-fut.concl
      ka ?
      u-y-akërë 1-lk-with
      mërë ?
      wepĂŻ-rĂŻ come-ipfv
      ‘so for you to eat you came with me? (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 43)
    2. mëyakarama mare
      mëyakarama ?
      mare ?
      ‘the one you are saying (auto)’ (ctoaragrme: 5)
  1. uyepematojpe pïrarë wïrë inawë
    uyepematojpe ?
    pïrarë neg.exist
    wïrë 1pro
    inawë have
    ‘I can't afford to pay (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 875)

Transitive local scenarios

    1. entë mëinpojra wïrë ya
      entë here.loc
      mĂ«-in-po-∅=jra 2-see-des-ipfv=neg
      wïrë 1pro
      ya erg
      ‘I don't want to see them here (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 231)
    2. mëini wïrë ya
      mĂ«-ini-∅ 2-see-ipfv
      wïrë 1pro
      ya erg
      ‘te voy a ver (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 232)
    3. tëwï ke ma mëyepema wïrë ya, ta ti ta
      tëwï 3pro
      ke ins
      ma rst
      mëyepema ?
      wïrë 1pro
      ya erg
      ta-∅ say-ipfv
      ti hsy
      ta like
      ‘I'll pay you with this," he said (auto)’ (ctovarmafl: 283)
  • one attested case of ta- ‘3>3’ on the lexical verb of a -pĂ«kĂ« construction w/ 2nd person a on aux ❓
    • Ø‑ ‘3p’ with transitive verbs with 1a or 2a
  • one example of mĂ«- ‘2a’ on imperative verb ❗
  • *t‑V‑se is no more — the t‑ is gone, except in lexicalized items

The third person prefix ta-

Main clause tense‑aspect‑mood‑polarity suffixes

Verbs in main clauses are inflected for TAMP with a set of suffixes, shown in ref. They are discussed in ref.

Verbal TAM suffixes
Suffix Function
-ri imperfective
-jpë past
-se past perfective
-sapë perfect
-sarë imminent future
-nëpëkë prog.intr
pëkë prog.tr
‑tojpano fut
(-tojpe) fut
-ja neg
-se-mï ‘obligation’
-në impersonal S
-topo
Non-declarative suffixes
Suffix Function
‑jrama proh
-i juss
-kĂ« / ‑tĂ«-kĂ« imp / imp.pl
-ta / -tantë-kë imp.mot / imp.mot.pl

Misc:

  • -se=pano ‘pst=concl’
  • -saj=pano ‘pfv=concl’
  • -sarĂ«=pano ‘imn=concl’

-ri

  • allomorphy:
    • most conservative form: -rĂŻ ‘ipfv’
    • most conservative form: -ri ‘ipfv’
    • -∅ ‘ipfv’, phonetic loss
    • -ru ‘ipfv’, assimilation
    • consistent zero before kontomo ‘pl’
    • inconsistent zero before jra ‘neg’, see ref
  • gave rise to -ri ‘acnnmlz’
  • plural with kontomo ‘pl’
  • negated with jra ‘neg’ , but potentially two distinct etymologies
  • emerging pattern: -ri ‘ipfv’ with postverbal (possessed?) arguments?
  1. wïrë yaruwarijra
    wïrë 1pro
    yaruwa-ri=jra laugh-ipfv=neg
    ‘I don’t laugh.’ (convrisamaj: 4)
Semantics
  • not specified for tense, just imperfective aspect:
    • past
    • future
    • gnomic/present?
    1. irëjpë tëwï waijtatomo nwajtëri
      irëjpë then
      tëwï 3pro
      waijta-tomo mouse-pl
      nwajtë-ri dance-ipfv
      ‘Then the mice were dancing.’ (ctorat: 16)
  1. ¿ kwase ejnë yaruwari?
    kwase how
    ejnë 1+2pro
    yaruwa-ri laugh-ipfv
    ‘How will we laugh?’ (convrisamaj: 6)
    1. wïrë yaruwarijra
      wïrë 1pro
      yaruwa-ri=jra laugh-ipfv=neg
      ‘I don’t laugh.’ (convrisamaj: 4)
    2. uyïwïj yawë usenejkari sukuri jwama
      u-y-ïwïj-∅ 1-lk-house-pert
      yawë loc
      u-senejka-ri 1-stay-ipfv
      sukuri silently
      jwama ***
      ‘I silently stay in my house.’ (convrisamaj: 28)

