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Meira S (2006), . In: Keith Brown, (Editor-in-Chief) Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, Second Edition, volume 2, pp. 199-203. Oxford: Elsevier. Cariban Languages 199 Cariban Languages

S Meira, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands (1986–1998); Jackson (1972) gives a brief, but de- ß 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. tailed, overview of . Muller (1994) is a very informative Panare dictionary. Meira (2005) and Carlin (2004) are full descriptions of Tiriyo; Meira (2000), The Cariban family is one of the largest genetic groups mostly a historical study, contains some descriptive in , with more than 25 languages work on Tiriyo, Akuriyo, and Karihona. Gildea (1998) (see Figure 1) spoken mostly north of the Amazon, and Derbyshire (1999) contain surveys of the family. from to the Guianas and from northern Venezuela to Central (see Figure 2). Despite Comparative Studies and Classification the long history of their studies, most Cariban lan- guages are still insufficiently described. The best de- First recognized by the Jesuit priest Filippo Salvadore scriptive works published so far are Hoff (1968, on Gilij in the 18th century (Gilij, 1780–1783), the Karinya) and Derbyshire (1979, 1985, on Hishkar- Cariban family was subsequently studied by L. Adam yana). There are good descriptive works on Apalai, (1893) and C. H. de Goeje (1909, 1946). After some Makushi, and Waiwai in Derbyshire and Pullum initial tentative proposals within larger South

Author's Personal Copy

Figure 1 A tentative classification of Cariban languages. (?) ¼ difficult to classify; (y) ¼ extinct (not all listed here). Different names or spellings for the same language are given in parentheses. Dialects are indented under the language name. (Demogropahic data refer to speakers, not ethnic members of the group; sources: Ethnologue and author’s own work).

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American classifications (the last of which is Loukotka, morphology of the intermediate proto-language of the 1968), the first detailed classification was published by Taranoan subgroup. V. Girard (1971), followed by M. Durbin (1977) and T. Kaufman (1994). Durbin’s classification – unfortu- nately used in the Ethnologue (SIL) – is, as Gildea Main Linguistic Features (1998) pointed out, seriously flawed; Girard’sclassifi- Phonology cation is limited (14 low-level subgroups); Kafuman’s classification is probably the best; it is based not on Cariban languages have small segmental inventories: firsthand sources but on the comparison of other clas- usually only voiceless stops (p, t, k, ), one or two sifications. The proposal in Figure 1 is the preliminary fricatives/affricates (h or F, s or or t ), two nasals result of ongoing comparative research. There is some (m, n), a vibrant (&, often or ), glides (w, j), and six good evidence that Cariban and vowels (a, e, i, o, u, i). Some languages have distinc- are distantly related (Rodrigues, 1985); other hypoth- tive voiced obstruents (Bakairi, Ikpeng, Karihona), eses (e.g., Ge-Pano-Carib and Macro-Carib, from more than one vibrant or lateral (Bakairi, , Greenberg, 1987) remain mostly unsupported and are Ikpeng, Hishkaryana, Waiwai, Kashuyana), or more not accepted by specialists. fricatives or affricates (Bakairi, Waimiri-Atroari, Shafer (1963) was the first attempt at reconstructing Kashuyana, Waiwai); others have an extra vowel e Proto-Cariban phonology, but its many flaws make (Wayana, Tiriyo, Panare, Bakairi, Pemong, Kapong). Girard (1971) the real first proposal in this area. Vowel length is often distinctive, whereas nasality The most up-to-date study is Meira and Franchetto usually is not, with few exceptions (Apalai, Bakairi, (2005). Meira (2000) reconstructs the phonology and Kuikuro). Many languages have weight-sensitive

Author's Personal Copy

Figure 2 Map of the current distribution of Cariban languages. Living languages in bold, extinct languages in normal type. AK, Akuriyo; Ar, ; Bk, Bakairi; Ch, Chaymay; Dk,De0kwana; Hk, Hishkaryana; Ik, IIkpeng; Ka, Karinya; Kh, Karihona; Kk, Kuikuro; Km, Kumanakotoy; Kp, Kapong; Ks, Kashuyana; Mk, Makushi; Mp, Mapoyo; Pe, Pemong; Pi, Pimenteriay; Pm Palmellay; Pn, Panare; Ti, Tiriyo; Tm, Tamanaku; Yu, Yukpa; Yw, Yawarana; Wm, Waimiri-Atroari; Ww, Waiwai; Wy, Wayana.

