Enawene Nawe language

Last updated
Enawene Nawe
Salumã
Region Mato Grosso, Brazil
Ethnicity Enawene Nawe people
Native speakers
570 (2014) [1]
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3 unk
Glottolog enaw1238
ELP Enawené-Nawé

Enawene Nawe (Enawené-Nawé, Enawenê-Nawê, Eneuene-Mare), also known as Salumã, is an Arawakan language of Brazil spoken by about 570 people living in the Juruena River basin area, and more specifically along the Iquê river in the state of Mato Grosso.

Contents

Classification

Aikhenvald (1999) classifies Enawene Nawe as a South Arawak language together with Terena, Lapachu and Moxo. [1] However, more recent works by both Fabre (2005) and Brandão & Facundes (2007) consider the language to form a subgroup with Paresi in the Paresi–Xingu branch of Arawakan languages. [1]

Comparison of personal pronouns between Paresi and Enawene Nawe [2]
PersonParesiEnawene Nawe
1SGnatyonato
2SGhitsohixo
3SGezeere
1PLwitsowixo
2PLxitsodexo
3PLezenaeerenaha
Comparison of numbers [1] [3]
NumberParesiEnawene Nawe
onehatitaxoxola
twohinamainitini
threehanamakoytala
fourzalakakoanoxi
Comparison of other vocabulary [1] [3]
WordParesiEnawene Nawe
to fallezoaedoa
itchmare, maliwera
drinkera, terawesera
cornkozetokorito
eyezotseedose
househati, hanahakolo
vultureolohoolohõ
nightmakamikya
stonetsehalisairi
unclekokokokore
sourkatyalakatala
basketkohotohe
bathekoahanakohã
arrivekaokatakwa

Phonology

Consonants

Enawene Nawe is described by Zorthêa (2006) as having 15 contrastive consonants. [3]

Consonant inventory
Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless kw t t ky k k
voiced d d
Nasal m m n n ɲ ñ
Flap ɾ r
Fricative s s ʃ x h h
Approximant w w l l j y

Among these, the following allophonic variations are reported: [3] [4]

Consonant variations
TypeExamples
wvaries between [ w ] and [ b ] in word-initial position before the front vowels /e/ and /i/
  • wesera "to drink": [weseɾa~beseɾa]
  • wera "itch": [weɾa~beɾa]
mvaries between [ m ] and [ w ]
  • datamare "(mythical character)": [datamaɾe~datawaɾe]
  • Alame "(proper noun)": [alame~alawe]
dvaries between [ d ], [ s ], [ ɾ ] and [ l ]
  • datowa "tomorrow": [datowa~latowa]
  • derohi "ritual step": [deɾohi~leɾohi]
  • edoa "to fall": [edoa~eɾoa]
rvaries between [ ɾ ] and [ l ]
  • Kawari "(proper noun)": [kawaɾi~kawali]
  • korito "corn": [koɾito~kolito]
kvaries between [ k ] and [ g ] between vowelsnawenekota "I think": [nawenekota~nawenegota]
kyvaries between [ ] and [ ] between vowels
tvaries between [ t ] and [ d ] between vowels
  • atana "thunder": [atana~adana]
  • meta "tickle": [meta~meda]

Vowels

Enawene Nawe is described by Zorthêa (2006) as having 4 oral vowels and 4 nasal vowels. [3]

Oral
Front Back
Near-Close i i o ~ u o
Mid e ~ ɪ e
Open a a
Nasal
Front Back
Near-Close ĩ ĩ õ ~ ũ õ
Mid ~ ĩ
Open ʌ̃ ã

Grammar

Pronouns

Independent personal pronouns [2]
PersonSingularPlural
1stnatowixo
2ndhixodexo
3rdereerenaha

Numerals

The first eleven numbers in Enawene Nawe are as follows: [3]

NumberEnawene Nawe
1xoxola
2initini
3koytala
4noxi
5monarese,

eswe

6lolokwate
7lolate
8hoxiro
9mamalakari
10ketera
11darayti

Zorthêa (2006) notes that all numbers except initini (2) and monarese (5) can be preceded and followed by affixes. [3]

Affixes

Enawene Nawe makes use of a variety of suffixes and prefixes to derive different meanings from root words.

Gender suffixes

Zorthêa (2006) describes Enawene Nawe as having two suffixes to explicitly mark gender: -lo for the feminine gender and -re for the masculine. [3] De Almeida (2015), however, notes four suffixes: -nero and -lo mark the feminine gender, while -nere and -li mark the masculine. [4]

Examples from de Almeida (2015): [4]

  • Towalinero "a Towali woman"
  • Towalinere "a Towali man"
  • Iyakaloti "a female spirit"
  • Iyakaliti "a male spirit"

Place suffix

The suffix -kwa is used to mark places and is commonly found in village names. For example, the name of the Enawene Nawe village Matokodakwa is ultimately derived from matokoda, meaning "container for transporting liquids", and -kwa "place". [4]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Brandão, Ana Paula Barros (2014). "A reference grammar of Paresi-Haliti (Arawak)" (PDF). pp. 6–7. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  2. 1 2 Brandão, Ana Paula Barros (2018). "A documentação participativa: o caso das línguas Paresi-Haliti e Enawene Nawe" [The participatory documentation: the case of the Paresi-Haliti and Enawene Nawe languages] (in Portuguese). p. 101. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Zorthêa, Kátia Silene (2006). "Daraiti Ahã: Escrita alfabética entre os Enawene Nawe" [Daraiti Ahã: Alphabetical writing among Enawene Nawe](PDF) (in Portuguese). Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  4. 1 2 3 4 de Almeida, Juliana (2015). "Enawene-Nawe Wixo: Diferença e convivialidade na gestão sociopolítica do cosmos" [Enawene-Nawe Wixo: Difference and user-friendliness in the socio-political management of the cosmos](PDF) (in Portuguese). Universidade federal do Amazonas. Retrieved 2021-01-21.