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Arawak language

{{Short description|Arawakan language spoken in South America}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Arawak

| nativename = {{lang|arw|Lokono Dian}}

| states = French Guiana, Guyana,Trinidad, Suriname, Venezuela

| region = Guianas

| ethnicity = Lokono (Arawak)

| speakers = {{sigfig|2,510|2}}

| date = 1990–2012

| ref = e25

| familycolor = arawakan

| fam1 = Arawakan

| fam2 = Northern

| fam3 = Ta-Arawakan

| iso2 = arw

| iso3 = arw

| glotto = araw1276

| glottorefname = Lokono

| script = Latin script

| map = Arawaks Aujourd'hui.jpg

| mapcaption = Arawakan languages in South America and the Caribbean

| map2 = Lang Status 20-CR.svg

| mapcaption2 = {{center|{{small|Arawak is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger}}}}

}}

Arawak ({{lang|arw|Arowak}}, {{lang|arw|Aruák}}), also known as Lokono (Lokono Dian, literally "people's talk" by its speakers), is an Arawakan language spoken by the Lokono (Arawak) Indigenous peoples of South America in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and French Guiana.{{harvnb|Pet|2011|page=2}} It is the eponymous language of the Indigenous Arawakan language family.

Lokono is an active–stative language.Aikhenvald, "Arawak", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, eds., The Amazonian Languages, 1999.

History

Lokono is a critically endangered language.{{Cite web |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1708 |title=Lokono |website=Endangered Languages Project |access-date=2018-01-05 |archive-date=2018-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106072848/http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1708 |url-status=live }} The Lokono language is most commonly spoken in South America. Some specific countries where this language is spoken include Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Venezuela.{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sPGe7aBSkpkC&pg=PA167 |title=Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative Linguistics |last=Aikhenvald |first=Alexandra Y. |year=2006 |isbn=9780199283088 |editor-last=Aikhenvald |editor-first=Alexandra Y. |location=Oxford University Press |chapter=7. Areal Diffusion, Genetic Inheritance and Problems of Subgrouping: A north Arawak Case Study |editor-last2=Dixon |editor-first2=R. M. W. |access-date=2020-11-24 |archive-date=2024-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526094611/https://books.google.com/books?id=sPGe7aBSkpkC&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} The percentage of living fluent speakers with active knowledge of the language is estimated to be 5% of the ethnic population.{{Cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=W. |last2=Gibson |first2=K. |date=1979 |title=An Ethnohistory of Amerindians in Guyana |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=161 |doi=10.2307/481091 |jstor=481091}} There are small communities of semi-speakers who have varying degrees of comprehension and fluency in Lokono that keep the language alive.{{Cite journal |last1=Harbert |first1=Wayne |last2=Pet |first2=Willem |date=1988 |title=Movement and Adjunct Morphology in Arawak and Other Languages |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |language=en |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=416–435 |doi=10.1086/466095|s2cid=144291701 }} It is estimated that there are around 2,500 remaining speakers (including fluent and semi-fluent speakers).{{Cite book|last=Aikhenvald|first=Alexandra|title=Linguistics|year=2013|chapter=Arawak Languages|chapter-url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/28542/|work=Aronoff, Mark, (Ed.) Linguistics: Oxford Bibliographies. Oxford Bibliographies Online|via=Oxford Bibliographies|doi=10.1093/OBO/9780199772810-0119|isbn=9780199772810|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=2018-01-05|archive-date=2018-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106071742/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/28542/|url-status=live}} The decline in the use of Lokono as a language of communication is due to its lack of transmission from older speakers to the next generation. The language is not being passed to young children, as they are taught to speak the official languages of their countries.

Classification

The Lokono language is part of the larger Arawakan language family spoken by indigenous people in South and Central America along with the Caribbean.{{Cite journal |last=De Carvalho |first=Fernando O. |date=2016 |title=The diachrony of person-number marking in the Lokono-Wayuunaiki subgroup of the Arawak family: reconstruction, sound change and analogy |journal=Language Sciences |language=en |volume=55 |pages=1–15 |doi=10.1016/j.langsci.2016.02.001}} The family spans four countries of Central America — Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua — and eight of South America — Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil (and also formerly Argentina and Paraguay). With about 40 extant languages, it is the largest language family in Latin America.{{Cite web|url=https://research.jcu.edu.au/lcrc/language-archives/south-america-languages/arawak-languages/arawak-languages|title=Arawak languages|website=Research@JCU|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-07-10|archive-date=2016-08-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828034054/https://research.jcu.edu.au/lcrc/language-archives/south-america-languages/arawak-languages/arawak-languages|url-status=dead}}