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Cariban Languages 201 rhythmic (iambic) stress (Table 1; Meira, 1998); Ikpeng o-megum-ri ‘your wrist’, o-muj-n ‘your boat,’ some, however, have simple cumulative, usually pen- o-egi-Ø ‘your pet’). With overt nominal possessors, ultimate, stress (Panare, Bakairi, Kuikuro, Yukpa). some languages have a linking morpheme j- (e.g., Morphophonological phenomena include stem-initial Panare Toman j-uwe ‘Tom’s house, place’). Nouns ablaut in verbs and nouns and the systematic reduc- can also be marked for past (‘ex-N,’‘no longer N’) tion of stem-final syllables within paradigms (Gildea, with special suffixes (-tpo,-tpi,-bi, -tpe,-hpe, -npe, 1995; Meira, 1999). etc.; e.g., Bakairi u˜ w -bi-ri ‘my late father’). Pro- nouns distinguish five persons (1, 2, 3, 1 þ 2 ¼ dual Morphology inclusive ¼ ‘you and I,’ 1 þ 3 ¼ exclusive; the 1 þ 3 Cariban languages are mostly suffixal; prefixes exist pronoun functions syntactically as a third-person also, marking person and valency (the latter on verbs). form) and two numbers (singular, or noncollective, Some languages (Tiriyo, Wayana, Apalai) have redu- and plural, or collective). The third-person forms plication. The complexity of the morphology is com- also have gender (animate vs. inanimate) and several parable to that of Romance languages. There are deictic distinctions (Table 2). To each pronoun usually usually nouns, verbs, postpositions, adverbs (a class corresponds a person-marking prefix (except 1 þ 3, to that includes most adjectival notions), and particles. which correspond simple third-person markers). In Possessed nouns take possession-marking suffixes some languages, the 1 þ 2 prefixes were lost (Kapong, that define subclasses (-ri,-ti,-ni,-Ø ) and person- Pemong, Makushi); in others, the prefixes are marking prefixes that indicate the possessor (e.g., replaced by pronouns as overt possessors (Yukpa, Waimiri-Atroari). In more conservative languages, verbs have a com- plex inflectional system, with prefixes marking per- Table 1 Rhythmic (iambic) stress: Tiriyo son and suffixes marking various tense-aspect-mood 1. Words with only light (CV) syllables, based on the stem apoto and number distinctions. The person-marking pre- ‘helper, servant’a fixes form what Gildea termed the Set I system apoto [(a.po:).to] ‘helper’ (Table 3), variously analyzed as split-S or active-sta- m-apoto-ma [(ma.po:).to.ma] ‘youhelped him’ tive (e.g., by Gildea) or as cross-referencing both kit-apoto-ma [(ki$.ta:).(po.to:).ma] ‘the two of us helped him’ A (Agent) and P (Patient) (Hoff, 1968). In most lan- m-apoto- [(ma.po:).(to.ma:).ti] ‘youall helped him’ guages, however, innovative systems have arisen from ma-ti the reanalysis of older deverbal nominalizations or kit-apoto- [(ki$.ta:).(po.to:).ma.ti] ‘we all helped him’ participials, and are now in competition with the ma-ti m-apoto- [(ma.po:).(to.ma:).po.ti] ‘youall had him Set I system. Most of the new systems follow ergative ma-po-ti helped’ patterns, thus creating various cases of ergative splits kit-apoto- [(ki$.ta:).(po.to:).(ma.po:).ti] ‘we all had him and even a couple of fully ergative languages ma-po-ti helped’ (Makushi, Kuikuro, in which the Set I system has been entirely lost). Gildea (1998) provides a detailed

2. Words with at least one heavy (non-CV) syllable. e account of this diachronic development. kin-eraht - [(ki$.ne:).(rah).(te.po:).ti] ‘he made them all

po-ti be found’ Underived adverbs usually take no morphology mi-repent -e [(mi.re:).(pen).(te.te:).ne] ‘youall paid/ other than one nominalizing suffix. There are many

t -nee rewarded him’ postpositions, often formed with smaller locative or

m-ait -po-e [(mai).(te.po:).te.ne] ‘youall had it

e e directional elements; they can take the same person- t -n pushed’ marking prefixes as nouns, and (usually) the same aIambic feet are enclosed in parenthesis. Dots ¼ syllable nominalizing suffix as adverbs. There are many par- boundaries; hyphensAuthor's¼ morpheme boundaries. Personalticles in several syntactic Copy subclasses and with various

Table 2 A typical Cariban pronominal system: Kashuyana

Third person Inanimate Animate Other persons Sing. Pl.

Sing. Pl. Sing. Pl.

