Arawakan languages


Arawakan, also known as Maipurean, is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branches migrated to Central America and the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, including what is now the Bahamas. Among South American countries, only present-day Ecuador, Uruguay, and Chile have never had peoples who spoke Arawakan languages. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock.
The name Maipure was given to the family by Filippo S. Gilij in 1782, after the Maipure language of Venezuela, which he used as a basis of his comparisons. It was renamed after the culturally more important Arawak language a century later. The term Arawak took over, until its use was extended by North American scholars to the broader Macro-Arawakan proposal. At that time, the name Maipurean was resurrected for the core family. See Arawakan vs Maipurean for details.

Language contact

As one of the most geographically widespread language families in all of the Americas, Arakawan linguistic influence can be found in many language families of South America. Jolkesky notes that there are lexical similarities with the Arawa, Bora-Muinane, Guahibo, Harakmbet-Katukina, Harakmbet, Katukina-Katawixi, Irantxe, Jaqi, Karib, Kawapana, Kayuvava, Kechua, Kwaza, Leko, Macro-Jê, Macro-Mataguayo-Guaykuru, Mapudungun, Mochika, Mura-Matanawi, Nambikwara, Omurano, Pano-Takana, Pano, Takana, Puinave-Nadahup, Taruma, Tupi, Urarina, Witoto-Okaina, Yaruro, Zaparo, Saliba-Hodi, and Tikuna-Yuri language families due to contact.

Languages

Classification of Maipurean is difficult because of the large number of Arawakan languages that are extinct and poorly documented. However, apart from transparent relationships that might constitute single languages, several groups of Maipurean languages are generally accepted by scholars. Many classifications agree in dividing Maipurean into northern and southern branches, but perhaps not all languages fit into one or the other. The three classifications below are accepted by all:
An early contrast between Ta-Arawak and Nu-Arawak, depending on the prefix for "I", is spurious; nu- is the ancestral form for the entire family, and ta- is an innovation of one branch of the family.

Kaufman (1994)

The following classification is from Kaufman. Details of established branches are given in the linked articles. In addition to the family tree detailed below, there are a few languages that are "Non-Maipurean Arawakan languages or too scantily known to classify", which include these:
Another language is also mentioned as "Arawakan":
Including the unclassified languages mentioned above, the Maipurean family has about 64 languages. Out of them, 29 languages are now extinct: Wainumá, Mariaté, Anauyá, Amarizana, Jumana, Pasé, Cawishana, Garú, Marawá, Guinao, Yavitero, Maipure, Manao, Kariaí, Waraikú, Yabaána, Wiriná, Aruán, Taíno, Kalhíphona, Marawán-Karipurá, Saraveca, Custenau, Inapari, Kanamaré, Shebaye, Lapachu, and Morique.
;Northern Maipurean
;Southern Maipurean
Kaufman does not report extinct Magiana of the Moxos group.

Aikhenvald (1999)

Apart from minor decisions on whether a variety is a language or a dialect, changing names, and not addressing several poorly attested languages, Aikhenvald departs from Kaufman in breaking up the Southern Outlier and Western branches of Southern Maipurean. She assigns Salumã and Lapachu to what is left of Southern Outlier ; breaks up the Maritime branch of Northern Maipurean, though keeping Aruán and Palikur together; and is agnostic about the sub-grouping of the North Amazonian branch of Northern Maipurean.
The following breakdown uses Aikhenvald's nomenclature followed by Kaufman's:
;North Arawak = Northern Maipurean
;South and South-Western Arawak = Southern Maipurean
Aikhenvald classifies Kaufman's unclassified languages apart from Morique. She does not classify 15 extinct languages which Kaufman had placed in various branches of Maipurean.
Aikhenvald classifies Mawayana with Wapishana together under a Rio Branco branch, giving for Mawayana also the names "Mapidian" and "Mawakwa".

