Macushi language
Macushi | |
---|---|
Native to | Macushi |
Native speakers | 18,000 (2006)[1] |
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mbc |
Glottolog | macu1259 |
ELP | Makushi |
Macushi is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Macushi is an indigenous language of the Carib family spoken in Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. It is also referred to as Makushi, Makusi, Macuxi, Macusi, Macussi, Teweya or Teueia. It is the most populous of the Cariban languages. According to Instituto Socioambiental, the Macushi population is at an estimated 43,192, with 33,603 in Brazil, 9,500 in Guyana and 89 in Venezuela.[2] In Brazil, the Macushi populations are located around northeastern Roraima, Rio Branco, Contingo, Quino, Pium and Mau rivers. Macuxi speakers in Brazil, however, are only estimated at 15,000.
Crevels (2012:182) lists Macushi as “potentially endangered”,
History
Based on information provided by anthropologist Paulo Santilli for Instituto Socioambiental, the Macuxi people have faced adversity since the 18th century, due to the presence of non-indigenous groups.
Nowadays, the Macushi territory in Brazil consists of three territorial blocks: Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory (the most extensive and populated), San Marcos Indigenous Territory and small areas that surround isolated villages in the extreme northwest of the Macushi Territory. In the 1970s, Macushi political leaders started to step up, acting as mediators between their indigenous community members as well as the agents of national society. While these areas were officially recognized and demarcated as official indigenous territories in 1993, however, it has not been a smooth road for the Macushi communities. Since then, the Brazilian government has set up school and hospitals for the Macushi community.
Phonology
Consonants
Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop
|
Voiceless | p pː |
t tː |
k kː |
ʔ | |||
Voiced | b | d
|
ɡ | |||||
Fricative
|
Voiceless | s | ʃ | h | ||||
Voiced | β | ð | z | ʒ | ||||
Nasal | m | n
|
ɲ | ŋ | ||||
Flap
|
ɾ | |||||||
Approximant
|
w | j |
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | ɨ | u |
Mid | e | ə | o |
ɛ | ɔ | ||
Open | a |
Nasality also occurs, and is transcribed with a [ã] mark.[6]
The suprasegmental system consists of a high and low or unmarked pitch at the word level”,[7] such as in: átí ‘you go’ and ‘àtí’ ‘he goes’. High pitch is considered the marked pitch, and can be found on the final, penultimate or antepenultimate syllable of the word.
Syntax
Numerals
Macuxi numerals precede the noun they modify. When both the demonstrative and numeral occur before the noun, it is irrelevant to the semantic value of the noun. It is also acceptable for the numeral to start a nominal clause.[7]
saki-naŋ
two-NOM-PL
a’anai
cornstalk
yepuupî
skin
imî-rîî-seŋ
ripe-DET-NOM
‘Two ears of corn are ripe.’
saakrîrî-on-koŋ
four-NOM-POSS-PL
ma-ni
those
kanoŋ
guava
'Those four guavas.
Quantifiers
According to Carson, the native numeral system in Macushi is not adequate to express large numbers. The following quantifiers would be used instead:
Macushi | English |
---|---|
tamîmarî | 'all' |
pampî | 'more/much'
(more as an intensifier) |
mara-rî | 'little/few' |
mara-rî-perá | 'several' |
References
- ^ Macushi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b "Macuxi - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ISBN 9783110258035
- ^ "UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger". www.unesco.org. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ Abbott, Miriam (1991). "Macushi". In Derbyshire, Desmond C.; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (eds.). Handbook of Amazonian Languages. Vol. 3. Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 23–160.
- ^ a b Carla Maria Cunha (2004), Um estudo de fonologia da língua Makuxi (karib): inter-relações das teorias fonológicas (PDF) (in Portuguese)
- ^ a b Carson, Neusa M (1981). "Phonology and morphosyntax of Macuxi (Carib)". University of Kansas. Doctoral Dissertation.
External links
- Macushi words on Wiktionary by Guy Marco Sr
- Macushi (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)
- A Study of the Phonology of the Macushi Language (PDF) (in Portuguese)
- "Macushi Words (Makushi, Makusi, Macusi)".
- "Colour words in Macushi" (PDF).
- The New Testament in the Macushi Language of Brazil (PDF).