Languages of hunter-gatherers and their neighbors

Makuna

Family
Tukanoan
Region
South America
ISO 639-3
myy
Location
-0.14°, -70.07°
Notes
Features
Basic Vocabulary
Flora Fauna Vocabulary
Cultural Vocabulary
Grammatical Data
Ethnographic Information
Data Sources
Chacon, Thiago. 2014. A Revised Proposal of Proto-Tukanoan Consonants and Tukanoan Family Classification. International Journal of American Linguistics 80.3: 275-322. Huber, R.; Reed, R. 1992. Comparative vocabulary: selected words in indigenous languages of Colombia. Instituto Linguistico de Verano. Smothermon, Jeffrey R. and Josephine H. Smothermon, compilers. 1993. Masa ye, gawa ye rãca ãmara tuti (Macuna - español diccionario de 850 palabras). Bogotá: Editorial Alberto Lleras Camargo.


Basic Vocabulary (191)
English Spanish Portuguese Semantic Field Part of Speech Orthographic Form Phonemicized Form Gloss as in Source Etymology Code Proto-Form Proto-Language Loan Source Wanderwort Status Etyma Set Etymology Notes General Notes Source
above encima, arriba acima location jesa-re 'to be above sth' xesa-ɾe inheritance See Language page
and y e grammar See Language page
ash ceniza(s) cinzas environment õja õxa inheritance See Language page
at en, a em, a location See Language page
back espalda costas body jᵾdojᵾa xɨdoxɨa inheritance See Language page
bad mal mal quality bɨo-rise, ~jeja-rise bɨo-rise, ~jeja-rise unknown See Language page
belly barriga barriga body heraga heraga inheritance See Language page
below abajo, debajo abaixo location missing See Language page
big grande grande quality hai-rise, kɨ-rise hai-rise, kɨ-rise inheritance See Language page
black negro preto colour ~ji-rise ~ji-rise inheritance See Language page
blood sangre sangue body ri ri inheritance See Language page
boil/pimple espinilla, granos espinha, borbulha body missing See Language page
bone hueso osso body ~goa ~goa inheritance See Language page
breast pecho, seno peito body ~ohe-a ~ohe-a inheritance See Language page
child niño, niña criança human ~bakɨaka (m); ~bakoaka (f); ~riaka (pl) ~bakɨaka (m); ~bakoaka (f); ~riaka (pl) inheritance See Language page
cloud nube nuvem environment ide bue-ri ide bue-ri inheritance See Language page
cold frío frio quality ɨsa- ɨsa- inheritance See Language page
correct/true verdad, de veras verdade quality rioho rioho inheritance See Language page
day día dia time ~ɨbɨa ~ɨbɨa inheritance See Language page
dirty sucio sujo quality ʉe-rise ɨe-ɾise inheritance See Language page
dingo/wolf fauna See Language page
dry seco seco quality kara-rise kara-rise inheritance See Language page
dull/blunt sin filo, mocho, desafilado, embotado, romo maçante, desamolado, não afiado quality odi-bi-ti odi-bi-ti See Language page
dust polvo poeira environment sita bue-ri, sũhũ-ri sita bue-ri, sũhũ-ri See Language page
ear oreja orelha body ~gabo-ro ~gabo-ro inheritance See Language page
earth/soil tierra terra environment sita sita inheritance See Language page
egg huevo ovo fauna ria ria inheritance See Language page
eye ojo olho body cahe-a cahe-a inheritance See Language page
far lejos longe quality sõ-hɨ̃ sõ-hɨ̃ inheritance See Language page
fat/grease grasa gordura body ɨje ɨje inheritance See Language page
father padre, papá pai kinship cʉ̃na (Papí), jacʉ kɨ̃na (Papí), xakɨ inheritance See Language page
feather pluma pena fauna hoa hoa inheritance See Language page
fire fuego fogo environment jea; jea ʉ̃jᵾrise (jea also means 'firewood') xea; xea ɨ̃xɨrise inheritance See Language page
flower flor flor environment go go inheritance See Language page
fog niebla, neblina nevoeira, bruma, neblina environment wahɨ bue-ri wahɨ bue-ri See Language page
fruit fruta fruta flora rica; wild fruits: dʉjo; ñuanori; ũcu ɾika; dɨxo; juanoɾi; ĩku inheritance See Language page
good bueno bom quality ~keda-rise ~keda-rise inheritance See Language page
hair (of head) cabello cabelo body hoa-ma hoa-ma inheritance See Language page
hand mano mão body ~abo ~abo inheritance See Language page
3sg el/ella ele/ela grammar ~i (m.); iso (f.); iti (n.) ~i (m.); iso (f.); iti (n.) inheritance See Language page
head cabeza cabeça body rihoga rihoga inheritance See Language page
heavy pesado pesado quality to be heavy: rʉ̃cʉ-rise ɾɨ̃kɨ-ɾise inheritance See Language page
how? como como grammar dõ bahi-ro dõ bahi-ro inheritance See Language page
1sg yo eu grammar jɨ jɨ inheritance For pronouns: include bound/cliticized pronominal forms where significantly different from the free forms See Language page
if si se grammar See Language page
in/inside dentro, adentro dentro location missing See Language page
intestines intestinos intestinos body gᵾda misi (first constituent of this compound is gᵾda which means 'faeces') gɨda misi inheritance See Language page
lake lago lago environment similar: tata ('pool') tata unknown See Language page
