Waimiri-Atroarí language

Atruahí
Waimiri-Atroarí
Native to	Brazil
Native speakers	930 (2001)
Language family	Cariban Atruahí–Boanarí Atruahí
Dialects	Atruahi Waimirí Jawaperi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	atr
Glottolog	waim1253
ELP	Waimirí-Atroarí

The Waimiri Atroari language is spoken by the Waimiri Atroari people. The current population is 2,009 (PWA, 2018), and they have 19 villages spread along the rivers of Camanau/Curiau, Alalaii, Jauaperi, and Rio Branquinho. These are located in the northern part of the State of Amazonas, and the southern part of the State of Roraima. The people call themselves Kinja and call their language Kinja Iara (meaning 'people's language') (Do Vale). The language has many other names such as, Atroahy, Atroahí, Atroarí, Atroaí, Atrowari, Atruahi, Atruahí, Ki'nya, Krishaná, Waimirí, Waimirí-atroarí, Yawaperí (Glottolog). This language seems to have a high transmission as it is spoken by all members of the community and is the main language used for reading and writing (Do Vale).

Contact

First contact with the Waimiri Atroari occurred in the 17th century with the Spanish and Portuguese crown spreading to gain more territory (Do Vale).  First official contact with the Waimiri Atroari took place in 1884 with Joãno Barbosa Rodrigues who enlisted the Waimiri Atroari as guides. At this point in time the Waimiri Atroari already had a reputation for being violent and Rodrigues sought to change the stereotypes associated with the group (Do Vale).

In 1911 a member of the SPI (Indian Protection Services) made contact with the Waimiri Atroari, the following year the First Indian Attraction Station was established (Do Vale). Despite friendly contact the government of this region saw the great wealth of resources that the native land possessed and encouraged the invasion of the land in order to exploit the natural resources (Do Vale). As a result, the Waimiri Atroari took up defense of their land with bows and arrows. This led to many acts of violence between the Waimiri Atroari and non-indigenous people, with military forces used to combat the indigenous group and wiping out entire villages (Do Vale). The next large scale conflict with the Waimiri Atroari that has been documented is in the 1960s with the Amazonas State and Roraima Territory Government's plan for a highway between Manaus and Caracarai, cutting directly through indigenous land (Do Vale). This project brought in individuals and teams to "pacify" the Waimiri Atroari as well as Military forces to build the highway and intimidate the indigenous people (Do Vale). As a result of high tension and disagreements most of the non-indigenous pacifists were killed by the Waimiri Atroari (Do Vale).

In 1971 the Waimiri Atroari Indigenous Reservation was created, however between plans for Amazonas expansion and the discovery of cassiterite deposits, the government continued to infringe on the land (Do Vale). The reserve was demoted to a Temporary Restricted Area for the Attraction and Pacification of the Waimiri Atroari Indians in 1981 in order to exclude the mineral deposits from their land (Do Vale). Later more land was taken from the Waimiri Atroari as a hydroelectric plant project flooded over 30,000 hectares of their land (Do Vale). Today the Waimiri Atroari have their own school system which they control independently (Do Vale).

Language Family

Waimiri Atroari belongs to the Carib language family, which is centralized in Northern South America. The Carib languages in northern Brazil are fairly similar, while Waimiri-Atroari is rather different (Moore, 2006, 119). Carib can be categorized into three groups: Northwest Amazon, Guiana area and Upper Xingu Basin. Waimiri Atroari seems to fall into the second group, Guiana area.

Documentation

João Barbosa Rodrigues’ wordlist seems to be the first to document the language in 1885 and he refers to the people as "Crichanas". A century later, in 1985, a phonological proposal and alphabet were developed by a Catholic missionary couple from the Indigenous Missionary Council. A year after, in 1986, another missionary couple from the Evangelical Mission of the Amazonian (MEVA), created a more accurate orthography.