Ramirez (2001)

Internal classification of Arawakan by Henri Ramirez :
Walker & Ribeiro, using Bayesian computational phylogenetics, classify the Arawakan languages as follows.
The internal structures of each branch is given below. Note that the strictly binary splits are a result of the Bayesian computational methods used.
Internal classification by Jolkesky :
Internal classification by Nikulin & Carvalho :
Phonological innovations characterizing some of the branches:
The internal classification of Arawakan by Henri Ramirez is as follows. This classification differs quite substantially from his previous classification, but is very similar to the one proposed by Jolkesky.
Below is a full list of Arawakan language varieties listed by Loukotka, including names of unattested varieties.
;Island languages
;Guiana language
;Central group
;Mapidian group
;Goajira group
;Caquetío group
In 1783, the Italian priest Filippo Salvatore Gilii recognized the unity of the Maipure language of the Orinoco and Moxos of Bolivia; he named their family Maipure. It was renamed Arawak by Von den Steinen and Brinten after Arawak in the Guianas, one of the major languages of the family. The modern equivalents are Maipurean or Maipuran and Arawak or Arawakan.
The term Arawakan is now used in two senses. South American scholars use Aruák for the family demonstrated by Gilij and subsequent linguists. In North America, however, scholars have used the term to include a hypothesis adding the Guajiboan and Arawan families. In North America, scholars use the name Maipurean to distinguish the core family, which is sometimes called core Arawak or Arawak proper instead.
Kaufman relates the following:
name is the one normally applied to what is here called Maipurean. Maipurean used to be thought to be a major subgroup of Arawakan, but all the living Arawakan languages, at least, seem to need to be subgrouped with languages already found within Maipurean as commonly defined. The sorting out of the labels Maipurean and Arawakan will have to await a more sophisticated classification of the languages in question than is possible at the present state of comparative studies.

Characteristics

The languages called Arawakan or Maipurean were originally recognized as a separate group in the late nineteenth century. Almost all the languages now called Arawakan share a first-person singular prefix nu-, but Arawak proper has ta-. Other commonalities include a second-person singular pi-, relative ka-, and negative ma-.
The Arawak language family, as constituted by L. Adam, at first by the name of Maypure, has been called by Von den Steinen "Nu-Arawak" from the prenominal prefix "nu-" for the first person. This is common to all the Arawak tribes scattered along the coasts from Dutch Guiana to British Guiana.
Upper Paraguay has Arawakan-language tribes: the Quinquinaos, the Layanas, etc.. In the islands of Marajos, in the middle of the estuary of the Amazon, the Aruan people spoke an Arawak dialect. The peninsula of Goajira is occupied by the Goajires tribe, also Arawakan speakers. In 1890–95, De Brette estimated a population of 3,000 persons in the Goajires.
C. H. de Goeje's published vocabulary of 1928 outlines the Lokono/Arawak 1400 items, mostly morphemes and morpheme partials – rarely compounded, derived, or otherwise complex sequences; and from Nancy P. Hickerson's British Guiana manuscript vocabulary of 500 items. However, most entries which reflect acculturation are direct borrowings from one or another of three model languages. Of the 1400 entries in de Goeje, 106 reflect European contact; 98 of these are loans. Nouns which occur with the verbalizing suffix described above number 9 out of the 98 loans.

Phonology

Though a great deal of variation can be found from language to language, the following is a general composite statement of the consonants and vowels typically found in Arawak languages, according to Aikhenvald :
FrontCentralBack
High
Mid
Low

For more detailed notes on specific languages see Aikhenvald pp. 76–77.

Shared morphological traits

General morphological type

Arawakan languages are polysynthetic and mostly head-marking. They have fairly complex verb morphology. Noun morphology is much less complex and tends to be similar across the family. Arawakan languages are mostly suffixing, with just a few prefixes.