-jpë

  • allomorphy: none?
  • diachrony: from -jpĂ« ‘pst.acnnmlz’
  • negated with jra ‘neg’
  • ❓
  1. tëwïsantomo wïrë wejyatë këyetajpëjra
    tëwïsantomo 3pro.pl
    wïrë 1pro
    wejyatë ***
    këyetajpëjra ?
    ‘they did not grow up with me (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 186)

-se

  • allomorphy: -se/-che ‘ptcp / sup’
  • diachrony: from -se ‘ptcp / sup’
  • negation: replaced with -ja ‘neg’ (see also ref)
  1. wëjkaja, ana tëse neke ne
    wëjka-ja fall-neg
    ana 1+3pro
    tëse ?
    neke cntr
    ne ints
    ‘no nos caimos, nosotros nos fuimos (auto)’ (conv1stenc: 28)
  • plural: kontomo ‘pl’
  1. tipasekontomo warë irëjpë pïrarë
    tipa-se=kontomo go_in_group-pst=pl
    wa=rë thus=emp
    irëjpë then
    pïrarë neg.exist
    ‘They left and were gone.’ (ctorat: 30)

❓

-sapë

  • diachrony: from -sapĂ« ‘abs.nmlz’
  • distribution: only occurs on the copula?
  • allomorphy: -sapĂ« and -saj
  • negation: with -ja ‘neg’ on lexical verb ❓
  1. irë wejtane mujyampe patakaja wejsapë
    irë 3ana.inan
    wejtane ?
    mujyam=pe pregnancy=ess
    pataka-ja take_out-neg
    wejsapë ?
    ‘despite this, she did not get pregnant (auto)’ (ctoaragrme: 38)
  1. apatakaja pïnïka wejsapë
    apataka-ja come_out-neg
    pĂŻnĂŻka ***
    wejsapë ?
    ‘maybe she did not come out (pregnant) (auto)’ (ctoaragrme: 39)
  1. tayakïjtëja pïnika wejsapë
    tayakïjtëja ***
    pĂŻnika ?
    wejsapë ?
    ‘maybe he didn't sleep with her (auto)’ (ctoaragrme: 40)
  • what about ? is that existential negation?
  1. pïrarë ti iwenaru wejsapë
    pïrarë neg.exist
    ti hsy
    i-wena-ru 3-vomit-pert
    wej-sapë cop-pfv
    ‘their vomit was not there.’ (ctorat: 19)

-sarë

  • once a converb, now ‘imminent future’
  1. irëjpë ta ti ta konopo wejsarë konopo wejsarë
    irëjpë then
    ta-∅ say-ipfv
    ti hsy
    ta like
    konopo rain
    wej-sarë come-imn
    konopo rain
    wej-sarë come-imn
    ‘Then they said: “it’s raining, it’s raining”.’ (ctorat: 25)
  1. moyochi tasarë, moyochi chipokono kojpaye pïnika warotari
    moyochi spider(sp.)
    tasarë ?
    moyochi spider(sp.)
    chipokono because
    kojpaye at_night
    pĂŻnika ?
    warotari ?
    ‘called a spider, perhaps because the spider works at night. (auto)’ (ctoaragrme: 25)

Subordinate Clause markers

❗

  • Nominalizations
    • -ri ‘acnnmlz’
    • -jpĂ« ‘pst.acnnmlz’
    • -topo ‘circ.nmlz’
  • Adverbial Clauses (S/A)
    • -se ‘supine’
    • -tane ‘concessive’
    • -sarĂ« ‘converb’
    • ‑yapo ‘neg.purp’
    • others?
  • Nominalization + postposition (S/P)
    • -∅ ‘ipfv’yawĂ« ‘when’
    • -∅ ‘ipfv’ pe ‘ess’ ‘when’
    • -saj ‘abs.nmlz’yawĂ« ‘simult’
    • -tojpe ‘purpose’
    • (‑jpĂ«)=tĂ«rĂ« ‘after’
    • on auxiliary: -ri + po ‘ctrf’
  • not attested:
    • se ‘des’
    • -ajtawĂŻ ‘if when’

Number

  • -ri=kontomo
  • -sapĂ«=kontomo
  • -saj-se=jne
  • -se=jne=kontomo
  • -se=jne=pano (-se=jne=kontom=pano?)
  • -tĂ«-kĂ« for the imperative
  • what about -i ‘juss’?

