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Hixkaryana language

Hixkaryána
Native toBrazil
RegionUpper Nhamundá River, Amazonas
Native speakers
600 (2000)[1]
Carib
Language codes
ISO 639-3hix
Glottologhixk1239
ELPHixkaryana
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Hixkaryana /ˌhɪʃkæriˈɑːnə/[2] is one of the Cariban languages, spoken by just over 500 people on the Nhamundá River, a tributary of the Amazon River in Brazil. It is one of around a dozen languages that are described as having object–verb–subject word order (initially by linguist Desmond C. Derbyshire).[3]

Phonology

Hixkaryana has the following consonant phonemes:

Labial Alveolar Postalveolar
or palatal 		Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ⟨ny⟩
Plosive voiceless p t tʃ ⟨tx⟩ k
voiced b d ɟ ⟨dy⟩
Fricative ɸ ⟨f⟩ s ʃ ⟨x⟩ h
Tap ɾ ɽˡ ⟨ry⟩
Approximant j ⟨y⟩ w

Hixkaryana has the following vowel phonemes:

Front Back
Close ɯ ⟨ɨ⟩, u ⟨u⟩
Close-mid e ⟨e⟩
Open-mid ɔ ⟨o⟩
Open æ ⟨a⟩

Grammar

In Hixkaryana, arguments are indexed on the verb by means of person prefixes. These prefixes form an inverse-like pattern in which the argument highest in the hierarchy 2nd > 1st > 3rd is indexed on the verb. If the object of a transitive verb outranks the subject according to this hierarchy, the appropriate O-prefix is used; otherwise, an A-prefix is used.

A-prefixes O-prefixes
1A 0-/ɨ- 1O r(o)
2A m(ɨ)- 2O o(j)-/a(j)-
1+2A t(ɨ)- 1+2O k(ɨ)-
3A n(ɨ)-/j-

Intransitive verbs take prefixes mostly similar to the transitive prefixes given above, with an active–stative. The arguments' grammatical number is indexed on the verb by means of portmanteau suffixes that combine tense, aspect, mood, and number.

In most cases, the person prefixes unambiguously determine which of the arguments is the subject and which is the object. When both the subject and the object are third person, however, the person prefix is inadequate to fully determine the identity of the arguments. In these situations, therefore, word order is crucial in determining their identity. Hixkaryana may have an object–verb–subject word order. The example below, "toto yonoye kamara", cannot be given the AVO reading "the man ate the jaguar"; the OVA reading – "the jaguar ate the man" – is the only possible one.

toto yonoye kamara

toto

person

y-

3SG-

ono

eat

-ye

-DIST.PAST.COMPL

kamara

jaguar

toto y- ono -ye kamara

person 3SG- eat -DIST.PAST.COMPL jaguar

"The jaguar ate the man."

Indirect objects, however, follow the subject:

bɨryekomo yotahahono wosɨ tɨnyo wya

bɨryekomo

boy

y-

3SG-

otaha

hit

-ho

-CAUS

-no

-IMM.PAST

wosɨ

woman

tɨnyo

her-husband

wya

by

bɨryekomo y- otaha -ho -no wosɨ tɨnyo wya

boy 3SG- hit -CAUS -IMM.PAST woman her-husband by

"The woman caused her husband to hit the boy."

Moreover, word order in non-finite embedded clauses is SOV. [1] Like most other languages with objects preceding the verb, it is postpositional.

References

  1. ^ Hixkaryána at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. ^ Kalin, Laura. "Hixkaryana: The Syntax of OVS Word Order" (PDF). University of Arizona. Retrieved 12 January 2022.[dead link‍]

Bibliography

  • Aikhenvald, A. & Dixon, R. (Eds.) (1999). The Amazonian Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-521-57021-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Derbyshire, D. (1979). Hixkaryana. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing. ISBN.
  • Derbyshire, D. (1985). Hixkaryana and Linguistic Typology. Dallas, TX: Summer Institute of Linguistics. ISBN 0-88312-082-8.
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