= Etymology =

Arawak is a tribal name in reference to the main crop food, the cassava root, commonly known as manioc. The cassava root is a popular staple for millions of people in South America, Asia and Africa.{{Cite journal |last=Aikhenvald |first=Alexandra Y. |date=1995 |title=Person marking and discourse in North Arawak languages |journal=Studia Linguistica |language=en |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=152–195 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-9582.1995.tb00469.x}} It is a woody shrub grown in tropical or subtropical regions. Speakers of Arawak also identify themselves as {{lang|arw|Lokono}}, which translates as "the people". They call their language {{lang|arw|Lokono Dian}}, "the people's speech".{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aq8PAQAAMAAJ |title=A Brief Introduction to Some Aspects of the Culture and Language of the Guyana Arawak (Lokono) Tribe |date=1980 |publisher=Amerindian Languages Project, University of Guyana |access-date=2020-11-24 |archive-date=2024-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526094611/https://books.google.com/books?id=Aq8PAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}

Alternative names of the same language include Arawák, Arahuaco, Aruak, Arowak, Arawac, Araguaco, Aruaqui, Arwuak, Arrowukas, Arahuacos, Locono, and Luccumi.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9JSYzAynBEC&q=arawak+language+%28lokono%29&pg=PP2 |title=Comparative Arawakan Histories : Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area in Amazonia |last=Hill |first=Johnathon |date=2010-10-01 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=9780252091506 |access-date=2020-11-24 |archive-date=2024-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526094614/https://books.google.com/books?id=A9JSYzAynBEC&q=arawak+language+%28lokono%29&pg=PP2#v=snippet&q=arawak%20language%20(lokono)&f=false |url-status=live }}

Geographic distribution

Lokono is an Arawakan language most commonly found to be spoken in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. There are approximately 2,500 native speakers today. The following are regions where Arawak has been found spoken by native speakers.

Phonology

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

|+ Consonants{{harvnb|Pet|2011}}

! colspan="2" |

!Bilabial

!Alveolar

!Retroflex

!Palatal

!Velar

!Glottal

rowspan="3"|Stop

!voiceless

|

| {{IPAlink|t}}

|

|

| {{IPAlink|k}}

|

aspirated

|

| {{IPAlink|tʰ}}

|

|

| {{IPAlink|kʰ}}

|

voiced

| {{IPAlink|b}}

| {{IPAlink|d}}

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Fricative

| {{IPAlink|ɸ}}

| {{IPAlink|s}}

|

|

|

| {{IPAlink|h}}

colspan="2" |Nasal

| {{IPAlink|m}}

| {{IPAlink|n}}

|

|

|

|

colspan="2" |Approximant

| {{IPAlink|w}}

| {{IPAlink|l}}

|

| {{IPAlink|j}}

|

|

rowspan="2" |Rhotic

!trill

|

| {{IPAlink|r}}

|

|

|

|

tap

|

|

|{{IPAlink|ɽ}}

|

|

|

William Pet observes an additional {{IPA|/p/}} in loanwords.{{Cite thesis |last=Pet |first=William |title=Lokono dian: the Arawak language of Surinam: a sketch of its grammatical structure and lexicon. |date=1988 |degree=PhD |publisher=Cornell University}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!Character Used

!Additional Usage

!IPA symbol

!Arawak Pronunciation

b

|

|{{IPA link|b}}

|Like b in boy.

č

|ch, tj

|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}

|Like ch in chair.

d

|

| {{IPA link|d}} {{IPA|~}} {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}

|Like d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep.

f

|

|{{IPA link|ɸ}}

|This sound does not exist in English. It is pronounced by narrowing your lips and blowing through them, as if you were playing a flute.

h

|x

|{{IPA link|h}}

|Like h in hay.

j

|y

|{{IPA link|j}}

|Like y in yes.

k

|c, qu

|{{IPA link|k}}

|Like the soft k sound in English ski.

kh

|k, c, qu

|{{IPA link|kʰ}}

|Like the hard k sound in English key.

l

|

|{{IPA link|l}}

|Like l in light.

lh

|ř

|{{IPA link|ɽ}}

|No exact equivalent in American English. This is a retroflex r, pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the palate. It is found in Indian-English. Some English speakers also pronounce this sound in the middle of the word "{{lang|en|better}}" or "{{lang|en|party}}".

m

|

|{{IPA link|m}}

|Like m in moon.

n

|

|{{IPA link|n}}

|Like n in night.

p

|

|{{IPA link|p}}

|Like the soft p in spin.

r

|

|{{IPA link|ɾ}}

|Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English "{{lang|en|better}}".

s

|z, c

|{{IPA link|s}}

|Like the s in sun.

t

|

|{{IPA link|t}} {{IPA|~}} {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}

|Like the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.

th

|t

|{{IPA link|tʰ}} {{IPA|~}} {{IPA link|t͡ʃʰ}}

|Like the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.

hu

|w

|{{IPA link|w}}

|w as in {{lang|en|way}}.