leaf hoja folha environment ~hu ~hu inheritance See Language page
left/left hand izquierdo esquerdo location/body gãkõ-dɨha gãkõ-dɨha inheritance See Language page
leg/foot pierna perna body ñicʉgʉ̃ (for 'lower leg') jikɨgɨ̃ inheritance See Language page
lightning rayo, relámpago relampago environment semantically similar: yi-re (to flash); bʉjo (for 'thunderstorm'; cf. Thunder) ji-ɾe; bɨxo inheritance cf. thunder See Language page
liver hígado figado body ~jebe-reti-ro ~jebe-reti-ro inheritance See Language page
long largo comprido, longo quality joa- joa- inheritance See Language page
louse piollo, piojo piolho fauna guia guia inheritance order Phtiraptera See Language page
man/male hombre homem human ~ɨbu-gũ̵ ~ɨbu-gũ̵ inheritance See Language page
meat/flesh carne carne fauna ri kuhi ri kuhi inheritance See Language page
moon luna lua environment ~ubakaji ~jabi gagɨ ~ubakaji ~jabi gagɨ inheritance See Language page
mother madre, mamá mãe kinship mami (mami), jaco mami (mami), xaco inheritance See Language page
mouth boca boca body rise rise inheritance See Language page
name nombre nome human ~wabe ~wabe loan into protolanguage, direction unknown Boran, Witotoan, Tukanoan See Language page
near/close cerca de perto quality tɨ tɨ inheritance See Language page
nape base del cuello, nuca nuca body See Language page
neck cuello pescoço body ãmʉma; ãmʉtutu ãmɨma; ãmɨtutu inheritance See Language page
new nuevo novo quality ~baba ~ja-re ~baba ~ja-re inheritance See Language page
night noche noite time ~jabi ~jabi inheritance See Language page
no/not no não grammar bã- bã- inheritance See Language page
nose nariz nariz body ~iguia ~iguia inheritance See Language page
old viejo velho quality bɨcɨgɨ (m.); bɨco (f.); bɨcɨa-rise (inanim.) bɨcɨgɨ (m.); bɨco (f.); bɨcɨa-rise (inanim.) inheritance See Language page
one uno um number ko- ko- inheritance See Language page
other otro outro grammar gãhĩ, gahé- gãhĩ, gahé- inheritance See Language page
pain/painful/sick dolor, doloroso, enfermo dor, doloroso, doente body to be in pain: jũni wisi-re; to hurt: jũni-rise xũni wisi-ɾe; xũni-rise inheritance See Language page
person/human being persona pessoa human ~basɨ (m.); ~baso (f.) ~basɨ (m.); ~baso (f.) inheritance See Language page
rain lluvia chuva environment to rain: ide quedi-rise, quedi-re ide kedi-ɾise; kedi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
red rojo vermelho colour ~sua-rise ~sua-rise inheritance See Language page
right/right hand derecha direita location/body rioho-ka-dɨha rioho-ka-dɨha inheritance See Language page
road/path camino caminho manufacture ~ba ~ba inheritance See Language page
root raíz raiz flora ~je-ba ~je-ba inheritance See Language page
rotten podrido podre quality similar: joga-rise 'to rot' xoga-rise inheritance See Language page
sand arena areia environment ha ha inheritance See Language page
sharp afilado, filudo, filoso afiado quality to be sharp: odi-rise odi-ɾise unknown See Language page
short corto curto quality to be short: ye-rise je-ɾise inheritance See Language page
shoulder hombro ombro body gãkõ-hoe gãkõ-hoe inheritance See Language page
shy/ashamed tímido, vergonzoso timido, com vergonha mental bojo-re boxo-ɾe unknown See Language page
skin piel pele body wi-ro wi-ro unique See Language page
sky cielo céu environment macarᵾcᵾro makaɾɨkɨɾo unknown See Language page
small pequeño pequeno quality ~bɨtaka; habitire ~bɨtaka; habitire unknown See Language page
smoke humo fumaça environment bueri bueri inheritance See Language page
star estrella estrela environment ~jokoa-gã ~jokoa-gã inheritance See Language page
stick/wood palo pau, vara flora gũmu; 'wacʉ (used for dancing) gũmu; 'wakɨ loan; unknown WW kumu log, signal drum, canoe See Language page
stone piedra pedra environment ~gɨtaga ~gɨtaga inheritance See Language page
tail cola, rabo rabo body ~hiko ~hiko inheritance See Language page
that ese/esa esse grammar ~i (m.); iso (f.) ~i (m.); iso (f.) inheritance See Language page
3pl ellos/ellas eles/elas grammar ~ida (mf); iti (n.) ~ida (mf); iti (n.) inheritance See Language page
thick grueso, gordo, espeso grosso quality to be thick: jair-ise (seems similar to jai-re 'to grow'); webʉti-rise xai-rise; webɨti-ɾise unknown See Language page
thin delgado fino quality jʉ̃a jedi-re 'to be thin' xɨ̃a xed-iɾe unknown See Language page
this este/esta este grammar ~adi (m.); adio (f.) ~adi (m.); adio (f.) inheritance See Language page
2sg xx xx grammar ~bɨ ~bɨ inheritance See Language page
throat garganta garganta body ãmʉma yurajʉ; ãcũ yurama ãmɨma juɾaxɨ; ãkũ juɾama inheritance See Language page
three tres tres number ɨdia- ɨdia- inheritance See Language page
thunder truenos trovão environment semantically similar: bʉjo 'thunderstorm' (cf. lightning) and ja-re 'to thunder' (cf. hit, pound/beat) bɨxo; xa-ɾe inheritance See Language page
