View source for Yanomaman languages

{{Short description|Indigenous language spoken in parts of South America}}
{{Infobox language family
| name          = Yanomaman
| ethnicity     = [[Yąnomamö]]
| region        = Amazon
| familycolor   = American
| family        = One of the world's primary [[language family|language families]]
| glotto        = yano1268
| glottorefname = Yanomamic
| map           = Yanomaman.svg
| mapcaption    = Yanomaman languages location
{{legend|#ffccaa|[[Yanomamö language|Yanomamö]]}}
{{legend|#ff9955|[[Ninam language|Ninam]]}}
{{legend|#ff6600|[[Waiká language|Yanomám]]}}
{{legend|#aa4400|[[Sanumá language|Sanumá]]}}
{{legend|#552200|[[Ỹaroamë language|Ỹaroamë]]}}
| child1        = [[Ninam language|Ninam]]–[[Yanoma language|Yanomam]]–[[Yaroamë language|Yaroamë]]
| child2        = [[Sanöma language|Sanöma]]
}}

'''Yanomaman''', also as '''Yanomam''', '''Yanomáman''', '''Yamomámi''', and '''Yanomamana'''  (also '''Shamatari''', '''Shirianan'''), is a family of languages spoken by about 20,000 [[Yanomami|Yanomami people]] in southern [[Venezuela]] and northwestern [[Brazil]] ([[Roraima]], [[Amazonas State, Brazil|Amazonas]]).

==Subdivision==
[[Image:Yanomami location.png|thumb|280px|Distribution of the Yanomaman languages in South America]]
===Ferreira et al. (2019)===
Ferreira, Machado & Senra (2019) divide the Yanomaman family into two branches, with six languages in total.<ref>{{glotto|yano1268}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ferreira |first1=Helder Perri  |last2=Machado |first2=Ana Maria Antunes |last3=Senra |first3=Estevão Benfica |year=2019 |url=https://acervo.socioambiental.org/sites/default/files/publications/YAL00061.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015044442/https://acervo.socioambiental.org/sites/default/files/publications/YAL00061.pdf |archive-date=2023-10-15 |title=As línguas yanomami no Brasil: Diversidade e vitalidade |location=São Paulo |editor1=Instituto Socioambiental |editor2=Hutukara Associação Yanomami |isbn=978-85-8226-076-0}}</ref>

{{tree list}}
* '''Yanomaman'''
** '''Ninam-Yanomam-Yaroamë'''
*** ''Nimam''
**** [[Ninam language|Ninam]] (also known as Yanami, Yanami-Ninami) - 900 speakers in Venezuela and Brazil
*** ''Yanomam-Yaroamë''
**** [[Waiká language|Yanomám]] (also known as Waiká) - 6,000 speakers mainly in Brazil
**** [[Yanomamö language|Yanomamö]] (also known as Yanomame, Yanomami) - 20,000 speakers mainly in Venezuela
**** [[Yaroamë language|Yaroamë]] (also known as Jawari) - 400 speakers in Brazil
**** [[Yãnoma language|Yãnoma]] - 178 speakers in Brazil
** '''Sanumá'''
*** [[Sanumá language|Sanumá]] (also known as Tsanuma, Sanima) - 5,100 speakers mainly in Venezuela
{{tree list/end}}

Sanumá is the most lexically distinct. Yanomamö has the most speakers (20,000), while Yãnoma has the fewest (178).