Copula / Auxiliary

❗ ❓ ❓ ❗ * there is (synchronically suppletive) stem allomorphy: chi and wej * marĂ« ‘rel.inan’ and manĂŻkĂŻ ‘rel.anim’

Postpositions

postposition

Defining the category

  • monomorphemic vs bipartite (vs ‘stacked’)

Inflectional morphology

Postpositions take the same inflectional prefixes as nouns (ref). ❓

Person marking prefixes on postpositions
_V _C
1 u-y- u-
2 më-y- më-
1+2 ejnë y- ejnë
3 i- t-
NP y- ∅

Also:

  • kontomo ‘pl’
  • Ă«sĂ«- ‘detrz’

Locative Postpositions

  • clear bipartite Ground+Path
  • unproductive Bipartite X+Path?
  • other forms
Locative postpositions
all loc
inside yaka yawë
aquatic ? ?

❓

  • poye ‘above’

  • po ‘locative’

  • yatĂ« ‘locative’

  • yapo ‘negation’?

  • allative:

  1. tichikimuru, peti warë patakasapë Yakucho pana
    tichikimuru ***
    peti leg
    wa=rë thus=emp
    patakasapë ?
    yakucho ?
    pana ?
    ‘his knee, his leg, went out (sore) towards Ayacucho (auto)’ (histpajirdi: 186)

Nonlocative Oblique Postpositions

  • pana ‘dat’
  • ke ‘ins’
  • wanai

Misc

  • chi ‘cop’ combines with yawĂ« ‘loc’, sometimes spelled chi yawĂ«, sometimes chawĂ«.
  • syllable reduction
  • postpositions on bare verbs? (e.g. wejtawĂ«)
  • particles can intervene
    • pano ‘fmr’
    • no others found so far
  1. chayi, muku tase ta makë pano ya
    chayi ***
    muku child
    ta-se say-pst
    ta like
    makë mom
    pano fmr
    ya ?
    ‘sons, daughters, said my late mother (auto)’ (convamgu: 5)
  1. aniki narëpe yakërë ejnë përemekïrï, ejnë pëkëpene, wanene
    aniki who
    narëpe part
    y-akërë lk-with
    ejnë 1+2pro
    përemekï-rï talk-ipfv
    ejnë 1+2pro
    pëkëpene alone
    wanene aunt
    ‘Who are we gonna talk to? We’re alone, aunt.’ (convrisamaj: 47)

Particles, ideophones and interjections

particle ideophone interjection

Particles

Three kinds of particles elsewhere in the family:

  1. second position (modals, focus)
  2. phrasal (focus)
  3. clause boundary
  • prosodic effects?

Ideophones

  • constructions with nwa ‘thus’? (example with pĂŻtĂŻ ‘paint’)

Interjections

  • kind of particle?

Negation

There are a number of negation strategies in Yawarana. The most general negator is the particle jra ‘neg’, which can negate a number of constructions. It occurs encliticized to transitive and intransitive verbs , nouns , adverbs , and postpositions .

    1. kukurujra tëwï
      kuku-ru=jra answer-ipfv=neg
      tëwï 3pro
      ‘do not imitate (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 124)
    2. uyarë wïrë wïnïkïrïjra
      uyarë ?
      wïrë 1pro
      wĂŻnĂŻkĂŻ-rĂŻ=jra sleep-ipfv=neg
      ‘I did not sleep apart (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 183)
    3. aaa, ijtarijra ta
      aaa ah
      i-jta-ri=jra 3-foot-pert=neg
      ta ?
      ‘ah, without his legs (auto)’ (ctovarmafl: 36)
    4. entë ma teijpojra wejtane
      entë here.loc
      ma rst
      teijpo=jra far=neg
      wejtane ?
      ‘although it is close to here (auto)’ (convestsjm: 35)
    5. toto waimu yayejra
      toto non_Indian
      waimu ?
      yaye=jra loc=neg
      ‘not in Spanish (auto)’ (convhistfamsjm: 244)

On verbs, it sometimes occurs with an overt allomorph of -ri ‘ipfv’ , sometimes its zero allomorph, shown in .

  1. wïrë wajyakïtïjra taro wïrë ta wïrë ya
    wïrë 1pro
    wajyakïtï-∅=jra be_happy-ipfv=neg
    taro-∅ say-ipfv
    wïrë 1pro
    ta-∅ say-ipfv
    wïrë 1pro
    ya erg
    ‘I’m saying I am not happy.’ (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 ‘neg’, it may occur for a different reason entirely. Historically, a verb suffixed with *-rï and followed by a particle *pïra was a distinct construction from a verb with an adverbializing negative suffix *-pïra and followed by a copula (Gildea and Meira 2016, Cáceres 2016).