bite morder morder body cũni-re; idi-re (insects) kũni-ɾe; idi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
blow soplar soprar body juti-re xuti-ɾe inheritance See Language page
breathe respirar respirar body ʉsi ãmi-re; ʉsi wĩji-re (constituent ʉsi means 'ghost') ɨsi ãmi-ɾe; ɨsi wĩxi-ɾe unknown See Language page
burn quemar queimar environment soe-re; ʉ̃jʉ-rise; ya-re; to burn oneself: ʉa-re soe-ɾe; ɨ̃xɨ-ɾise; ya-ɾe; ɨa-ɾe inheritance See Language page
chew masticar, mascar mastigar body bague-re bague-ɾe inheritance See Language page
climb subir subir motion maja-re (horizontally); mᵾja-re (vertically); roja wa-re ('to climb down a hill'); ruji-re ('to climb down a tree/steep hill; identical with sit) maxa-ɾe; mɨxa-ɾe; ɾoxa wa-ɾe; ɾuxi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
come venir vir motion eja-re; wadi-re; wija-re exa-ɾe; wadi-ɾe; wixa-ɾe unknown; inheritance See Language page
cook cocinar cozinhar impact to cook in water: roa-re; to be cooked: ñai-rise ɾoa-ɾe; jai-ɾise inheritance See Language page
count contar contar mental cõĩa-re kõĩa-ɾe inheritance See Language page
cry llorar chorar mental oti-re oti-ɾe inheritance See Language page
cut/hack cortar cortar impact boje-re (identical with split); jata-re (with a machete); quẽa-re (with an axe); wẽje-re (with a machete); yije-re (into little slices) boxe-ɾe; xata-ɾe; kẽa-ɾe; wẽxe-ɾe; jixe-ɾe unknown See Language page
die/be dead morir morrer state ~ko-re, goda-re, ɨsi hedi-re ~ko-re, goda-re, ɨsi hedi-re inheritance See Language page
dig cavar cavar impact sea-re sea-ɾe inheritance See Language page
dream soñar sonhar mental cãi-re kãi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
drink beber, tomar beber body idi-re idi-re inheritance See Language page
eat comer comer body ba-re ba-re inheritance See Language page
fall caer cair motion ñaja-re (mostly used for inanimate things); quedi-re (animate and inanimate) jaxa-ɾe; kedi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
fear miedo medo mental güire (also used as a verb 'to be afraid of') gwiɾe inheritance See Language page
flow fluir fluir motion budi- budi- inheritance See Language page
fly volar voar motion wɨti-re wɨti-re inheritance See Language page
grow crecer crescer state bʉcʉa-rise; jai-re (esp. for rivers); judi-rise (esp. plants) bɨkɨa-ɾise; xai-ɾe; xudi-rise inheritance See Language page
hear oír ouvir mental tɨo-re tɨo-re inheritance See Language page
hide esconder esconder motion yeyo-re; to hide oneself: rudi-re jejo-ɾe; ɾudi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
hit golpear, pegar bater impact baje-re (could be a loan from Portuguese); ja-re; roca-re ('to punch in the face') (entire lexical entry is identical with pound/beat) baxe-ɾe; xa-ɾe; ɾoka-ɾe unknown See Language page
hold correr, asegurar, sostener segurar other tutu-re tutu-ɾe inheritance See Language page
kill matar matar impact ~sia-re ~sia-re inheritance See Language page
know/be knowledgeable saber, conecer saber, conhecer mental ~basi-re ~basi-re inheritance See Language page
laugh reír rir mental semantically close: aja-re ('reírse'); ajati-re ('sonreírse') axa-ɾe; axati-ɾe inheritance See Language page
lie down acostarse, echarse deitar motion yosa-re (in a hammock) josa-ɾe inheritance See Language page
live/be alive vivir viver, morar body cati-re kati-ɾe inheritance See Language page
open/uncover abrir abrir other jãna-re xãna-ɾe inheritance See Language page
pound/beat machacar, golpear bater impact baje-re (could be a loan from Portuguese); ja-re; roca-re ('to punch in the face') (entire lexical entry is identical with hit) baxe-ɾe; xa-ɾe; ɾoka-ɾe See Language page
say decir dizer mental ji- ji- inheritance See Language page
scratch rascar rasgar impact waje-re waxe-ɾe unknown See Language page
see ver ver mental ti-re ti-re unique See Language page
shoot tirar, disparar, balear atirar impact jatu-re (with an arrow); jearua-re (with a fire arm; word contains jea 'fire'); juti-re (with a blow pipe) xatu-ɾe; xeaɾua-ɾe; xuti-ɾe unknown See Language page
sit sentar(se) sentar state ruji-re (identical with climb) ɾuxi-ɾe inheritance See Language page
sleep dormir dormir body ~kadi-re ~kadi-re inheritance See Language page
sniff/smell olfatear, oler cheirar body sᵾti-rise (intransitive); wĩji-re (intransitive); ʉ̃ñi-re (probably intransitive) sɨti-ɾise; wĩxi-ɾe; ɨ̃ji-ɾe unknown; inheritance primarily transitive See Language page
spit escupir cuspir body eo bate-re (second constituent seems similar to the Portuguese verb bater 'to beat, hit, pound'; cf. Macuna baje-re) eo bate-ɾe inheritance See Language page
split partir, dividir rachar, dividir, partir impact boje-re (identical with cut/hack) boxe-ɾe inheritance See Language page
squeeze estrujar, exprimir espremer impact bije-re; tʉacã-re (esp. yuca) bixe-ɾe; tɨakã-ɾe inheritance See Language page
