Handbook of Amazonian Languages

661 Pages·1998·140.95 MB·English

by  Desmond C. Derbyshire

Handbook of
Amazonian Languages
W
DE
G

Handbook of
Amazonian Languages
Volume 4
edited by
Desmond C. Derbyshire and
Geoffrey K. Pullum
1998
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague)
is a Division of Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co., Berlin.
© Printed on acid free paper which falls within the guideline of the ANSI to ensure permanence
and durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication-Data
(Revised for vol. 4)
Handbook of Amazonian languages.
Includes bibliographies.
1. Indians of South America - Brazil - Languages. 2. Amazon
River Region - Languages. I. Derbyshire, Desmond C. II. Pullum,
Geoffrey K.
PM5151.H36 1986 498 86-12692
ISBN 0-89925-124-2 (v. l : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-89925-421-7 (v. 2 : alk. paper)
ISBN 0-89925-813-1 (v. 3 : alk. paper)
Die Deutsche Bibliothek - Cataloging-in-Publication-Data
Handbook of Amazonian languages / ed. by Desmond C. Derbyshire and
Geoffrey K. Pullum. - Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter
Vol. 4(1998)
ISBN 3-11-014991-5
© Copyright 1998 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co., D-10785 Berlin
All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Printing: GerikeGmbH, Berlin. - Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer-GmbH, Berlin - Germany.
Preface
This fourth volume of the Handbook of Amazonian Languages follows three earlier
volumes published in 1986, 1990, and 1991 respectively. In addition to the linguistic
contents of this volume—two grammatical descriptions of a Cariban and an
Arawakan language, a typological study of a Panoan language, and a historical and
comparative exploration of Tupian languages, all summarized and discussed in our
editorial introduction—we include a cumulative index to all four volumes, subsum-
ing the index that was included in volume 3.
There is a sense in which it is an encouraging sign to us that the project continued
by this volume should be so far from having succeeded in achieving complete
coverage of its subject matter. The Handbook of Amazonian Languages has not
surveyed all the languages of the Amazon basin, nor even a fair percentage of them.
There is much more to be done than we have been able to do. The reason we see
that as a very good sign is that it stems from the simple fact that the indigenous
inhabitants of Amazonia, despite the sometimes genocidal ferocity of the five hun-
dred years of assault on their very existence, are not extinct, nor close to being
extinct.
It is true that millions of Amerindian people in Amazonia have died unnecessarily,
in a story of conquest, slavery, disease, displacement, and outright mass murder that
brings great shame upon humankind. But it is nonetheless true that as the 20th
century ends, the speakers of the hundreds of lowland South American languages
(the Arawan, Arawakan, Cariban, Je, Jivaroan, Panoan, Tucanoan, Tupian, and many
other language families) still thrive in many different regions, from Ecuador in the
west to the mouth of the Amazon in the east, from Venezuela in the north to
Paraguay in the south, and across much of the vast area of Brazil.
Indigenous South Americans survived their migration to the Americas from Asia
some forty thousand years ago, and have coped in the last five hundred years with
violence and traumatic social change on a scale that is hard to conceive of. But down
to the present day, in many parts of the region, they still pass on their ancient
languages and traditions to their children, defend their own political interests with
intelligence and skill, and make their own decisions about interacting with the
complex web of modern social, political, religious, and economic life in South
America.
Down through the many millennia of human habitation of the Amazon basin,
despite the gathering momentum of the wave of extinctions that is sweeping away
so many of the world's languages today, many of the beautiful and intriguing
aboriginal languages of the Amazon have persisted in use and not given way to
Spanish or Portuguese. Indeed, one of the languages described in this volume is
spoken by a tribe (the Wai Wai) who have been increasing their population steadily
vi Derbyshire and Pullum
in recent years rather than fading away. This book is a further expression of our
admiration and wonder at the linguistic aspect of the many intellectual achievements
of the Indians of the Amazonian area.
We dedicate this volume to the memory of Grace Derbyshire, who died unexpect-
edly in 1997 as the manuscript was being readied for the press, and is missed by
everyone who knew her. She was a participant from the start in the mission to the
Hixkaryana people that began in the 1950s, residing among the Hixkaryana people
on the Nhamundä river for many years and learning their language. She was
Desmond Derbyshire's constant companion in his linguistic and bible translation
work for forty years, and was constantly supportive of the work that led to this book.
Volume 4
South America
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific
Ocean
See p. 226 for large scale map showing locations of Warekena and some
neighboring language groups.
See p. 492 for map showing locations of Tupi-Guarani language groups.
CONTENTS
Preface v
Map of South America viii
Introduction 1
Desmond C. Derbyshire and Geoffrey K. Pullum
Part I: Grammatical Sketches 21
Outline of contents for grammatical sketches
Wai Wai 25
Robert E. Hawkins
Warekena 225
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald
Part II: Typological Study: Amahuaca (Panoan) 441
Margarethe W. Sparing-Chavez
Part III: Comparative Study: Tupi-Guarani 487
Cheryl Jensen
Cumulative Index to Volumes 1-4 619