===Jolkesky (2016)===
Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016):<ref name="Jolkesky-2016">{{cite thesis |last=Jolkesky |first=Marcelo Pinho de Valhery |orig-date=February 2016 |edition=2nd |date=October 2017 |title=Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas |url=http://www.etnolinguistica.org/local--files/tese:jolkesky-2016-arqueoecolinguistica/Jolkesky2016PhD_corrigido2017.pdf |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Brasília |lang=pt}}</ref>

(† = extinct)
{{tree list}}
* '''Yanomami'''
** ''[[Sanuma language|Sanuma]]''
** ''[[Yanam language|Yanam]]''
** Yanomami, Central
*** ''[[Yaroame language|Yaroame]]''
*** ''[[Waiká language|Yanomam]]'', ''[[Yanomamï language|Yanomamï]]''
{{tree list/end}}

==Genetic relations==
Yanomaman is usually not connected with any other language family. [[Joseph Greenberg]] has suggested a relationship between Yanomaman and [[Macro-Chibchan languages|Macro-Chibchan]]. Migliazza (1985) has suggested a connection with [[Panoan languages|Panoan]] and Chibchan. Neither proposal is widely accepted.<ref name="Campbell-SAmerica">{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |author-link=Lyle Campbell |editor1-last=Grondona |editor1-first=Verónica |editor2-last=Campbell |editor2-first=Lyle |date=2012 |title=The Indigenous Languages of South America |chapter=Classification of the indigenous languages of South America |series=The World of Linguistics |volume=2 |location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=59–166 |isbn=978-3-11-025513-3}}</ref>

==Language contact==
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the [[Irantxe language|Irantxe]], [[Taruma language|Taruma]], [[Katukina-Katawixi languages|Katukina-Katawixi]], [[Puinave-Kak languages|Puinave-Kak]], [[Tupi languages|Tupi]], [[Arawa languages|Arawa]], [[Guahibo languages|Guahibo]], and [[Jivaro languages|Jivaro]] language families due to contact.<ref name="Jolkesky-2016"/>

==Name==
''Yanomami'' is not what the Yanomami call themselves and is instead a word in their language meaning "man" or "human being".  The American anthropologist [[Napoleon Chagnon]] adopted this term with the transcription ''Ya̧nomamö'' to use as an [[exonym]] to refer to the culture and, by extension, the people. The word is pronounced with nasalisation of all the vowels. As the phoneme indicated by the spelling 'ö' does not occur in English, variations in spelling and pronunciation of the name have developed, with ''Yanomami'', ''Yanomamö'', ''Ya̧nomamö'' or ''Ya̦nomamö'', and ''Yanomama'' all being used. Some anthropologists have used the spelling ''Yanomamɨ'' to indicate the vowel {{IPAblink|ɨ}},{{citation needed|date=June 2011}} but because many presses and typesetters eliminate the diacritical marks, the pronunciation /i/ and spelling of the name with ⟨i⟩ has emerged.

==Characteristics==

===Phonology===
Yanomaman languages have a phonological distinction between oral and nasal vowels. There are seven basic vowel qualities: /a e i o u ɨ ə/, which can occur as oral or nasal sounds.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Yanomama Clause Structure|last=Ferreira|first=Helder Perri|publisher=LOT|location=Utrecht|year=2017|isbn=978-94-6093-258-8 |url=https://www.lotpublications.nl/Documents/475_fulltext_part1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418120709/https://www.lotpublications.nl/Documents/475_fulltext_part1.pdf |archive-date=2021-04-18}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Yanomaman vowels
!! rowspan="2" | !! colspan="2" | Front !! colspan="2" | Central !! colspan="2" | Back
|-
!Oral || Nasal
!Oral || Nasal
!Oral || Nasal
|-
! Close
|{{IPAlink|i}}
|{{IPAlink|ĩ}}
|{{IPAlink|ɨ}} {{angbr|y}} or {{angbr|ö}}
|{{IPAlink|ɨ̃}} {{angbr|ỹ}}
|{{IPAlink|u}}
|{{IPAlink|ũ}}
|-
! Mid
|{{IPAlink|e}}
|{{IPAlink|ẽ}}
|{{IPAlink|ə}} {{angbr|ë}}
|
|{{IPAlink|o}}
|{{IPAlink|õ}}
|-
! Open
|
|
|{{IPAlink|a}}
|{{IPAlink|ã}}
|
|
|}

In the table above, the practical orthography is shown in angle brackets below the phoneme, if different.