stab/pierce apuñalar, acuchillar apunhalar impact hio- hio- inheritance See Language page
stand estar de pié ficar em pé state rʉ̃gõ-re ɾɨ̃gõ-ɾe inheritance See Language page
steal robar roubar other ẽma-re ẽma-ɾe inheritance see Secoya See Language page
suck chupar chupar body udi-re (with a straw or something similar); ũju-re (esp. Breast milk) udi-ɾe; ĩxu-ɾe unknown See Language page
swell hincharse inchar body miji-re mixi-ɾe inheritance cognate Siona? See Language page
swim nadar nadar motion bati-re, ~ahu-re (underwater) bati-re, ~ahu-re (underwater) inheritance See Language page
think pensar pensar mental tʉoɨ̃a-re tɨoɨ̃a-ɾe inheritance See Language page
throw tirar, lanzar atirar, jogar impact jatu-re (identical with shoot); rea-re xatu-ɾe; ɾea-ɾe unknown See Language page
tie up/fasten atar, amarrar amarrar impact sia-re sia-ɾe inheritance See Language page
turn girar, volter, torcer virar other jᵾda-re (transitive) xɨda.ɾe unique may be transitive or intransitive See Language page
vomit vomitar vomitar body mᵾño-re mɨjo-ɾe inheritance See Language page
walk caminar, andar andar motion wa-re wa-re inheritance See Language page
work trabajar trabalhar other moa-re moa-ɾe inheritance See Language page
yawn bostezar bocejar body yawᵾti-re jawɨti-ɾe inheritance See Language page
tongue lengua lingua body ~jebe-ro ~jebe-ro inheritance See Language page
tooth diente dente body guhi-ga guhi-ga inheritance See Language page
two dos dois number hɨa- hɨa- inheritance See Language page
water agua agua environment ide ide unique See Language page
1pl.incl nosotros (inclusivo) nós (inclusivo) grammar ~badi ~badi inheritance no inclusive/exclusive distinction unless noted See Language page
1pl.excl nosotros (exclusivo) nós (exclusivo) grammar gɨa gɨa inheritance See Language page
wet mojado molhado quality wea- wea- inheritance See Language page
what? que, qué que grammar ~je ~je inheritance See Language page
when? cuando quando grammar dõ kãtã dõ kãtã inheritance See Language page
where? donde onde grammar dõ-hɨ̃ dõ-hɨ̃ inheritance See Language page
white blanco branco colour boti-rise boti-rise inheritance See Language page
who? quien, quién quem grammar ~jibɨ/~di (m.); ~jibo/diso (f.) ~jibɨ/~di (m.); ~jibo/diso (f.) inheritance See Language page
wife esposa esposa kinship manojo manoxo inheritance See Language page
wind viento vento environment mino mino inheritance See Language page
wing ala asa body caero kaeɾo inheritance See Language page
woman/female mujer mulher human ~robio ~robio inheritance See Language page
yellow amarillo amarelo colour bodea-rise bodea-rise doubtful loan Witotoan (in Desano, Siriano, Macuna) See Language page
2pl ustedes vocês grammar ~bɨa ~bɨa inheritance See Language page
foot pie pé body gɨbo gɨbo inheritance See Language page
again de nuevo, otra vez de novo grammar missing See Language page
all todo todos other jedi-re (used as a finite intransitive verb form, cf. all/todo(s) is a determiner); jeyaro; ña jedirã xedi-ɾe; xejaɾo; ja xediɾã inheritance See Language page
ankle tobillo tornozelo body ãña yaga; ãña rirajea (ãña for 'snake/colubrid'); ñama yaga ãja jaga; ãja ɾiɾaxea; jama yaga inheritance See Language page
armpit axila, sobaco axila body missing See Language page
faeces heces, mierda, excremento, estiércol fezes body gᵾda gɨda inheritance See Language page
lung pulmón pulmão body wa'cʉ wa'kɨ unique See Language page
sweat sudar suor, suar body asi budi-re asi budi-ɾe inheritance? See Language page
itch hormiguear, sentir comezón coçar body wãqui-rise wãki-ɾise See Language page
bark corteza casca environment ~rahua ~rahua unique See Language page
fingernail uña unha body ~abo wero ~abo wero inheritance See Language page
heart corazón coração body ɨgɨamɨ ɨgɨamɨ unique See Language page
sun sol sol time ~ubakaji; ~ɨbɨa gagɨ ~ubakaji; ~ɨbɨa gagɨ unknown See Language page
mountain/hill montaña, colina, loma, cerro morro, serra environment ~gɨtagũ̵ ~gɨtagũ̵ inheritance See Language page
green verde verde quality ~sɨbea-rise ~sɨbea-rise inheritance See Language page
hot caliente quente quality asi-rise asi-rise inheritance See Language page


Flora Fauna Vocabulary (133)
English Spanish Portuguese Semantic Field Part of Speech Linnean Name Orthographic Form Phonemicized Form Gloss as in Source Etymology Code Proto-Form Proto-Language Loan Source Etymology Notes Wanderwort Status Etyma Set Range of Term Word Structure Word Structure Notes Classifier Classifier Notes Hypernym Source Association with Social Categories Ritual/Mythologically Significant Ritual Notes Food Source Food Notes Medicinal Medicinal Notes How Collected Who Collects How Prepared Psychotropic Psychotropic Notes Traded Trade Notes Distribution Habitat Dangerous Ethnobiology Notes Species Notes General Notes
bat murciélago morcego flora-fauna Chiroptera spp. oso oso inheritance See Language page