It seems that the first detailed description was done by Ana Carla Bruno. She released a dissertation in 2003 on the descriptive grammar of the Waimiri-Atroari language. She extensively described the phonology, morphology, lexicon, and syntax of the language. In addition, she has continued detailing the typology of Waimiri-Atroari in further works. In 2004, she published a paper on reduplication in the language. The following two years, she detailed its pronominal system (2005) and causative construction (2006). Then, in 2008 and 2009, she further analyzed the syntactic features of case-marking; phrase structure, clauses and word order. Most recently, she explored the value of linguistic analysis to better language revitalization by analyzing the syllable structure in the orthography and formal education of Waimiri-Atroari (2010).

Projects

While there are currently no language documentation projects for Wairmiri Atroari, there are projects for other languages in the Carib family. Carib language documentation supported by DOBES include the following languages: Kuikuro, documented by Bruna Franchetto, as well as Kaxuyana and Bakairi, which have been documented by Sergio Meira (Báez et al., 2016, 32).

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	t͡ʃ ⟨tx⟩	k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d	d͡ʒ ⟨dj⟩
Fricative			s	ʃ ⟨x⟩		h
Nasal		m	n	ɲ ⟨nj⟩
Rhotic			r
Semivowel		w		j ⟨i⟩

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ ⟨y⟩ ɨː ⟨yy⟩	u
Mid	e eː ⟨ee⟩		o oː ⟨oo⟩
Open	ɛ ⟨e⟩	a aː ⟨aa⟩

Morphology

Bruno (2003) creates a thorough documentation of the morphology of Waimiri Atroari which includes nouns of possession, relational morphemes, derivational morphemes, pronouns, non-third person pronouns and third-person pronouns. Verbs have also been documented, covering tense/aspect suffixes, mood (imperatives and negation suffix), interrogative clitic, interrogative forms, causative forms and desiderative suffix. Waimiri Atroari also has documentation of adverbs, postpositions, particles and case markings.

Pronouns

Bruno states that pronouns can take both subject and object positions in Waimiri Atroari.

1st Person: awy, aa, kara~kra

Subject position

Bruno states that kara~kra is used when responding to a question or to emphasize that the person did an action or wants something. It is also the only pronoun that can be used in the OSV order.

(1)

wasypy-pa

hungry-EMPH

kra

1.PRO

w-ia

1-COP

wasypy-pa kra w-ia

hungry-EMPH 1.PRO 1-COP

'I am hungry.'

(2)

meprypyny

Tapir meat

kara

1.PRO

h-yn-iany.

1.A-eat-TAM

meprypyny kara h-yn-iany.

{Tapir meat} 1.PRO 1.A-eat-TAM

'I was eating tapir meat.'

Object position

It seems that for a 1st person singular object, aa can be used (Bruno 81).

(3)

ka

3.PRO

ram

2PART

aa=ini-pia.

1.O-see-IMM.PAST

ka ram aa=ini-pia.

3.PRO 2PART 1.O-see-IMM.PAST

'He saw me.'

2nd Person: amyry-amyra

Subject position

(4)

amyry

2.PRO

m-om-pia

2.S-dive-IMM.PAST

syna

water

kaka

LOC

amyry m-om-pia syna kaka

2.PRO 2.S-dive-IMM.PAST water LOC

'You dove into the water.'

Object position

It seems that the morpheme a is used to express a 2nd person singular object as in the examples (5) and (6) below.

(5)

ka

3.PRO

ram

2PART

a-wen-tah-py-pia.

2.O-threw up-VERBL-CAUS-IMM.PAST

ka ram a-wen-tah-py-pia.

3.PRO 2PART {2.O-threw up-VERBL-CAUS-IMM.PAST}

'She/he made you throw up.'

(6)

Ka

3.PRO

ram

2PART

a-ini-piya.

2.O-see-IMM.PAST

Ka ram a-ini-piya.

3.PRO 2PART 2.O-see-IMM.PAST

'He saw you.'