Alienable and inalienable possession

Arawakan languages tend to distinguish alienable and inalienable possession. A feature found throughout the Arawakan family is a suffix that allows the inalienable body-part nouns to remain unpossessed. This suffix essentially converts inalienable body-part nouns into alienable nouns. It can only be added to body-part nouns and not to kinship nouns. An example from the Pareci language is given below:

Classifiers

Many Arawakan languages have a system of classifier morphemes that mark the semantic category of the head noun of a noun phrase on most other elements of the noun phrase. The example below is from the Tariana language, in which classifier suffixes mark the semantic category of the head noun on all elements of a noun phrase other than the head noun and on the verb of the clause:

Subject and object cross-referencing on the verb

Most Arawakan languages have split-intransitive alignment systems of subject and object cross-referencing on the verb. The agentive arguments of both transitive and intransitive verbs are marked with prefixes, whereas the patientive arguments of both transitive and intransitive verbs are marked with suffixes. The following example from Baniwa of Içana shows a typical Arawakan split-intransitive alignment:
The prefixes and suffixes used for subject and object cross-referencing on the verb are stable throughout the Arawakan languages, and can therefore be reconstructed for Proto-Arawakan. The table below shows the likely forms of Proto-Arawakan:
Prefixes
Suffixes
personSGPL SGPL
1*nu- or *ta-*wa-*-na, *-te*-wa
2*i-*i-*-pi*-hi
3NFEM*ri-, *i-*na-*-ri, *-i*-na
3FEM*thu-, *u-*na-*-thu, *-u*-na
impersonal*pa-
non-focused agent*i-, *a-
dummy patient*-ni

Some examples

The Arawak word for corn is marisi, and various forms of this word are found among the related tribal languages:

Geographic distribution

Arawak is the largest family in the Americas with the respect to number of languages. The Arawakan languages are spoken by peoples occupying a large swath of territory, from the eastern slopes of the central Andes Mountains in Peru and Bolivia, across the Amazon basin of Brazil, northward into Suriname, Guyana, French Guyana, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago and Colombia on the northern coast of South America, and as far north as Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize and Guatemala. The languages used to be found in Argentina and Paraguay as well.
Arawak-speaking peoples migrated to islands in the Caribbean, settling the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. It is possible that some poorly attested extinct languages in North America, such as the languages of the Cusabo and Congaree in South Carolina, were members of this family.
Taíno, commonly called Island Arawak, was spoken on the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Bahamas. A few Taino words are still used by English or Spanish-speaking descendants in these islands. The Taíno language was scantily attested but its classification within the Arawakan family is uncontroversial. Its closest relative among the better attested Arawakan languages seems to be the Goajiro language, spoken in Colombia. Scholars have suggested that the Goajiro are descended from Taíno refugees, but the theory seems impossible to prove or disprove.
Garífuna is another Arawakan language originating on the islands. It developed as the result of forced migration among people of mixed Arawak, Carib, and African descent. It is estimated to have about 195,800 speakers in Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Belize combined.
Today the Arawakan languages with the most speakers are among the more recent Ta-Arawakan groups: Wayuu , with about 300,000 speakers; and Garifuna, with about 100,000 speakers. The Campa group is next; Asháninca or Campa proper has 15–18,000 speakers; and Ashéninca 18–25,000. After that probably comes Terêna, with 10,000 speakers; and Yanesha' with 6–8,000.