bird pajaro, ave passaro flora-fauna bĩdĩ bĩdĩ inheritance See Language page
curassow mitu, montete (Peru), paujil/panjuil (Peru), paujil de Salvin (Peru for Mitu salvini) mutum flora-fauna Crax sp., Nothocrax sp. rũhĩ rũhĩ inheritance See Language page Amazonia
toucan tucán, pinsha (Peru) tucano flora-fauna Ramphastos sp. lasɛ, rase (H&R) lasɛ, rase (H&R) doubtful loan into protolanguage North Arawak See Language page Widespread Amazonia
gray-winged trumpeter Grulla, Trompetero Ala Gris jacamim flora-fauna Psophia crepitans missing See Language page Northern Amazonia (N of Solimões), not in northern Colombia; Dark-winged trumpeter is found south of Solimões
guan pava, pucacunga (Peru), pava de Spix (Peru) jacu flora-fauna Penelope sp. kata kata inheritance See Language page Different types have different localized ranges
tinamou tinamu, perdiz, gallineta inambu, inhambu flora-fauna family Tinamidae gãjagã gãxagã inheritance See Language page Widespread Amazonia
hummingbird colibrí, picaflor (Peru) beija-flor flora-fauna family Trochilidae mimi mimi, bĩbĩ inheritance See Language page Widespread
kingfisher martín pescador, catalan (Peru) martim-pescador flora-fauna family Alcedinidae ñasa ɲasa inheritance See Language page Widespread Amazonia
owl (large) búho, lechuza corujão flora-fauna order Strigiformes bʉjogabo, bʉricatu bɨxogabo, bɨrikatu doubtful loan into protolg - WW? onomatopoeic? %pupu See Language page Widespread
macaw ara, guacamaya Arara flora-fauna family Psittacidae; Ara sp. maja maxa, bãhã inheritance See Language page Widespread Amazonia
parrot loro real, loro (Sp. form is a loan from Carib) papagaio flora-fauna Amazona amazonica weco wɛko inheritance See Language page Widespread
dove paloma pomba flora-fauna family Columbidae buja buxa inheritance See Language page
hawk halcón, gavilán gavião flora-fauna family Accipitridae gajagʉ gaxagɨ doubtful loan Yucuna kapana, Nheengatu karipira See Language page
vulture buitre, gallinazo, rinahui (Peru) urubu flora-fauna family Cathartidae yuca juka inheritance See Language page Widespread South America
duck pato pato, marreco flora-fauna Anatidae family missing See Language page
great egret Garza Blanca, Guyratî Garça-Branca-Grande flora-fauna Ardea alba yaje (heron) yaxɛ (hɛron) inheritance See Language page Widespread South America
woodpecker pájaro carpintero, carpintero pica-pau flora-fauna family Picidae cõne kõnɛ inheritance See Language page Widespread Amazonia
dog (camp, domestic) perro cachorro flora-fauna Canis famililaris ecarʉ yai, yai eka-rɨ jai, ɛcaɾɨ yai, yai semantic shift/calque from jaguar + ? See Language page Not native; widespread
dog (wild; bush dog) sachaperro, Perro de Monte, Zorro Vinagre, Guanfando; Zorro Ojizarco, Zorro Negro, Perro de Orejas Corta cachorro-do-mato flora-fauna Speothos venaticus; Atelocynus microtis See Language page Widespread Amazonia
anteater oso hormiguero; tapia pelejo or pelejo chico for Cyclopes didactylus tamanduá flora-fauna Myrmecophaga tridactyla (giant anteater); Cyclopes didactylus (silky anteater) bʉco bɨko inheritance See Language page Widespread Amazonian lowlands
armadillo armadillo, carachupa (Peru), yangunturi (Peru for Giant armadillo) tatu flora-fauna family Dasypodidae; e.g. Priodontes maximus (Giant armadillo), Dasypus novemcinctus, Dasypus kappleri jãmogã hãbõ-gã, xãmogã inheritance See Language page Widespread in Amazonia
sloth pereza, pelejo (Peru), perezoso (Peru) macaco preguica flora-fauna Choloepus sp., Bradypus sp. quereca kɛɾɛka See Language page Widespread Amazonia
alligator, black caiman babilla; cachirre jacaré flora-fauna Melanosuchus niger, Caiman schlerops; Paleosuchus sp. gʉso, jea gʉso (constituent jea means 'fire/firewood'), ria gʉso gɨso, xɛa gɨso, ria gɨso inheritance See Language page Throughout Amazonia Port term reportedly borrowed from Tupi
electric eel anguila eléctrica poraquê flora-fauna Electrophorus electricus bue (generic) buɛ (gɛnɛɾic) inheritance See Language page
fish (generic) pez peixe flora-fauna wai wai inheritance See Language page
pacu fish palometa, garopita, garopa, curhuara (Peru) pacu flora-fauna Mylossoma sp. ujuga uxuga See Language page
pirana piraña, caribe piranha flora-fauna subfamily Serrasalmidae bũjũ-gã bũjũ-gã inheritance See Language page Widespread Amazonia
tigerfish taraira, guabina, huasaco (Peru) traíra flora-fauna Hoplias sp. pawa, sai pawa, sai See Language page Widespread Amazonia
mandi catfish maparate (used in Peru for some types of catfish, including Auchenipterus sp.), cunchi (used in Peru for some types of catfish), bagre (catfish) mandi flora-fauna Auchenipterus sp. wajega waxɛga See Language page Widespread Amazonia
speckled catfish surubí, pintadillo surubim, sorubim flora-fauna Pseudoplatystoma sp. See Language page Widespread Amazonia
toad sapo sapo flora-fauna order Anura tarobʉcʉa (grande) talobɨkɨa (gɾande), taro-bɨkɨ See Language page