Verbal negation

-ja ‘neg’

-ja ‘neg’ is pluralized with the postverbal particle kontomo ‘pl’. It is the negative counterpart to -se ‘pst’.

❗

-jnari ‘neg’

  • very rare
  • etymology unknown
  • occurs on verbs
  • never preceded by TAM (?)
  • occurs with -po ‘des’

-jrama ‘proh’

  • prohibitive
  • coexists with V=jra ‘neg’ COP-kĂ« ‘imp’
  1. nwarë mëtëpëtiri, tëpëtijra sejkë
    nwa=rë thus=emp
    mëtëpëtiri ?
    tĂ«pĂ«ti-∅=jra go(PLUR)-ipfv=neg
    sejkë ?
    ‘you're going to go like this, you can't go like this (auto)’ (histyarirdi: 894)

Others

  • -kempĂŻnirĂ« ‘ptcp.nzr.gno:neg’
  • ‑yapo ‘neg.purp’

Nominal negation

jra ‘neg’

Negative nonverbal predication

  • pĂŻnirĂ« ‘neg’
  • pĂŻrarĂ« ‘neg.exist’
  • pĂŻni ‘neg’

Other negation

Auxiliarized constructions

claim: everything can take an auxiliary, except -kĂ« ‘imp’

❗ ❓ ❓ ❓

Defining auxiliaries

Main clauses

  • multiple auxiliaries

Subordinate clauses

  • chi=pĂ«kĂ«
  • chi=yawĂ«/chawĂ«
  • 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, Ye’kwana, 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

  • “existential particles” (mĂ«tĂ«, mĂŻntĂ«, entĂ«, ijtĂ«)
    • etymologically locatives, used for existential function. they can co-occur with the existential negative pĂŻrarĂ« ,
    • also occur in locative function ,
    • also combine with postpositional locatives , though more often not part of the clause? , ,
  • the copula

    • almost always occurs with adverbs
      • counterexample:
      • not when negated
    • can occur with locatives and existential particles
      • fairly solid pattern of copula serving as a location for past marking existential function: compare mostly past with nonpast
      • however, no such pattern with locatives: copula and no copula show no salient distribution
    • almost never occurs with nouns
      • only counterexample: nppred cop with ‘sick’ ; can occur without cop, too
    • does not combine with pĂŻrarĂ« ‘neg.exist’
      • one counterexample with partpred + pĂŻrarĂ« + cop + npsubj is with a concessive ❓
      • it does occur with pĂŻnirĂ« ‘neg’, though , ❓
    • is always present in subordinate clauses (chi-yawĂ« ‘when’, chi-pĂ«ke ‘because’) ❓
      • even with nominal predicates: ,
      • one example of negation, occurs on additional copula
      • one example of chi chipokono
  • several negation strategies:
    • jra ‘neg’ for adverbs and on nouns in the existential pĂŻrarĂ« npsubjjra construction
    • pĂŻnirĂ« ‘neg’ for nominal predicates and ones with locative particles
    • pĂŻrarĂ« ‘neg.exist’ for existential predicates
      • also for identification?
    • -ja or -jnari on the copula
  • order is fairly flexible; potentially rigid advpred npsubj cop, though negated counterexample
  • unclear role of manĂŻkĂŻ ‘rel.anim’ in nppred + npsubj construction
  • construction with two copulas chi wejsapĂ«? , , , ❗

Categorization issues

  • possessives vs properties can be hard to distinguish (‘footed’, etc.)
  • locative predicates are teeming with “existential” particles: largely went by ‘estar’ vs ‘haber’ in translation, with the exception of
  • ❓

Simple verbal clauses

❗

  • order of arguments re: the verb (and each other)
  • case marking patterns
  • indexation
  • clausal particles

Intransitive clauses

First person

  1. Preverbal pronoun
    wïrë yaruwarijra
    wïrë 1pro
    yaruwa-ri=jra laugh-ipfv=neg
    ‘I don’t laugh.’ (convrisamaj: 4)
  1. Postverbal pronoun
    këyaja wïrë
    këya-ja think-neg
    wïrë 1pro
    ‘no sĂ© (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 298)
  1. Prefix
    uyïwïj yawë usenejkari sukuri jwama
    u-y-ïwïj-∅ 1-lk-house-pert
    yawë loc
    u-senejka-ri 1-stay-ipfv
    sukuri silently
    jwama ***
    ‘I silently stay in my house.’ (convrisamaj: 28)
  1. Preverbal pronoun and prefix
    aaa usukuru morone ta, wïrë usujta ta ne
    aaa ah
    u-suku-ru 1-urine-pert
    morone hurting
    ta like
    wïrë 1pro
    u-sujta-∅ 1-urinate-ipfv
    ta like
    ne ints
    ‘My urine hurts, I will urinate.’ (ctorat: 23)
  • not attested: prefixed verb followed by pronoun