Vocabulary

lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Arawakan languages.
LanguageBranchonetwothreeheadeyehandfoot
AmoisheLorenzopachíaepámapáyo-óinetn-not
GuahiboGuahibokaínahuaxuakuoíebipe-matánape-wántopi-tahúto
ChuruyaGuahibokaikabaleomopesiva
GuayaberoGuahibokayenmagnetenbuánfuʔuten
MarawanMarawanpaxatsáliempánapi-tiuipi-taibipu-aku
CaripuráMarawanpabereːyanápánai-tiutipi-taibipu-áko
PalicurMarawanphátpitánampánateutii-teibii-wak-ti
AruanAruanauseiredekurámankedukep-küuepe-xinhákupe-aynáu
MoríqueMoríqueakápastoishikaráshika-benáp-dókop-dáipi-ó
ChamicuroChamicuropadlákamaʔa póxtakídlkoo-káskiax-cháiu-chíxpa
WauráWaurápauámepiáuakamaukulanu-teurzatanu-titáinu-kapi
MehinákuWaurápauítsamepiámakamayukulenu-taunu-titáinu-kapu
KustenauWaurápaúdzamepiámakamaukulanu-téunu-titáini-uríko
YaulapítiWaurápauápurziñamakamayunkulanu-kurzyunu-ritänu-irika
SaraveParesíatiaiñamaanahamano-eveno-heaui-kachi
ParesíParesíhatitainamáanamáno-seurínu-dúsenu-kau
WaimareParesíhakidahiːnamaːhanámaːno-tseːrinu-zoːtsenu-kahe
ChanéChané
GuanáChanéposhapiámopoádo-otíu-kéu-oú
TerenaChanépaisuanpiámopuádo-otíu-néu-oú
QuiniquinaoApolistapoikuápiámopuádo-otíu-nhéw-oú
LapachuApolistaetoapimopoya-tunihua-nia
MojoMojoikapiaapisáimpúsenu-xutiyu-kinu-bupe
BaureMojoni-póãi-kisenu-ake
PaunaMojoi-huike
PaiconeMojoponotsikobanikii-peni-kisi-vuaki
IpurinaIpurinahatikáipíkamapákai-kiwio-kíoa-kutí
CampaPreandine Iapároapítimáhuaa-itoa-okia-kó
MachigangaPreandine Ipániroapimahuanino-yitono-kinä-ko
ChanchamayoPreandine Ikipachinu-chinao-ekia-eu
QuirineriPreandine Iaparupitimanapi-hitapo-ke
ManeteneriPreandine I
PiroPreandine Isapeepimapawe-iwéxalihue-mio
ChontaquiroPreandine Isuritiapírinokirihue-xixuawe-arihua-mianuta
InapariPreandine II
KushichineriPreandine IIsátepiahépiu-shiweno-yatenó-min
CunibaPreandine IIyi-hwöwi-berewö-miu
KanamaréPreandine IIsatibikahepümapanu-xüinu-xünu-muyú
HuachipairiPreandine IIruñagundupaya-kuk
MashcoPreandine IIruñagundupa
UainumáUainumáapágerimachámamatsükeba-itano-tóhino-gápi
MariatéUainumáapakerimechemaatapono-bidano-doino-ghapi
JumanaJumanaaphlaliáguamabäʔaguan-úlaun-lóno-gabí
PasséJumanaapealapakéanamapeanani-ólachi-lónu-ghapóle
CauishanaCauishanabälämomätalábämä bikakana-oánó-lóna-gúbi
YukúnaYukúnapaxlúasahiamáuesikiélenu-ilánux-lúno-yola
GuarúYukúnapagluachimaxeyamauzíkeleyatela-chima