iguana iguana, garipiares (Colombia) camaleão flora-fauna Iguana sp. jua-boro jua-boro inheritance See Language page iguana' is reportedly from Arawak iwana
small lizard lagartija calango flora-fauna order Squamata yua (general lizard) jua (general lizard) inheritance See Language page
stingray (generic) rayas látigo, raya arraia flora-fauna Potamotrygon sp. missing See Language page
crab cangrejo caranguejo flora-fauna infraorder Brachyura gãjigã gãxigã inheritance See Language page
anaconda anaconda, boa, boa acuática grande sucuri flora-fauna genus Eunectes jĩno xĩno, hĩdõ See Language page Widespread Amazonia
boa boa; mantona (red-tailed boa); boa de altura jiboia flora-fauna family Boidae, subf. Boinae jĩno xĩno, hĩdõ inheritance See Language page
snake (generic) culebra, serpiente cobra flora-fauna ãña ãɲa, ãjã inheritance See Language page
snake (poisonous generic) or rattlesnake víbora (Peru), jergón (Peru), yarara jararaca flora-fauna Bothrops jararaca/atrox ãña sirgʉ (crótalo), gajoabo (taya equis) ãɲa siɾgɨ (cɾótalo), gaxoabo (taya equis), ãjã siri-gɨ (H&R) See Language page Widespread South America
tortoise (red foot, yellow foot/giant) tortuga, morrocoy, motelo jabutí, tartaruga flora-fauna Yellow-footed: Geochelone denticulata; Red-footed: Geochelone carbonaria guga, gusiria guga, gusilia inheritance See Language page Widespread
Amazon dolphin bufeo, delfín, tonina (del Orinoco) boto cor-de-rosa flora-fauna Inia geoffrensis missing See Language page Downstream of major rapids and waterfalls
mushroom champiñón, hongo cogumelo flora-fauna (any edible generic) abujutoa abuxutoa inheritance See Language page prioritize generic term that includes any edible species
black palm bacaba, mapora, pusui, patabá bacaba flora-fauna Oenocarpus bacaba See Language page Mature forests of Rio Negro and Upper Amazon may be confused in some entries with O. bataua
açai palm huasí (Peru), asahi, manaca (Ven), asaí, palmiche (Colombia) açaí flora-fauna Euterpe sp. missing See Language page floodplains, swamp; esp. northern Amazonia
miriti palm moriche (Col, Ven), aguaje (Col, Peru), achual, miriti buriti flora-fauna Mauritia flexuosa missing See Language page Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Venezuela; in and near swamps trunks contain sago-like starch
palm for roof thatch pui, irapay, hoja de irapay, caraná caraná flora-fauna Mauritiella armata OR Lepidocaryum tenue (irapay), Mauritius carana missing See Language page Mauritia carana is limited principally to the Rio Negro and Upper Orinoco regions; dry catinga forests palm
paxiuba palm pona, huacrapona, cashapona, macanilla, pachiuba paxiuba flora-fauna Iriartea exorrhiza OR Iriartea deltoidea missing See Language page Widespread Amazonia palm
peach palm, pejibaye palm chontaduro (Col, Ecuador); pipire (Col); pijuayo (Peru), pijiguao (Ven); tembe (Bol) pupunha flora-fauna Bactris gasipaes ~ɨde ~ɨde pupunha palm Chacon 2014: Appendix A
seje palm ungurahui (Peru), palma de seje, milpesos, patabá patoá, patuá flora-fauna Jessenia bataua, aka Oenocarpus bataua See Language page mostly north of Equator; common in Amazonia may be confused with O. bacaba - compare entries
coca coca coca flora-fauna Erythroxylum coca caji kaxi, kahi unknown shared Barasano; compare kaapi See Language page secondary scrub vegetation. lower alt. of eastern Andes plant
cotton algodón algodão flora-fauna Gossypium (barbadense: long fibers; hirsutum: short fibers) jɨta jɨta semantic shift original meaning kapok See Language page secondary scrub vegetation plant; some sources may confound with kapok Ceiba pentandra (esp. if a single gloss for 'cotton' is given')
kapok ceiba, huimba, lupuna (Peru for Ceiba sp.) sumaumeira flora-fauna Ceiba pentandra See Language page northern South America and central America; common in disturbed areas tree
hot pepper ají, pimentón/pimiento rojo, pucunucho (Peru), charapilla (Peru) pimenta flora-fauna Capsicum sp., principally chinensis and frutescens bia bia inheritance See Language page secondary scrub vegetation, indigenous garden plant
peanut maní (may be loan from Taino Arawak), cacahuete amendoim flora-fauna Arachis hypogaea See Language page plant
pineapple piña abacaxi flora-fauna Ananas comosus sẽnagã sɛ̃nagã inheritance possibly from TG nana? See Language page plant
arrow cane, wildcane caña flecha, caña brava, caña isana cana para flechas, frecheira, Cana-do-rio flora-fauna Gynerium sagittatum joragʉ (for fishing), yiru xolagɨ (fol fishing), yilu, bĩbĩ-rẽ See Language page tropical regions, especially river banks plant
banana, plantain banano, banana, cambur, bellaco, variedad de plátano banana flora-fauna Musa sp. ojo oxo, oho semantic shift? Chacon 2013: markedness shift from sororoca See Language page Names for banana/plantain may be derived from bastard plantain by semantic shift.