Second person

  1. Prefix
    tototomo pata yaka mëtëja
    toto-tomo non_Indian-pl
    pata ?
    yaka all
    më-të-ja 2-go-neg
    ‘you can't (can't) go to the creoles' village (auto)’ (convamgu: 7)
  • not attested: pronoun

Third person

  1. Zero
    wĂŻnĂŻjse
    wĂŻnĂŻj-se sleep-pst
    ‘He slept.’ (ctorat: 6)
  1. Preverbal NP
    irëjpë tëwï waijtatomo nwajtëri
    irëjpë then
    tëwï 3pro
    waijta-tomo mouse-pl
    nwajtë-ri dance-ipfv
    ‘Then the mice were dancing.’ (ctorat: 16)
  1. Postverbal NP
    wepïrï makë
    wepĂŻ-rĂŻ come-ipfv
    makë mom
    ‘mi mamá comes (auto)’ (histgrme: 83)
  1. Preverbal pronoun
    tëwï nwajtënëpëkë
    tëwï 3pro
    nwajtë-nëpëkë dance-prog.intr
    ‘he... he was dancing all the time. (auto)’ (desccasagrme: 28)
  1. Postverbal pronoun
    ë'ë, tawara takï chapëtiri tëwï
    Ă«'Ă« yes
    tawara too
    takĂŻ cnfrm
    chapëtiri ***
    tëwï 3pro
    ‘yes, it also shouts that (auto)’ (convfemgrme: 113)
  • tĂ« ‘go’ has an irregular third person marker ij- ‘3’
  1. waraijtokon maniki irëjpë ijtëse
    waraijtokon man
    maniki rel.anim
    irëjpë then
    ij-të-se 3-go-pst
    ‘Then the man went.’ (ctorat: 45)

Transitive clauses

There are several factors that play a role here:

  1. presence or absence of prefix
  2. presence or absence of pronouns and NPs
  3. order of free arguments
  4. presence or absence of ya ‘erg’

Third on third

  1. preverbal pronoun with ya
    tëwï ya nepïjpë wejsapë
    tëwï 3pro
    ya erg
    nepï-jpë bring-pst
    wej-sapë cop-pfv
    ‘he brought it (auto)’ (convcosnoind: 132)

Questions

TBD

Multiclausal

Historically, the function of subordinate clauses was covered by nominalizations and adverbializations. For instance, a meaning like ‘after I slept, I ate’ was expressed as ‘after my sleeping’, 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)
  1. wïrë inija tëwï
    wïrë 1pro
    ini-ja see-neg
    tëwï 3pro
    ‘I did not see that (auto)’ (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 ‘gnomic’
    • -nĂ« ‘inf’
  • what is not used for voice?
    • -sapĂ«
    • participle

Issues with transitivity

  • ya ‘erg’ occurs with intransitives
  • some transitive verbs occur with oblique-marked P arguments:
  1. ati rë warai mërë iniri, irëjpë mëyarika ti
    ati what
    rë emp
    warai like
    mërë 2pro
    ini-ri see-ipfv
    irëjpë then
    mĂ«-yarika-∅ 2-laugh-ipfv
    ti hsy
    ‘You see something and then you laugh.’ (convrisamaj: 1)
  • some intransitive verbs can look like transitives:
  1. ¿ ati ejnë yaruwari?
    ati what
    ejnë 1+2pro
    yaruwa-ri laugh-ipfv
    ‘What are we going to laugh about?’ (convrisamaj: 12)
  • not all transitive verbs take identifiable objects:
  1. wïrë inija ta rë
    wïrë 1pro
    ini-ja see-neg
    ta like
    rë emp
    ‘I haven’t seen.’ (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, 365–402. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
  • Koehn, Edward and Koehn, Sally. 1986. Apalai. In Derbyshire, Desmond C. and Pullum, Geoffrey K. (eds.), Handbook of Amazonian Languages, 33–127. Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
  • Dixon, Robert M. W. 2010. Basic linguistic theory volume 2: Grammatical topics. (2.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.