ResigaroResigaroapaːhapenéeytzaːmoeitzaːmoapowhe-bühewa-tnihwaː-kí
MarawaMarawaukvashumupiághebeñni-siuyna-kosino-kabesui
AraicúAraicúetetupuyabanamaybaghino-kini-kabu
ManáoManáopanimupiarukumapialukipaulonu-küunanu-kurikanu-kaité
CariayManáonyoipüthairamatükahuinu-küuynu-kunikinu-ghai
UirinaUirinashishi-kabana-kukeli-kaue
YabaánaUirinafuiu-daguná-uinu-khapi
AnauyaUirinaahiarimahorenmarahunakanun-huídanau-hininun-kapi
ChiriánaChiriánanu-kiwídanu-áinu-nái
IpécaIpécaapádayamadamadaridanú-widanu-tínu-kápi
PayualieneIpécaapádachayamádamadalídanu-widanu-thínu-kápí
CuripacoIpécaápeyamádemadáldalyi-widanó-tih'no-kápi
KárroIpécapáddayamáddamadariddahúidanó-tino-kápi
KapitémínaneíIpécaaphépaiyamhépamadelipani-wirechipanú-tinu-kápi
TarianaTarianapádayamáitemandalitepax-huídapa-tídakopi-vana
CauyariTarianano-üteno-tunu-kapi
BaréBaré Ibakunákalipekúnameklikúnamehua-dósiehua-oítihua-kabi
UarequenaBaré Iapáhesadauntásanabaitalísanó-iuanó-buino-kapi
AdzáneniBaré Iapékutsadzámanamandalípanu-wídanu-thinu-kapi
CarútanaBaré Iaʔapetsantsámemádalinú-itanu-thino-kopü
KatapolítaniBaré Iapadátsadzamátamádaliní-widaau-thínu-kápi
SiusíBaré IIapaítadzamámandalíapani-uítanú-tinu-kapi
MoriweneBaré IIapádazamádamadálidan-iwidanu-thínu-kapi
MapanaiBaré IIpádadzamádamadalídani-wídanu-tínu-kápi
HohodeneBaré IIapádadzamhépamandalhípahi-wídanu-thinu-kápi
MáulieniBaré IIapahededzamádemadalídenhe-wídanu-thinu-kápi
AchaguaCaquetioabaichamaymatavinú-ritanu-tóinu-kuhe
PiapocoCaquetioabériputsíbamaísibanú-witanu-tuinu-kapi
AmarizanaCaquetionu-itano-tuynu-kagi
MaypureMaypurepapetaapanumapekivanu-kibukúnu-purikinu-kapi
BanívaBanívapeyaːloenaːbayabébulino-bóhuna-bólihinaː-bipo
YaviteroBanívahasiáuatsináhanu-síhuna-hólitsino-kabuhi
GuinauGuinauabamédzyaabiamákain-chéuena-uízyin-kábi
WapishánaCentralbayadapyaitamdikinerdaaita-maung-wawinkai
AtoraiCentralpetaghpapauiteghihikeitauburueina-winun-kei
MapidianMapidianchioñiasagudikiñerdaun-kuun-osoun-chigya
MawakwaMapidianapaurawoarakatamarsaun-kauang-osong-nkowa
GoajiraGoajiravanepiamuapunita-kítá-ita-xápki
ParaujanoGoajiramáneipímiapánitó-kitá-itáp
TainoIslandatubemzimuakuu-gúti
T. CusaIsland
EyeriIslandatade-sieda-kosida-kanda-kuti
CaliponauIslandabanbiamaishökéákunu-kabonu-guti
Arawak WestGuianaababiamada-shida-kusiue-babuhuda-kosai
Arawak EastGuianada-shida-kushida-kapoda-kuti

