Maká language

Velar consonants alternate with palatal consonants before {{IPAslink|e}} and sometimes before {{IPAslink|a}}. Examples include {{IPA|/keɬejkup/}} ~ {{IPA|[ceɬejkup]}} {{gloss|autumn}} and {{IPA|/exeʔ/}} ~ {{IPA|[eçeʔ]}} {{gloss|stork}}. The palatal approximant {{IPAslink|j}} is realised as a palatal fricative {{IPAblink|ç}} before {{IPAslink|i}}, as in {{IPA|/inanjiʔ/}} ~ {{IPA|[inançiʔ]}}.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995}}{{page needed|date=May 2024}}

Syllables in Maká may be of types V, VC, CV, CCV, and CCVC. When a consonant cluster appears at the beginning of a syllable, the second consonant must be {{IPAslink|x}}, {{IPAslink|h}}, {{IPAslink|w}}, or {{IPAslink|j}}.

Maká has two genders—masculine and feminine. The demonstratives reflect the gender of a noun.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=153}}

In the plural the gender distinction is neutralized, and the plural demonstrative is the same as the feminine singular:

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|ne’ sehe-l

|these land-PL

|‘these lands’}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|ne’ naxkak-wi

|these tree-PL

|‘these trees’}}

Maká nouns inflect for plurality. There are several distinct plural endings: {{lang|mca|-l}}, {{lang|mca|-wi}}, {{lang|mca|-Vts}}, and {{lang|mca|-Vy}}. All plants take the {{lang|mca|-wi}} plural, but otherwise the choice seems to be unpredictable.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=150}}

Maká does not have any overt case marking on nouns. Consider the following sentence, where neither the subject nor object shows any case.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=139}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|Ne’ efu Ø-tux ka’ sehets.

|DEM.F woman A.3-eat INDEF.M fish

|‘The woman eats fish.’}}

Nouns agree with their possessor in person.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=148}}

Verbs agree with their subject and object in a rather complex system. Gerzenstein (1995) identifies five conjugation classes for intransitive verbs.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995}}{{page needed|date=May 2024}} The following two examples show intransitive verbs from conjugation classes 1 and 3.

Transitive verbs belong to a different conjugation class, Conjugation 6. The following forms show a transitive verb with a 3rd person object:

If the object of the transitive verb is 1st or 2nd person, then certain combinations of subject and object are shown by a portmanteau morpheme.

Other combinations involve an object agreement marker which may either precede or follow the subject marker.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|pp=94-101}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|łe-ts-ikfex

|2.SUBJ-1SG.OBJ-bite

|'you bite me'}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|xi-yi-łin

|1PL.INCL.OBJ-3-save

|'he/she saves us (inclusive)'}}

Verbs in Maká have a series of suffixes called 'postpositions' in Gerzenstein (1995), which have the effect of introducing new oblique objects into the sentence.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995}}{{page needed|date=May 2024}}

The following examples show the applicative suffixes {{lang|mca|-ex}} {{gloss|instrumental ('with')}} and {{lang|mca|-m}} {{gloss|benefactive ('for')}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|Ne’ efu ni-xele-ex ke’ ute na’ nunax.

|DEM.F woman A.3-throw-with INDEF.M rock DEM.M dog

|‘The woman threw a rock at the dog.’}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|H-osxey-i-m na’ sehets na’ k’utsaX

|A.1-grill-P.3-for DEM.M fish DEM.M old.man

|‘I grill fish for the old man.’}}

In noun phrases, the possessor precedes the possessed noun.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=155}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|e-li-ts łe-xiła’

|2-child-PL 3-head

|'your children’s head'}}

Noun phrases show the order (Demonstrative) (Numeral) (Adjective) N.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=154}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|Ne’ efu t-aqhay-ets ne’ ikwetxuł fo’ tiptip-its

|DEM.F woman S.3-buy-toward DEM.PL four white horse-PL

|’The woman bought four white horses.’}}

The basic word order for a transitive clause in Maká is subject–verb–object, as seen in the following example.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=138}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|Ne’ efu ni-xele-ex ke’ ute na’ nunax.

|DEM.F woman A.3-throw-with INDEF.M rock DEM.M dog

|‘The woman threw a rock at the dog.’}}

For intransitive clauses, the basic order is verb-subject.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=106}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|Wapi ne' efu.

|rest DEM.F woman

|'The woman rests'}}

In yes–no questions, the usual subject–verb–object order changes to verb-subject-object following an initial particle {{lang|mca|me}}.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=136}}

{{interlinear|indent=3

|Me y-eqfemet-en na' k’utsaX na' xukhew?

|Q A.3-injure-CAUS DEM.M old.man DEM.M man

|‘Did the old man injure the man?’}}

Sentences with wh-questions show a sentence-initial question word. Maká has a very small inventory of question words, with only three members: {{lang|mca|łek}} {{gloss|who, what}}, {{lang|mca|pan}} {{gloss|which, where, how many}}, and {{lang|mca|inhats'ek}} {{gloss|why}}. The following example shows an interrogative sentence with an initial question word.{{sfn|Gerzenstein|1995|p=178}}

{{interlinear|lang=mca|indent=3

|Łek pa' tux na' xukhew?

|what DEM.M eat DEM.M old.man

|‘What did the old man eat?’}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Gerzenstein |first=Ana |title=Lengua Maká. Estudio descriptivo |publisher=Universidad de Buenos Aires |year=1995 |isbn=950-29-0176-2 |series=Archivo de Lenguas Indoamericanas |location=Buenos Aires |language=es}}
• {{Cite book |last=Herzfeld |first=Anita |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mc0-KgHcxGYC&dq=mak%C3%A1+idioma&pg=PA245 |title=Las Causas sociales de la desaparición y del mantenimiento de las lenguas en las naciones de América: trabajos presentados en el 49avo Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, Quito, Ecuador, julio 7-11, 1997 |last2=Lastra |first2=Yolanda |date=1999 |publisher=USON |isbn=978-968-7713-70-0 |language=es}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170106103619/http://www.ailla.utexas.org/search/collection.html?c_id=20 Argentinian Languages Collection of Ana Gerzenstein], containing audio recordings of Maká, from the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America.
• [https://ids.clld.org/contributions/305 Maca] (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)

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