1+2 we inclusive : kyky and 1+3 we exclusive: a’a

Subject position

(7)

araky

Today

ram

2PART

kyky

1+2.PRO

h-y-sa

1+2.S-go-TAM

xiba

fish

myryka-se

fish-in order to

araky ram kyky h-y-sa xiba myryka-se

Today 2PART 1+2.PRO 1+2.S-go-TAM fish {fish-in order to}

'Today we go fishing.'

(8)

a’a

1+3

n-itxi-piany

1+3.S-go-REC.PAST

kaapa

garden

taka

ALL

a’a n-itxi-piany kaapa taka

1+3 1+3.S-go-REC.PAST garden ALL

'We went to the plantation garden.'

Object position

(9)

Irɨ

3.PRO

k-ini-pe-s

1+2.O-see-?-DESI

na.

COP

Irɨ k-ini-pe-s na.

3.PRO 1+2.O-see-?-DESI COP

'She/he wants to see us.'

(10)

Ka

3.PRO

ram

2PART

a’=ini-pia.

1+3.O-see-IMM.PAST

Ka ram a’=ini-pia.

3.PRO 2PART 1+3.O-see-IMM.PAST

'She/he saw us.'

Anaphoric (he, she, they, it): mykyky, mykyka'a, ka, iry

Subject position

(10)

mykyky

3.PRO

ty-se

3.REFL-foot

kinj-e

wash-TAM

mykyky ty-se kinj-e

3.PRO 3.REFL-foot wash-TAM

'He is washing his own foot'

(11)

mykyky

3.PRO

ty-se

3.REFL-foot

kinj-e

wash-TAM

mykyky ty-se kinj-e

3.PRO 3.REFL-foot wash-TAM

'He is washing his own foot'

(12)

mykyka’a

3.PRO

ram

2PART

n-yma-pa

3.S-fall-REM.PAST

mykyka’a ram n-yma-pa

3.PRO 2PART 3.S-fall-REM.PAST

'He fell'

(13)

Ka

3.PRO

ram

2PART

ka

3.PRO

ini-huwa

see-NEG

na

COP

Ka ram ka ini-huwa na

3.PRO 2PART 3.PRO see-NEG COP

'He does not see him'

(14)

iry

3.PRO

n-aryma-pa

3.S-come back-REM.PAST

te’xy

DESI

n-eeni-pa

3.S-stay-REM.PAST

iry n-aryma-pa te’xy n-eeni-pa

3.PRO {3.S-come back-REM.PAST} DESI 3.S-stay-REM.PAST

'He did not want to come back'

Object position

Mykyka and ka can appear in object position, but Bruno notes that ka seems to be the preferred morpheme in her data.

(15)

amyra

2.PRO

mykyka

3.PRO

m-ary-py-pia

2.A-order-CAUS-IMM.PAST

mykyka

3.PRO

ini-se.

see-in order to

amyra mykyka m-ary-py-pia mykyka ini-se.

2.PRO 3.PRO 2.A-order-CAUS-IMM.PAST 3.PRO {see-in order to}

'You ordered him to see him.'

(16)

ka

3.PRO

ram

2PART

ka

3.PRO

ini-huwa

see-NEG

na.

COP

ka ram ka ini-huwa na.

3.PRO 2PART 3.PRO see-NEG COP

'He does not see him.'

Proximal: (h)anji, kanji, anjinji, byby, by

Subject position

(17)

apia

What

hanji?

this

aa=samka

1.POSS=hammock

ram

2PART

kanji

this

apia hanji? aa=samka ram kanji

What this 1.POSS=hammock 2PART this

'What is this?' 'This is my hammock.'

(18)

pip-ky

Look for-IMP

anjinji

here/this

i-etaty

REL-name

pip-ky anjinji i-etaty

{Look for-IMP} here/this REL-name

'Look here for the names!'