LanguageBranchwaterfiresunmaizehousetapirbird
AmoisheLorenzoóñtsóyumpórtropbaküatók
GuahiboGuahiboméraisótoikatiahetsótobómétsaha
ChuruyaGuahibomintaixitomshaxaintxesá
GuayaberoGuahibomintagiptanhesbaːhmesa
MarawanMarawanunitiketikamuipaitioldogri
CaripuráMarawanoneːtiketíkamuímaikípaitíarudeika
PalicurMarawanúnetikétikamoímahikípaitipinaludpikli
AruanAruanunüdíhahámoúdimüle
MoríqueMoríqueónashkómiñókináshianárháwuits
ChamicuroChamicurouníxsakáxchimosóxkonáchiaxkóchimaxtódli
WauráWauráuneitséikamemáikipaetäme
MehinákuWauráónetsékamemáikipaitäme
KustenauWauráonetséixámimaikípaetäme
YaulapítiWauráuzyrokámemáikipatsama
SaraveParesíunerikiaikáʔanekozeheokuti
ParesíParesíóniirikatikámaikózotohatikótui
WaimareParesíunéirigatekamáikozeːtoːhaːtíkoːtuí
ChanéChanéúneyukusopóro
GuanáChanéuneyukúkachétsoporopetíkamó
TerenaChanéuneyukúkachésoporóovongugamó
QuiniquinaoApolistaunéyukúkadzyéosopóropéti
LapachuApolistachaniyuóítitáipinayáma
MojoMojouniyukusáchesurunupenasamo
BaureMojoineyakiparisóhmochoro
PaunaMojoenéyukĩsachesese
PaiconeMojoinashakiisésétiolo
IpurinaIpurinawünüchamináatokantíkemiaikókíamá
CampaPreandine Inañachichitawántisínkipangótsikemáli
MachigangaPreandine Iníachichiburientesinkiimbakokemari
ChanchamayoPreandine Iniyapanenipahuasisiinkipanguchik
QuirineriPreandine Inixapishirontashantoshishinkipangocha
ManeteneriPreandine Ihúniashikashiisxama
PiroPreandine Iunechichikachisixipanchisiema
ChontaquiroPreandine Iunéchichikachisizyipanchisiemo
InapariPreandine IIunitititakuatichema
KushichineriPreandine IIunetititakachishihipantisema
CunibaPreandine IIunétititʔkatichihipantihyema
KanamaréPreandine IIwenüghasirüshishiepanichinuyeshuata
HuachipairiPreandine IItaksinka
MashcoPreandine IIneabatikichäposiema
UainumáUainumáauniichebaghamuipexkiapanísiäma
MariatéUainumáuniichepagamuipékyepanisizema
JumanaJumanauhúoyésömanlúiraripanazema
PasséJumanaoyheghüeagumaniaripánaséma
CauishanaCauishanaauvíikiömawoakámásibanösema
YukúnaYukúnaúnitsiákamúkaérupásiemam
GuarúYukúnakaʔamu
ResigaroResigarohoːníketsehahiweheːxadnoːhoki
MarawaMarawauniirisikumétuuatikakoakagama
AraicúAraicúuniighéghumamechipeyʔ
ManáoManáounuaghügatigamuyauatinuanughema
CariayManáotoniapaighamuiyuanatinuánaghema
UirinaUirinauneyishekamoéauatibakuékamá
YabaánaUirinaúniikági
AnauyaUirinauniríkariahiri
ChiriánaChiriánaúnipáiáyermakanáupáintikéma
IpécaIpécaúnitiyékörzyikánapánthihema
PayualieneIpécaúnitüyehözikánapántihéma
CuripacoIpécaóninotapíkatahérihéma
KárroIpécaónitiehérsi
KapitémínaneíIpécaúunitíyehörikánapántihéma
TarianaTarianaúnichiánakérikánapánishihéma
CauyariTarianaunihirarieripanetíemá
BaréBaré Iónigaménighamúmakanashipánitema
UarequenaBaré Ióniixsídekamóimakanáshipaníziéma
AdzáneniBaré Iúnidzídzegámuikánapántehéma
CarútanaBaré Iúnitídzyekámuimakanáchipánishihéma
KatapolítaniBaré Iúnitídzegamuikánapántihéma
SiusíBaré IIúnitídzegámuikánapántihéma
MoriweneBaré IIunitidzékamuikánapántihéma
MapanaiBaré IIúnitiidzékamóikánapantihema
HohodeneBaré IIúnitidzekámuikánapantihéma
MáulieniBaré IIúnitídzekámoikánapanítsihéma
AchaguaCaquetiounichicháierrikanabanísiema
PiapocoCaquetioúnikichéiérikanáikapíéma
AmarizanaCaquetiosietaieriepikeybinkaxü
MaypureMaypureuenikatikamosidzyomukipanití
BanívaBanívawéniaːshiamoːshimakanátsipaníshieːma
YaviteroBanívawénikáthikámothikánafanisiema
GuinauGuinauúnechékegamũhũyúnubánizéma
WapishánaCentralwénetikerkamomarikkaburnkudui
AtoraiCentralwintikirkamu
MapidianMapidianwinhikesiamarikikudui
MawakwaMapidianwunechikasikamu
GoajiraGoajirawuínsikókakaímáchimíchekama
ParaujanoGoajirawínchigigákakaimáixála
TainoIslandamakuyoboinialmaizbohiobogiael
T. CusaIslandkochimaysibohioipis
EyeriIslandoronuiehikethadalemaurisetuhonokonarguti
CaliponauIslandoneilémekáshituhonokonarguti
Arawak WestGuianavuniabuikihadalimarisibahükudibiu
Arawak EastGuianawúinihikikihadalibaʔache

Proto-language

Proto-Arawak reconstructions by Aikhenvald :
For lists of Proto-Arawakan reconstructions by Jolkesky and Ramirez, see the corresponding :pt:Proto-arawak|Portuguese article.