beans frijoles, frejol, caraotas (negras, rojas, blancas) feijão flora-fauna Phaseolus spp. cũmana kũmana loan - WW %kumana See Language page plant
grass hierba, pasto capim, grama flora-fauna (generic) ta ta inheritance See Language page
maize, corn mazorca, maiz milho flora-fauna Zea mays ojorica oxolika, oho-rika semantic shift (in protolg?) from banana; cf. Hup, Bora See Language page widespread, esp. in river floodplains plant
tobacco tabaco tabaco flora-fauna Nicotiana tabacum mʉno mɨno, bɨ̃dõ inheritance See Language page plant
tree árbol arvore flora-fauna jukɨgɨ jukɨgɨ inheritance See Language page
achiote, anatto achiote urucum flora-fauna Bixa orellana abujumujariyocʉ (tree), musa bũsã (H&R), abuxumuxaɾiyokɨ (tɾee), musa inheritance See Language page secondary scrub vegetation and indigenous gardens shrub
inga guaba, guamo, guama, shimbillo (Peru) inga flora-fauna Inga spp. missing See Language page Secondary scrub vegetation and indigenous gardens. North and South America (Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Suriname, Colombia)
avocado palta, aguacate abacate flora-fauna Persea americana ũñu ũɲu See Language page secondary scrub vegetation and indigenous gardens tree
bitterwood tortuga caspi, pretina (Peru for tree and tumpline); carahuasca (Peru) envira flora-fauna Duguetia sp. OR Fusaea longifolia OR Guatteria chrysopetala See Language page secondary forests, native to Brazil tree
brazil nut castaña castanha do para (B. excelsa); castanha de cutia (C. edulis) flora-fauna Bertholletia excelsa [cf. Couepia edulis 'castanha do cutia'] See Language page 1) Couepia: restricted area within Brazil, Rio Purus basin and middle Solimões. 2) Bertholletia: elev: consistently about 200m; mature forests. Widely distributed from Peru, E. Colombia, Brazil to Nicaragua. tree
cashew anarcado, castaña de cajú, nuez de la India, marañon, cajú, merey (Venezuela) caju flora-fauna Anacardium occidentale / giganteum sõna sõna inheritance See Language page secondary scrub vegetation and indigenous gardens tree; most sources will not distinguish between occidentale and other varieties
genipap jagua, majagua - Colombia, caruto, xagua - Venezuela, bigrande - Bolivia, huito, yaguayagua - Peru, ygualti - Nicaragua, maluco - Mexico genipapo, jenipapo flora-fauna Genipapa americana missing See Language page widespread lowland SA shrub
japurá oreja de murcielago japurá flora-fauna Erisma japura See Language page large tree
rubber tree (sorva) caucho, siringa, shiringa seringa, borracha flora-fauna Hevea sp. See Language page Widespread Amazonia tree
ucuqui yugo, caimitillo del monte (Peru) ucuqui flora-fauna Pouteria ucuqui See Language page native to NW Amazonia, found primarily in Vaupes and Caqueta regions other species of Pouteria exist and have much-used edible fruit; these can be subsituted where relevant
Amazon tree-grape uva de monte, uvilla (Peru), puruma, caime, caimarona (and variants; Col.) cucura flora-fauna Pourouma cecropiifolia ʉye ɨyɛ inheritance See Language page grows wild in Western Amazon basin; cultivated in Colombia since pre-Colombian times a tree; not a true grape
manioc (bitter or generic) yuca brava mandioca flora-fauna Manihot esculenta quĩ kĩ inheritance See Language page not generally cultivated in western (subAndean) Amazon. Arroyo-Kalin (2010) argues for a correlation with distribution of dark earths, mostly formed after 1AD, and the modeled-incised pottery tradition. Provides more starch and is more pest-resistant than the sweet variety, but requires much processing. Arroyo-Kalin (2010) proposes that bitter type was developed from sweet through post-ceremic agricultural intensification (motivated by high starch yield
manioc (sweet) yuca, caribe macaxeira flora-fauna Manihot esculenta missing See Language page Primary staple in western/subAndean Amazonia, less important elsewhere No processing required, but lower starch yield and pest resistance than bitter variety
potato papa batata flora-fauna Solanum tuberosum See Language page secondary scrub vegetation compare entries for sweet potato
potato, sweet potato camote, batata dulce, batata, cumara batata-doce flora-fauna Ipomoea batatas ñaji ɲaxi, jãhĩ inheritance See Language page plant
cará tuber, purple or white camote, sachapapa cará roxo, branco flora-fauna Dioscorea sp. missing See Language page secondary scrub vegetation; forest clearings plant