(19)

byby

3.PRO

maryba

song

ka-tape.

sing-REM.FUT

byby maryba ka-tape.

3.PRO song sing-REM.FUT

'He will sing.'

By is used to describe animate objects.

(20)

bypa

Whose

i-eka

REL-pet

by

this

karyka-e’?

chicken-INTERR

bypa i-eka by karyka-e’?

Whose REL-pet this chicken-INTERR

'Whose is this chicken?'

Medial: myry and Distal: mo’o, mymo’, myky

Subject position

Myry can only be used to describe inanimate objects.

(21)

wyty

Meat

ka

EVID

myry

this

wyty ka myry

Meat EVID this

'This is meat.'

Mymo’ and mo’o are used with inanimate objects, while myky is used with animate objects.

(22)

mymo’

That

marehe ram

sieve-2PART

abremyhsa

round

mymo’ {marehe ram} abremyhsa

That sieve-2PART round

'That sieve is round’

(23)

myky

That

ram

2PART

tabe’a

capybara

mo’o

There

ka

EVID

samka

hammock

myky ram tabe’a mo’o ka samka

That 2PART capybara There EVID hammock

'That is a capybara' 'There, is the hammock.'

Object position

(24)

a'a

1+3.PRO

txi-piany

go-REC.PAST

mo'o

there

ase

new

mydy

house

taka.

ALL

a'a txi-piany mo'o ase mydy taka.

1+3.PRO go-REC.PAST there new house ALL

'We went there to the new village.'

Negation particle

Waimiri Atroari uses non-verbal negation, that is, negation marked by particles kap~kapy~kapa and wan. These particles act to indicate negation rather than negation being marked on a verb and are often used to negate existence as seen below (Bruno 115).

(25)

aiana

Sp.bird

ram

2PART

wyty

meat/food

kapa

NEG

aiana ram wyty kapa

Sp.bird 2PART meat/food NEG

'Any-preto is not food.'

(26)

wyty

Meat

wan

NEG

naminja

dog

wyty wan naminja

Meat NEG dog

'Don't eat the food, dog!'

Causative forms

There are two kinds of causative forms that can be used to signify if a subject causes an event. First, there is the -py morpheme that indicates if someone “made” someone else do something or if they are not resistant to “cause” an event to happen. There is one construction where the morpheme -py appears with the lexicalized verb, such as in examples (27) and (28), where -py attaches to the verb for 'tell' (Bruno 100).

(27)

Aa

1.PRO

Kaina

Kaina

h-ary-py-pia

1.S-tell-CAUS-IMM.PAST

kyrywu

snake

ini-se.

see-in order to

Aa Kaina h-ary-py-pia kyrywu ini-se.

1.PRO Kaina 1.S-tell-CAUS-IMM.PAST snake {see-in order to}

'I told/dictated to Kaina to see the snake.'

(28)

Paruwe

Paruwe

aa-iry-py-pia

1.O-tell-CAUS-IMM.PAST

woky

banana

yry-ky

give-IMP

Marta

Marta

inaka

DAT

Paruwe aa-iry-py-pia woky yry-ky Marta inaka

Paruwe 1.O-tell-CAUS-IMM.PAST banana give-IMP Marta DAT

'Paruwe told/dictated to me to give the banana to Marta.'

There is also a form where -py does not appear with a lexicalized verb, such as in examples (29) and (30), where -py attaches to the verbs 'bleed' and 'laugh'. It also seems that intransitive verbs like these, behave like transitive verbs when they take a causative form like V[Intr+Caus [A O]] (Bruno 101).

(29)

kyka

1+2.PRO

ram

2PART

ka

3.PRO

hu-myny-tah-py-pia.

1+2.A-bleed-VERBL-CAUS-IMM.PAST

kyka ram ka hu-myny-tah-py-pia.

1+2.PRO 2PART 3.PRO 1+2.A-bleed-VERBL-CAUS-IMM.PAST

'We made him bleed.'