The Yanomaman languages present extensive [[Consonant harmony|nasal harmony]]. When in Yanomaman words, a [[vowel]] is phonetically [[nasalized]], all vowels that follow within the same word are also nasalized. The consonants of Yanomama are shown in the table below:<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
![[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPAlink|m}}
|{{IPAlink|n}}
|
|
|
|
|-
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
|{{IPAlink|p}}
|{{IPAlink|t}} {{IPA link|tʰ}}
|
|
|{{IPAlink|k}}
|{{IPAlink|ʔ}}
|-
![[Fricative]]
|
|{{IPAlink|s}}
|{{IPAlink|ʃ}}
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
![[Approximant]]
|{{IPAlink|w}}
|{{IPAlink|l}}
|
|
|
|
|}

===Syntax===
Yanomaman languages are SOV, suffixing, predominantly [[Head-marking language|head-marking]] with elements of [[Dependent-marking language|dependent-marking]]. Its typology is highly [[polysynthetic]]. Adjectival concepts are expressed using stative verbs, there are no true adjectives. Adjectival stative verbs follow their noun.

There are five demonstratives which have to be chosen according to distance from speaker and hearer and also according to visibility, a feature shared by many native Brazilian languages such as [[Tupian languages|Tupian]] ones including [[Old Tupi]]. Demonstratives, numerals, classifiers and quantifiers precede the head noun.

There is a distinction between [[alienable and inalienable possession]], again a common areal feature, and a rich system of verbal classifiers, almost a hundred, they are obligatory and appear just before the verb root. The distinction between inclusive and exclusive 1st person plural, a feature shared by most Native American languages, has been lost in Yanam and Yanomam dialects, but retained in the others.

Yanomami morphosyntactic alignment is [[ergative–absolutive]], which means that the subject of an intransitive verb is marked the same way as the object of a transitive verb, while the subject of a transitive verb is marked differently. The ergative case marker is ''-ny''. The verb agrees with both the subject and object.

[[Evidentiality]] in the Yanomami dialect is marked on the verb and has four levels: eyewitness, deduced, reported, and assumed. Other dialects have fewer levels.

The object of the verb can be incorporated into it, especially if it is not in focus:

''Non-incorporated:''
{{interlinear|indent=3
|kamijə-ny sipara ja-puhi-i
|1sg-ERG axe 1sg-want-DYN
|'I want an/the axe'}}

''Incorporated:''
{{interlinear|indent=3
|kamijə-ny ja-sipara-puhi-i
|1sg-ERG 1sg-axe-want-DYN
|'I want [it], the axe'}}

Relative clauses are formed by adding a relativizing ('REL' below) suffix to the verb:

{{interlinear|indent=3
|wãro-n shama shyra-wei ware-ma
|man-ERG tapir kill-REL eat-COMPL
|'the man who killed the tapir ate it'}}

Sanuma dialect also has a relative pronoun ''ĩ''.