Anaphoric iro iro-tomu noro norojami 1 owi Demonstrative Proximal soro soro-tomu mosoro mo tsari 2 omoro omjari Medial moro moro-tomu moki mokjari 1 þ 2 kumoro kimjari Distal moni mon-tomu mokiro mokjari 1 þ 3 amna

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Table 3 Cariban person-marking systems

Conservative (Set I) system: Karinya Innovative system: Makushi

IP 2P 1 þ 2P 3P (SA)SPA

1A k- s(i)- B-1 u- u(j)- -u-ja 2A k- m(i)- m- 2 a- a(j)- -B-ja 1 þ 2A kis(i)- kit- 1 þ 2 i- i(t)-/ B- -i-ja 3A B-/j- a(j)- k- n(i)- n(i)- 3Refl ti-t(i)- -ti(u)-ja (SP) B-/ j- a(j)- k- n(i)- semantic and pragmatic contents (diminutives, evi- Subordinate clauses are usually based on deverbal dentials, modals, etc.; cf. Hoff, 1986, 1990, for the nominals or adverbials. In some languages, there Karinya case). are finite subordinate clauses (Panare, Tamanaku, Class-changing morphology is quite rich. Verbs Yukpa, Tiriyo). The sentences below exemplify rela- have many nominalizing affixes (‘actual’ vs. ‘habitual’ tive clauses (in brackets): nominalizations (4) and or ‘potential’ A, P, S; circumstance; action) and also finite clauses with relativizing particles (5). adverbial-ized forms (participial, temporal, modal, (4) kaikui e-wa:re, [pahko (Tiriyo) etc.). There also are affixes for intransitivizing, tran- dog 2-known.to father sitivizing and causativizing verb stems (according to i-n-tu:ka-hpe]? their valency). There are several noun verbalizers (in- 3-PAT.NMLZR-beat-PAST choative: ‘to produce/have N’; privative: ‘to de-N X’; ‘Do you know the dog that my father beat?’ dative: ‘to provide X with N’). (author’s data) Syntax (5) a. t onkai pe it-et eti pare (Tamanaku) which 3-name priest Cariban languages are famous as examples of the rare [n-epu-i net i]? OVS (Derbyshire, 1977), with Hishkar- 3-come-PAST RELAT yana as the first case study. ‘What is the name of the priest who has (just) come?’ (Gilij, 1782: III, 176) (1) toto j-oska-je okoje (Hishkaryana) b. ake [kat amo¼n woneta] (Yukpa) man LINKER -bite-PAST snake that dog RELAT you¼DAT 1.talk ‘The snake bit the man.’ sa¼ne siiw (Derbyshire, 1979: 87) thus¼3.be white Tight syntactic constituents are few: most lan- ‘The dog that I talked to you about was white.’ guages have only OV-phrases (only with third-person (author’s data) A and P), possessive phrases (possessor-possessed), With verbs of motion, a special deverbal and postpositional phrases. There are no modifier (supine) form is used to indicate the purpose of the slots: ‘modification’ is carried out by the apposition displacement. of syntactically independent but pragmatically core- ferential nominals (e.g., the woman, that one, the tall (6) epi-he wi-te-jai (Wayana) one, the one with beads instead of that tall woman bathe-SUPINE 1-go-PRESENT with beads). Equative clauses can have a copula, but ‘I am going (somewhere) to bathe.’ verbless clauses also occur: (Jackson, 1972: 60) (2) tuhu ireAuthor's(Bakairi) Personal Copy stone this Lexicon and Semantics ‘This is a stone.’ Cariban languages have few number words, usually (author’s data) not specifically numerical (one ¼ alone, lonely; Negation is based on a special adverbial form of the two ¼ a pair, together; three ¼ a few); higher numbers verb, derived with a negative suffix (usually -pira, are expressed with (often not fully conventionalized) -pra,-hra,-ra, etc.), in a copular clause: expressions based on words for hand, foot, person or (3) isapokara on-ene-pira aken (Apalai) body, or are borrowings. Spatial postpositions often lizard.sp 3NEG-see-NEG 1:be:PAST distinguish: vertical support (‘on’), containment ‘I did not see a jacuraru lizard.’ (‘in’), attachment/adhesion, Ground properties (‘in (Lit. lizard not-seeing-it I-was) open space,’‘on summit of,’‘in water’), and complex (Koehn and Koehn, 1986: 64) spatial configurations (‘astraddle,’‘parallel to,’

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‘piercing’). Some languages have ‘mental state’ post- Letterkunde, nieuwe reeks, deel X, no. 3. Amsterdam: positions (desiderative: want; cognoscitive: know; Johannes Mu¨ ller. protective: protective toward; etc.). There are differ- de Goeje C H (1946). E´ tudes linguistiques caraı¨bes, vol. 2. ent verbs for eating, depending on what is eaten; to Verhandelingen der Koninklijke Nederlandsche Akade- every verb corresponds a noun designating the kind of mie van Wetenschappen, Letterkunde, nieuwe reeks, deel IL, no. 2. Amsterdam: N. V. Noord-Hollandsche food in question (e.g., Tiriyo ene ‘eat meat,’ oti ‘meat Uitgeversmaatschappij. food’; enapi ‘eat fruits, vegetables’, nnapi ‘fruit, vege- Greenberg J H (1987). Language in the Americas. Stanford: table food’; eku ‘eat bread’, uru ‘bread food’; aku ‘eat Stanford University Press. nuts,’ mme ‘nut food’). Hawkins R E (1998). ‘Wai Wai.’ In Derbyshire & Pullum (eds.). 25–224. 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