(30)

Ka

3.PRO

k-yeepitxah-py-pia.

1+2.O-laugh-CAUS-IMM.PAST

Ka k-yeepitxah-py-pia.

3.PRO 1+2.O-laugh-CAUS-IMM.PAST

'She/he made us laugh.'

Second, there is a form that indicates if the subject is “letting” the event happen. Someone is ordered or permitted to do something without forcing the other or knowing if the other may fulfill the event. It seems that there is an absence of the morpheme -py, as in examples (31) and (32), and the particle tre’me is notable, however Bruno notes that the particle tre’me may not mean "let" because of example (33), in which it does not indicate "let/permit" (Bruno 103).

(31)

Aa

1.PRO

wo'nj-e'me

clay-VAL

h-aminjaky-piany

1.A-permit/let-REC.PAST

a-wenpa-typah

2.O-learn-?

tre'me

PART

tyruwa

pan

kapry

make

pyky.

how

Aa wo'nj-e'me h-aminjaky-piany a-wenpa-typah tre'me tyruwa kapry pyky.

1.PRO clay-VAL 1.A-permit/let-REC.PAST 2.O-learn-? PART pan make how

'I permitted you to/let you dabble in the clay to learn how to make a ceramic pan.'

(32)

Aa

1.PRO

ka

ka

m-injaky-piany

2.O-permit/let-REC.PAST

wyty

meat

ipy-na

look for-?

tre'me.

PART

Aa ka m-injaky-piany wyty ipy-na tre'me.

1.PRO ka 2.O-permit/let-REC.PAST meat {look for-?} PART

'I permitted you to/let you leave to hunt.'

(33)

Aa

1.PRO

k-aa-piany

2.O-take-REC.PAST

maryba

party/song

taka

ALL

a-iwapy-try

2.O-sing-?

pyky

how

a-wenpa-typa

2.O-learn-?

tre'me.

PART

Aa k-aa-piany maryba taka a-iwapy-try pyky a-wenpa-typa tre'me.

1.PRO 2.O-take-REC.PAST party/song ALL 2.O-sing-? how 2.O-learn-? PART

'I took you to the party for you to learn how to sing.'

Syntax

Split System-S

Waimiri Atroari is  what Gildea (1998) classifies to as an Inverse Split system-S. Characteristics of this language system include A and O nominals having no case marking, a lack of auxiliaries and personal prefix set as well as the collective number suffixes. In Inverse Split System-s, also referred to as Set I systems the OV unit may either precede or follow the A, in Wamiri Atroari the order is AOV.

A Verb-Phrase may be formed with just the verb.

(1)

Ka-ky!

speak-IMPER

Ka-ky!

speak-IMPER

'Speak!'

A verb may be preceded by a Noun-Phrase.

(2)

bahinja

Children

maia

knife

kɨnk-E

break-TAM

bahinja maia kɨnk-E

Children knife break-TAM

'The children break the knife.'

The particle ram cannot separate elements of a single phrase, however it can be used as a tool to determine which element is moved within a sentence.

(3)a.

tahkome

elders

i-inɨ-pia

REL-eat-IMM.PAST

ram

2PART

Irikwa

Irikwa

tahkome i-inɨ-pia ram Irikwa

elders REL-eat-IMM.PAST 2PART Irikwa

'Irika (a mythological entity) ate the elders.'

b.

*[tahkome

elders

ram

2PART

i-inɨ-pia]

REL-eat-IMM.PAST

Irikwa

Irikwa

*[tahkome ram i-inɨ-pia] Irikwa

elders 2PART REL-eat-IMM.PAST Irikwa

In OSV contexts the object may move independently to subject position rather than the Verb-Phrase preceding the Noun-Phrase through the process of topicalization in which its components cannot be separated.