==Vocabulary==
[[Čestmír Loukotka|Loukotka]] (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Yanomaman language varieties.<ref name="Loukotka">{{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |author-link=Čestmír Loukotka |title=Classification of South American Indian languages |url=https://archive.org/details/classificationof0007louk |url-access=registration |publisher=UCLA Latin American Center |year=1968 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Shirianá !! Parimiteri !! Sanemá !! Pubmatari !! Waica !! Karime !! Paucosa !! Surára
|-
! one
| kauitxamhét || chaamí ||  ||  ||  ||  || muliman || mahón
|-
! two
| tasíma || polakabí ||  ||  ||  ||  || botokaki || porakabö
|-
! three
| tasimaimhét || hiːriːpólagʔa ||  ||  ||  ||  ||  || prukatabö
|-
! head
| bel-éhe || pil-héawan || pi-hé || pei-hé ||  || pei-yáhe || ne-umgipe || peːiua-hé
|-
! ear
| beli-yaméke || pilmórokwiːn || pi-xinkawán || yímikek ||  || pei-yameke ||  || peːiua-niumekakeː
|-
! tooth
| beli-uáke || pil-nákwan || pi-nakuán || pei-uák ||  || pei-uáke || ne-parike || peːiua-uáke
|-
! man
| horóme || waro || wandzyé || wanodá || ũálõ || uáru || uau || uhanó
|-
! water
| mãepe || madzyu || maduú || mãõ ||  || mahu || maú || maú
|-
! fire
| oáke || kwárogʔe || kuadák || koawáke ||  || oáke || uauká || kauːwaká
|-
! stone
| mamáke || muadamiːn ||  ||  ||  || máma || mama ||
|-
! sun
| belipshí || pilmórokwiːn || pilmoró || motóka ||  || motúka || mitukaki || peniboːínshi
|-
! manioc
| nazygóke || naasʔís ||  ||  ||  ||  || nashita || makóke
|-
! jaguar
| déhe || póleawan || poʔlé || íla ||  || téhe ||  || ührá
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Cite book|title=The Amazonian Languages|last1=Aikhenvald |first1=Alexandra Y. |last2=Dixon |first2=R.M.W.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|location=Cambridge|isbn=9780521570213}}
*{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |year=1997 |title=American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-509427-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Greenberg |first=Joseph H. |year=1960 |chapter=General classification of Central and South American languages |editor-last=Wallace |editor-first=A. |title=Men and cultures: Fifth international congress of anthropological and ethnological sciences (1956) |pages=791–794 |location=Philadelphia |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press}}
*{{cite book |last=Greenberg |first=Joseph H. |year=1987 |title=Language in the Americas |location=Stanford |publisher=Stanford University Press}}
*{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Terrence |year=1990 |chapter=Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more |editor-last=Payne |editor-first=D. L. |title=Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages |pages=13–67 |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=0-292-70414-3}}.
*{{cite book |last=Kaufman |first=Terrence |year=1994 |chapter=The native languages of South America |editor-last1=Mosley |editor-first1=C. |editor-last2=Asher |editor-first2=R. E. |title=Atlas of the world's languages |pages=46–76  |location=London |publisher=Routledge}}
*{{cite book |last=Mattei-Müller |first=M |year=2007 |title=Lengua y cultura yanomami: diccionario ilustrado yanomami-español, español-yanomami |location=Caracas |publisher=CONAC}}
*{{cite thesis |last=Migliazza |first=E. C. |year=1972 |title=Yanomama grammar and intelligibility |publisher=Indiana University |degree=PhD}}
*{{cite book |last=Migliazza |first=Ernest C. |year=1985 |chapter=Languages of the Orinoco-Amazon region: Current status |editor-last1=Manelis Klein |editor-first1=H. E.  |editor-last2=Stark |editor-first2=L. R. |title=South American Indian languages: Retrospect and prospect |pages=17–139 |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press}}
* {{cite book |last1=Migliazza |first1=Ernest C. |last2=Campbell |first2=Lyle |year=1988 |title=Panorama general de las lenguas indígenas en América |series=Historia general de América |volume=10 |location=Caracas |publisher=Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia}}

=== Dictionaries ===
* Müller, Marie-Claude Mattei. (2007) Diccionario ilustrado yanomami-español / español-yanomami. Caracas: Epsilon Libros. 782pp.

==External links==
* {{cite encyclopedia | title=Grupo yanomáman | url=http://www.proel.org/index.php?pagina=mundo/amerindia/chibcha_pae/chibchan/yanomaman | publisher=PROEL – Promotora Española de Lingüística | language=es}}
* ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0236 Documentation and Description of the Yanomama of Papiu]
* [http://yanomamipepsi.blogspot.com/ The Yanomami Language]
* [https://ids.clld.org/contributions/253 Yanomámi] ([[Intercontinental Dictionary Series]])

{{Language families}}
{{South American languages}}

[[Category:Yanomaman languages| ]]
[[Category:Language families]]
[[Category:Polysynthetic languages]]
[[Category:Indigenous languages of Northern Amazonia]]