'

|

|{{IPA link|ʔ}}

|A glottal stop, like the pause in the word {{lang|en|uh-oh}}.

=Vowels=

class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"

!

! Front

! Central

! Back

Close

|{{IPA link|i}}

|{{IPA link|ɨ}}

|

Mid

| {{IPA link|e}}

|

| {{IPA link|o}}

Open

|

| {{IPA link|a}}

|

Pet notes that phonetic realization of {{IPA|/o/}} varies between [{{IPA link|o}}] and [{{IPA link|u}}].

class="wikitable"

!Character Used

!Additional Usage

!IPA Symbol

!Arawak Pronunciation

a

|

|{{IPA link|a}}

|Like the a in father.

aa

| a·

|{{IPA link|aː}}

|Like a only held longer.

e

|

|{{IPA link|e}}

|Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in {{lang|es|gate}}.

ee

|e·, e:

|{{IPA link|eː}}

|Like e only held longer.

i

|

|{{IPA link|i}}

|Like the i in police.

ii

| i·, i:

|{{IPA link|iː}}

|Like i only held longer.

o

|

|{{IPA link|o}} {{IPA|~}} {{IPA link|u}}

|Like o in note or u in flute.

oo

| o·, o:

|{{IPA link|oː}}

|Like o only held longer.

y

| u, i

|{{IPA link|ɨ}}

|Like the e in {{lang|en|roses}}.

yy

| y:, uu, ii

|{{IPA link|ɨː}}

|Like the above y, only held longer.

Writing system

The Arawak language system has an alphabetical system similar to the Roman Alphabet with some minor changes and new additions to letters.

class="wikitable"

!Character Used

!Additional Usage

!IPA symbol

!Arawak Pronunciation

b

|

|b

|Like b in boy.

č

|tj

|t͡ʃ

|Like ch in chair.

d

|

| d ~ d͡ʒ

|Like d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep.

f

|

|ɸ

|This sound does not exist in English. It is pronounced by narrowing your lips and blowing through them, as if you were playing a flute.

x

|h

|h

|Like h in hay.

j

|

|j

|Like y in yes.

k

|c, qu

|k

|Like the soft k sound in English ski.

kh

|k, c, qu

| kh

|Like the hard k sound in English key.

l

|

|l

|Like l in light.

ř

|rh, lh

|ɽ

|No exact equivalent in American English. This is a retroflex r, pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the palate. It is found in Indian English. Some American English speakers also pronounce this sound in the middle of the word "hurting."

m

|

|m

|Like m in moon.

n

|

|n

|Like n in night.

p

|

|p

|Like the soft p in spin.

r

|

|ɾ

|Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter.

s

|z, c

|s

|Like the s in sun.

t

|

|t ~ t͡ʃ

|Like the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.

th

|t

|th ~ t͡ʃʰ

|Like the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.

hu

|w

|w

|Like w in way.

'

|

| ʔ

|A pause sound (glottal stop), like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."

class="wikitable"

!Character Used

!Additional Usage

!IPA Symbol

!Arawak Pronunciation

a

|

|a

|Like the a in father.

aa

| a·

|aː

|Like a only held longer.

e

|

|e

|Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in gate.

ee

|e·, e:

|eː

|Like e only held longer.

i

|

|i

|Like the i in police.

ii

| i·, i:

|iː

|Like i only held longer.

o

|

|o ~ u

|Like o in note or u in flute.

oo

| o·, o:

|oː

|Like o only held longer.

y

|

|ɨ

|Like the u in upon, only pronounced higher in the mouth.

yy

| y:

|ɨː

|Like y only held longer.

The letters in brackets under each alphabetical letter is the IPA symbol for each letter.

File:Arawak Language Alphabet EN.svg

Grammar

The personal pronouns are shown below. The forms on the left are free forms, which can stand alone. The forms on the right are bound forms (prefixes), which must be attached to the front of a verb, a noun, or a postposition.{{harvnb|Pet|2011|page=12}}

class="wikitable"

!