(4)

woky

Banana

i-eki

REL-juice

kra

1.PRO

h-ee-ia

1.A-drink-TAM

woky i-eki kra h-ee-ia

Banana REL-juice 1.PRO 1.A-drink-TAM

'I drink the banana juice'

Hierarchy

Hierarchical relationships exist in Waimiri Atroari in which  the third person is ranked lower than the first, second and first plural inclusive and exclusive person.   In situations where second person acts on first person, or first person acts on second person there is may be subject agreement or object agreement. Therefore, it is necessary that subject and object marking follow a hierarchy : 1=2, 1+2/1+3>3. The following table provided by Bruno illustrates how case is marked in Waimiri Atroari as well as the hierarchy present in the language.

Person Hierarchy in Waimiri Atroari

1A3O	Aa 1.PRO ram 2PART ka 3.PRO h-ini-pia 1.A-see-IMM.PAST Aa ram ka h-ini-pia 1.PRO 2PART 3.PRO 1.A-see-IMM.PAST 'I saw him.'
2A3O	Amɨra 2.PRO ram 2PART ka 3.PRO m-ini-pia. 2.A-see-IMM.PAST Amɨra ram ka m-ini-pia. 2.PRO 2PART 3.PRO 2.A-see-IMM.PAST 'You saw him.'
3A3O	Mɨkɨka 3.PRO ram 2PART ka 3.PRO Ø-ini-pia. Ø‍-see-IMM.PAST Mɨkɨka ram ka Ø-ini-pia. 3.PRO 2PART 3.PRO Ø‍-see-IMM.PAST 'She/he saw him/her'.
1+2A3O	Kɨka 1+2.PRO ram 2PART ka 3.PRO h-ini-pia. 1+2.A-see-IMM.PAST Kɨka ram ka h-ini-pia. 1+2.PRO 2PART 3.PRO 1+2.A-see-IMM.PAST 'We saw him.'
3A1O	Ka 3.PRO ram 2PART aa=ini-pia. 1.O-see-IMM.PAST Ka ram aa=ini-pia. 3.PRO 2PART 1.O-see-IMM.PAST 'She/he saw me.'
3A2O	Ka 3.PRO ram 2PART a=ini-pia. 2.O-see-IMM.PAST Ka ram a=ini-pia. 3.PRO 2PART 2.O-see-IMM.PAST 'She/he saw you.'
3A1+3O	Ka 3.PRO ram 2PART a’=ini-pia. 1+3.O-see-IMM.PAST Ka ram a’=ini-pia. 3.PRO 2PART 1+3.O-see-IMM.PAST 'She/he saw us.'
3A1+2O	Irɨ 3.PRO k-ini-pe-s 1+2.O-see-?-DESI na. COP Irɨ k-ini-pe-s na. 3.PRO 1+2.O-see-?-DESI COP 'She/he wants to see us.'
1A2O	Aa 1.PRO ram 2PART k-ini-pia. 2.O-see-IMM.PAST Aa ram k-ini-pia. 1.PRO 2PART 2.O-see-IMM.PAST 'I saw you'
2A1O	Amɨra 2.PRO ram 2PART aa=ini-pia 1.O-see-IMM.PAST Amɨra ram aa=ini-pia 2.PRO 2PART 1.O-see-IMM.PAST or Amra aa=k-ini-pia Amra aa=k-ini-pia 2.PRO 1.O-2-see-IMM.PAST

Semantics

Quantification

Adverbial quantifiers

Noun phrases which possess quantifiers show positional variation, as seen in examples (5) to (9). Adverbials quantifiers may be positioned on either side of the head noun. Bruno (2003) explains the relative mobility of these quantifiers by categorizing them as adjuncts.

(5)

waha

many

xiba

fish

waha xiba

many fish

'many fish'

(6)

xiba

fish

waha

many

xiba waha

fish many

'many fish'

(7)

kinja

people

wyty

meat

ipo-piany

look.for-REC.PAST

wapy

many

kinja wyty ipo-piany wapy

people meat look.for-REC.PAST many

'People hunted a lot.'

