Puinave language
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".<templatestyles src="Template:Infobox/styles-images.css" />Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".
Puinave, Waipunavi (Guaipunabi) or Wanse (Script error: No such module "Lang". Script error: No such module "IPA".;[1] Template:Langx) is an indigenous language of Colombia and Venezuela. It is generally considered to be a language isolate.
Demographics
There are about 6,800 people in 32 communities along the banks of the Inírida River in Guainía Department, Colombia. Additionally, there are 470 people in 10 communities along the Orinoco River, in the Colombia–Venezuela border region.[1]Template:Rp
Other names for the language include Camaku del Guaviare or Camaku del Inírida.[1]Template:Rp
Varieties
Varieties listed by Mason (1950):[2]
- Puinave
- Puinave (Epined)
- Western: Bravos, Guaripa
- Eastern: Mansos
- Macú
- Macú
- Tikié
- Kerarí
- Papurí
- Nadöbo
- Puinave (Epined)
Alternate names of Puinave are Puinabe, Puinavis, Uaipunabis, Guaipunavos, Uaipis.[2]
Classification
Puinave is sometimes linked to other poorly attested languages of the region in various Macro-Puinavean proposals, but no good evidence has ever been produced. The original motivation seems to simply be that all of these languages were called Maku ('babble') by Arawakans.[3] Ongoing work on Puinave by Girón Higuita at the University of Amsterdam will hopefully clarify the situation.
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
Syllable structure is (C)V(C); nasal syllabic nuclei cause allophonic variation of consonantal segments in the same syllable. The phonemes Script error: No such module "IPA". have oral, non-sonorant allophones Script error: No such module "IPA". in the onsets of syllables with oral nuclei.
The high vowel Template:IPAblink, when occurring in onset or coda position, is realized as a glide Template:IPAblink. When the high vowel Script error: No such module "IPA". is in coda position, it is also realized as a glide Template:IPAblink, but in onset position, it is realized as a palatal stop matching in nasality with the nucleus, either Template:IPAblink or Template:IPAblink, in the same way that Script error: No such module "IPA". match the following vowel's nasality. Any glides Template:IPAblink occurring before or Script error: No such module "IPA". occurring after a nasalized nucleus are also realized as nasal Template:IPAblink.
Tone
Puinave distinguishes four surface (phonetic) tones: two simple (H and L) and two contour (HL and LH); these are analyzed as being composed of two phonemic tone values, H and L. Girón Higuita and Wetzels (2007) note that speakers seem to associate H with prominence, rather than increased duration or intensity (the typical correlates of prominence in languages like English).
Morphology and syntax
Jesús Mario Girón's description of the morphology and the function of nominalized constructions in this language can be found in The Linguistics of Endangered Languages (edited by Leo Wetzels).
Bibliography
- Bautista Sánchez, E. (2008). Diccionario puinave-español y la oración gramatical. CIRCUI, Centro de Investigaciones de rescate cultural Puinave Autóctonas.
- Girón, J. M. (2008). Una gramática del Wã́nsöjöt (Puinave). Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit. (Doctoral dissertation).
- Girón Higuita, J.M. and W. Leo Wetzels (2007). Tone in Wãnsöhöt (Puinave). Language Endangerment and Endangered Languages: Linguistic and Anthropological Studies with Special Emphasis on the Languages and Cultures of the Andean-Amazonian Border Area, W. Leo Wetzels ed., CNWS Publications.
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
- Puinave dictionary online (select simple or advanced browsing)
- Puinave (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)
Template:Languages of Venezuela Template:South American languagesTemplate:Languages of Colombia