! Singular

! Plural

1st Person

| de, da-

| we, wa-

2nd Person

| bi, by-

| hi, hy-

3rd Person

| li, ly- (he)

tho, thy- (she)

| ne, na-

= Cross-referencing affixes =

All verbs are sectioned into transitive, active transitive, and stative intransitive.

class="wikitable"

|+ Prefixes (A/Sa) and Suffixes (O/So) of Cross-Reference Affixes

! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |

! colspan="2" | prefixes

! colspan="2" | suffixes

singular || plural

! singular || plural

colspan="2" | 1st person

| nu- or ta-

| wa-

| -na, -te

| -wa

colspan="2" | 2nd person

| (p)i-

| (h)i-

| -pi

| -hi

rowspan="2" | 3rd person

!{{small|non-formal}}

| ri-, i

| na-

| ri, -i

| -na

{{small|formal}}

| thu-, ru-

| na-

| -thu,-ru, -u

| -na

colspan="2" | 'impersonal'

| pa-

| -

| -

| -

A= Sa=cross referencing prefix

O=So= cross referencing suffix

Vocabulary

= Gender =

In the Arawak language, there are two distinct genders of masculine and feminine. They are used in cross-referencing affixes, in demonstratives, in nominalization and in personal pronouns. Typical pronominal genders, for example, are feminine and non-feminine. The markers go back to Arawak third-person singular cross-referencing: feminine -(r)u, masculine -(r)i

= Number =

Arawak Languages do distinguish singular and plural, however plural is optional unless the referent is a person. Markers used are *-na/-ni (animate/human plural) and *-pe (inanimate/animate non-human plural).

= Possession =

Arawak nouns are fragmented into inalienably and alienably possessed. Inalienably crossed nouns include things such as body parts, terms for kinship and common nouns like food selections. Deverbal nominalization belong to that grouping. Both forms of possession are marked with prefixes (A/Sa). Inalienably possessed nouns have what is known as an "unpossessed" form (also known as "absolute") marked with the suffix *-tfi or *-hV. Alienably possessed nouns take one of the suffixes *-ne/ni, *-te, *-re, *i/e, or *-na. All suffixes used as nominalizers.{{Cite journal |last=Rybka |first=Konrad |year=2015 |title=State-of-the-Art in the Development of the Lokono Language |url=http://nflrc.hawaii.edu/ldc/?p=603 |journal=Language Documentation & Conservation |volume=9 |pages=110–133 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10125/24635}}

= Negation =

Arawak languages have a negative prefix ma- and attributive-relative prefix ka-. An example of the use is ka-witi-w ("a woman with good eyes") and ma-witti-w ("a woman with bad eyes", i.e., a blind woman).

=Tenses=

Tenses are added at the end of a sentence: past tense is indicated with bura or bora (from ubura "before"), future tense with dikki (from adiki "after"), present continuous tense uses loko or roko.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/arawacklanguageo00brinrich |first=Daniel Garrison |last=Brinton |author-link=Daniel Garrison Brinton|year=1871 |title=The Arawack language of Guiana in its linguistic and ethnological relations |publisher=Philadelphia, McCalla & Stavely}}{{cite book |language=fr |last=Patte |first=Marie-France |title=La langue arawak de Guyane: présentation historique et dictionnaires arawak-français et français-arawak |date=2011 |publisher=Institut de recherche pour le développement |location=Marseille |isbn=978-2-7099-1715-5 |url=https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers12-09/010054590.pdf}}{{further explanation needed|date=July 2024}}

Examples

class="wikitable"

!English

!Eastern Arawak (French Guiana)

!Western Arawak (Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname)

One

|Ábą

|Aba

Two

|Bian

|Biama

Three

|Kabun

|Kabyn

Four

|Biti

|Bithi

Man

|Wadili

|Wadili

Woman

|Hiaro

|Hiaro

Dog

|Péero

|Péero

Sun

|Hadali

|Hadali

Moon

|Kati

|Kathi

Water

|Uini

|Vuniabu

{{Cite journal|last=Trevino |first=David |year=2016|title=Arawak |journal=Salem Press Encyclopedia |via=ebescohost}}

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{Cite book |url=http://www-01.sil.org/silepubs/Pubs/928474543236/e-Books_30_Pet_Arawak_Suriname.pdf |title=A Grammar Sketch and Lexicon of Arawak (Lokono Dian) |last=Pet |first=Willem J. A. |publisher=SIL International |year=2011 |access-date=2014-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213102446/http://www-01.sil.org/silepubs/Pubs/928474543236/e-Books_30_Pet_Arawak_Suriname.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-13 |url-status=dead |series=SIL eBook 30 }}

{{Languages of French Guiana}}

{{Languages of Guyana}}

{{Languages of Suriname}}

{{Arawakan languages}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Arawakan languages

Category:Indigenous languages of the South American Northeast

Category:Languages of Guyana

Category:Languages of Suriname

Category:Languages of French Guiana

Category:Languages of Venezuela

Category:Lokono