(8)

inja

people

wapy

many

wyty

meat

ipo-piany

look.for-REC.PAST

inja wapy wyty ipo-piany

people many meat look.for-REC.PAST

'Many people hunted.'

(9)

wapy

many

kinja

people

wyty

meat

ipo-piany

look.for-REC.PAST

wapy kinja wyty ipo-piany

many people meat look.for-REC.PAST

'Many people hunted.'

Numeral noun phrases

Examples (10) to (12) provide examples of the occurrence of the numeral one. (11) is unique in the set as it refers to 'one group' while (10) and (12) refer to one individual. Example (13) demonstrates use of the number two and examples (14) and (15) provide depictions of the use of number three.

amini ~ awinini -awinihe -awynihe (one, alone)

(10)

awinihe

one

petxi

wild pig

ka-ky

talk-PAST

ampa

other

ia

to.

awinihe petxi ka-ky ampa ia

one {wild pig} talk-PAST other to.

'One petxi talked to the other.'

(11)

awinih-pa

alone-EMPH

ka

EVID

kinja

people

txi-pia

go-IMM.PAST

itxi

jungle

taka

ALL

awinih-pa ka kinja txi-pia itxi taka

alone-EMPH EVID people go-IMM.PAST jungle ALL

'The kinja went to the jungle alone.'

(12)

awynihe

One

petxi

pig

Kwawura

Kwawura

i-atyka-pa

REL-put-REM

ty-kyda

3.REFL-back

tohnaka

over

awynihe petxi Kwawura i-atyka-pa ty-kyda tohnaka

One pig Kwawura REL-put-REM 3.REFL-back over

'One wild pig put Kwawura on his own back.'

Typytyna (two, a couple, a pair)

(13)

typytyna

two

karyka

chickens

typytyna karyka

two chickens

'two chickens'

Takynynapa (three)

(14)

weri

Woman

samka

hammock

ka-pia

make-IMM.PAST

takynynapa

three

weri samka ka-pia takynynapa

Woman hammock make-IMM.PAST three

'The woman made three hammocks.'

(15)

takynyny

three

pahky

only

kaminja

non-native

n-apynaka.

3-escape

takynyny pahky kaminja n-apynaka.

three only non-native 3-escape

'Only the three white men escaped.'

Loanword influence

As of recently, due to western influence, Portuguese loanwords are also used to refer to amounts higher than three, and it is common for younger speakers to use them for amounts lower than three.

(16)

dois

Two

kinja

people

xiba

fish

myry-myry-pia

REDUP-fish-IMM.PAST

quatro

four

pahky.

only

dois kinja xiba myry-myry-pia quatro pahky.

Two people fish REDUP-fish-IMM.PAST four only

'Two people caught only four fish.'

(17)

amy

Other

amy

Other

kinja

people

kinja

people

dezessete

seventeen

dezessete

seventeen

apytphy

behind

nate’me

behind

amy kinja dezessete apytphy

Other people seventeen behind

amy kinja dezessete nate’me

Other people seventeen behind

'Seventeen people were in front, and seventeen were behind.'

Many

However, traditionally, it is common for the Kinja people to use waha~wapy ('many, a lot') for amounts more than three because they did not count up to three.

References

• Bruno, Ana Carla (2003). Waimiri Atroari Grammar: Some Phonological, Morphological, and Syntactic Aspects. Tucson: University of Arizona.
• Bruno, Ana Carla (2010). "Lessons from Waimiri Atraori Syllable Structure". LIAMES. 10: 85–99.
• Bruno, Ana Carla (2015). "Case Marking in Waimiri Atroari: typical nominative/accusative or nominative with some inverse/split-s features". Revista Linguíʃtica. 4 (2).

IMPER:imperative PART:particle 2PART:second position particle VAL:valuative VERBL:verbalizer