Pykobjê dialect

Pykobjê (also Gavião-Pykobjê)[2] Pykobjê-Gavião,[1] Gavião,[3] Pyhcopji, or Gavião-Pyhcopji[4]:11) is a dialect of Pará Gavião, a Northern Jê language, spoken by the Gavião-Pykobjê people in Terra Indígena Governador close to Amarante, Maranhão, Brazil.

Pykobjê
Krĩkatí
Native toBrazil
RegionMaranhão
EthnicityGavião
Native speakers
600 (2010)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3xri
Glottologkrik1239  Pykobjê
krin1238  Krinkati
ELPKrikatí

Krĩkatí[4]:11 (also Krinkati[2]:6 or Krikati[3]) is spoken by the Krĩkatí people in Terra Indígena Krikati in Maranhão.

Pykobjê and Krĩkatí differ in that Pykobjê retains the velar nasal /ŋ/ of Proto-Timbira[5] (spelt g in the orthography, as in cagã 'snake', gõr 'to sleep'), which Krĩkatí has replaced with /h/ (cahã, hõr),[2]:22,158 as well as in having a voiceless fricative allophone [s ~ ʃ] of /j/ (spelt x, as in cas 'pacará basket', hõhmtyx 'his/her wrist'), which occurs in the coda position only and corresponds to [j] in all other Timbira varieties, including Krĩkatí.[2]:21

There is a Krĩkatí-Portuguese dictionary by a New Tribes Mission missionary.[3]

The remainder of this article describes Pykobjê specifically.

Morphology

Finiteness morphology

As in all other Northern Jê languages,[6] verbs in Pykobjê inflect for finiteness and thus have a basic opposition between a finite (or short) form and a nonfinite (or long) form. Finite forms are used in matrix non-past clauses only, whereas nonfinite forms are used in all types of subordinate clauses as well as in some matrix clauses (such as past, negated or quantified).[2]:101 Nonfinite forms are most often formed via suffixation and/or prefix substitution. Some verbs (including all descriptives with the exception of cato ‘to leave, to arrive, to appear’, whose nonfinite form is cator) lack an overt finiteness distinction.

The following nonfinite suffixes have been attested: -r (the most common option, found in many transitive and intransitive verbs), -n (found in some transitive verbs), as well as -c, -m, and -x (found in a handful of intransitive verbs which take a nominative subject when finite).[6]:543

Nonfinite suffixes in Pykobjê
finitenonfinitegloss
suffix -r
momorto go slowly
pẽh-pẽhrto extinguish
coh-’cohrto eat (a part)
cahucahurto suck, to eat soft food
-’coohquehj-’coohcjirto ask
suffix -n
pe-’pento drink up
pu-punto untie
cwy-’cwynto dig
-’coohpỳ-’coohpỳnto gnaw
-’coh’tu-’coh’tunto spit
suffix -c
tyh-’tyhcto die
ry-rycto rain
suffix -m
tẽ-’tẽmto go (singular)
ẽhjcõ-’cõmto drink
xamto stand (singular)
suffix -x
aacji-ncjixto enter (plural)


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(a)-, aw- (antipassive) in finite verb forms, but -pe(e)h-, -pẽh-[2]:112 and -jỳ-,[2]:111/-jõh-,[2]:144–5 respectively, in the nonfinite forms. In addition, some verbs which denote physiological activities or movement have a prefix (ehj- and aa-, respectively) in their finite forms but not in the nonfinite form. Some examples are given below.[3]

Finiteness and prefix alternations in Pykobjê
finitenonfinitegloss
anticausatives
axpa-pehxparto grieve
axpoh-pehxpohto fight
amteh-pẽhmtehrto dream
ampraa-pẽhmpraato wake up
ajquẽ-peehquẽnto dance
ajcapu-pehcapunto split up in two
ajri-peehrinto get torn
antipassives
aapi-jỳyhpinto fish
aapi-jỳyhpirto blow (of wind)
aapỳ-jỳyhpỳto eat
a’tip-jỳ’tipto come close
awjacu-jõhjacurto smoke
awjãarẽ-jõhjãarẽnto narrate
awjahi-jõhjahirto hunt
awcapeh-jõhcapehto choose
awpa-jõhparto be able to hear
awpỹ-jõhpỹrto be able to smell
awryh-jõhwryhto travel far away, to be far away
physiological verbs
ẽhj-’cõmto drink
ẽhjtoh-’tohrto urinate
ẽhjcwỳ-’cwỳrto defecate
movement verbs
aajitjitto hang (singular)
aaxỳ-xỳrto enter (singular)
aacji-ncjixto enter (plural)

Productive affixes

Pykobjê widely uses the diminutive suffix -re and the augmentative suffix -teh, which may combine with nouns and descriptive predicates.[2]:36–7

Instrumental/locative nominalizations are formed by means of the suffix -xỳ,[2]:47 which attached to the nonfinite forms of verbs.

References

  1. Silva, Talita Rodrigues da. "Pykobjê". Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. Sá Amado, Rosane de (2004). Aspectos morfofonológicos do Gavião-Pykobjê (PDF) (Ph.D. dissertation). São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.
  3. Pries, Stanley T. (2008). Dicionário Gavião-Krikati.
  4. Nikulin, Andrey (2020). Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (PDF) (Ph.D. dissertation). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
  5. Ribeiro-Silva, Nandra (2020). Reconstrução fonológica do Proto-Timbira (Ph.D. dissertation). Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará.
  6. Nikulin, Andrey; Salanova, Andrés Pablo (October 2019). "Northern Jê Verb Morphology and the Reconstruction of Finiteness Alternations". International Journal of American Linguistics. 85 (4): 533–567. doi:10.1086/704565.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.