tannia, yautia huitina (Peru), ñame taioba branca flora-fauna Xanthosoma spp. ñamo ɲamo, jãbõ See Language page
bottle-gourd (vine) or calabash (tree) calabazo, calabaza; auyama (Dominican Republic and Venezuela), ayote (parts of Central America), zapallo (parts of South America), tutumo/totumo/totuma (Cresc tree), huingo (Peru for Crescentia cujete), tapara cabaça flora-fauna Crescentia cujete (round variety - tree); (Cucurbita) Lagenaria siceraria (bottle variety - vine) coa ('calabaza', Smothermon dict) koa See Language page indigenous gardens plant; tree
squash calabaza, calabacines, auyamas, zapallos, huingo (Peru) abóbora flora-fauna Cucurbita sp. coa [?] koa [?] unknown prob. Crescentia See Language page plant
cipó vine tamishi, bejuco, yare cipó flora-fauna Heteropsis spp. See Language page secondary forest, floodplain vine
fish poison, barbasco barbasco, matapez (Colombia) timbó flora-fauna Lonchocarpus spp. cũra kũna loan Arawak (prob. Baniwa) See Language page secondary forests and secondary srcrub vegetation shrub/tree
hallucinogenic vine, banisterium, ayahuasca ayahuasca, yage ayahuasca, caapi flora-fauna Banisteriopsis caapi káhi idi-re káhi idi-re loan - WW %kaapi See Language page semi-domesticated, native to Amazonian basin, esp. NW vine
hallucinogenic snuff vilca, cebil, yopo paricá, yopo flora-fauna Anadenanthera sp. or virola See Language page
insect (generic) insecto insecto flora-fauna generic See Language page
ant (generic) hormiga formiga flora-fauna Formicidae bẽkã-bɨ̃ bẽkã-bɨ̃ See Language page
bullet ant, lesser giant hunter ant conga, hormiga yanabe (Colombia), isula (Peru), Hormiga Veinticuatro tocandira flora-fauna Paraponera clavata missing See Language page
leaf-cutter ant Colombia: zampopo, hormiga arriera; Venezuela: bachaco; Peru: curuhuinse saúva flora-fauna Atta sp. missing See Language page
honeybee abeja abelha flora-fauna Apis mellifera; Tetragonisca angustula; Trigona amazonensis mumidʉ, beroamʉ mumidɨ, beɾoamɨ, beroabɨkɨ (H&R) inheritance See Language page
cockroach cucaracha barata-do-mato flora-fauna order Blattaria jarawa, jarewa xaɾawa, xaɾɛwa loan - WW %arawe See Language page
firefly, lightning bug lampírido, luciérnaga (Peru), añañahui (Peru), cocuyo (attributed Taino origin) vagalume flora-fauna fam: Elateridae, Fengodidae, Lampyridae missing See Language page
butterfly, moth mariposa borboleta flora-fauna order Lepidoptera jogoro xogoɾo inheritance See Language page
moth mariposa nocturna, polilla mariposa flora-fauna order Lepidoptera See Language page
angleworm lombriz minhoca flora-fauna order Opisthopora barewamʉ, rãjua, wãsiamʉ baɾɛwamɨ, lãxua, wãsiamɨ unknown See Language page
centipede ciempiés centopéia flora-fauna class Chilopoda muni muni See Language page
scorpion escorpión; alacran escorpião flora-fauna order Scorpiones cotiwaj̃a kotiwax̃a inheritance See Language page
cicada cigarra, chicharra cigarra flora-fauna super fam. Cicadoidea idire idilɛ unknown See Language page
flea pulga pulga flora-fauna order Siphonaptera rʉ̃gõmeamʉ lɨ̃gõmɛamɨ, boboroa (H&R) inheritance See Language page
blowfly/housefly mosca mosca flora-fauna Diptera beco beko inheritance See Language page
cricket saltón, grillo grilo flora-fauna family Gryllidae jorero, ñeteamʉ, ñimiamʉ xolɛlo, ɲɛtɛamɨ, ɲimiamɨ inheritance See Language page
edible palm-dwelling larva (palm weevil) suri, mojojoy larva, broca-do-coqueiro, aramandaiá flora-fauna Rhynchophorus sp. wadoa wadoa unknown See Language page
praying mantis, stick insects mantis religiosa louva-a-deus flora-fauna order Mantodea, family Mantidae yase yasɛ See Language page
mosquito mosquito, zancudo mosquito, carapana flora-fauna Anopheles sp. ʉsicamʉ; mʉte ɨsikamɨ; mɨte, bɨ̃tẽã-bɨ̃ (H&R) unknown; inheritance See Language page
termites, white-ants comején (Peru), termitas cupim flora-fauna order Isoptera adamabocomicʉ adamabokomikɨ, butua-bɨ̃ inheritance See Language page
tick garrapata carrapato flora-fauna superfam Ixodoidea gãjisĩa, gãjisʉa gãxisĩa, gãxisɨa unknown cf. Arawak See Language page
wasp avispa; specific type: ronzapa/ronsapa caba flora-fauna order Hymenoptera, sub: Apocrita utia utia inheritance See Language page
snail caracol, churo (Peru) caracol flora-fauna class Gastropoda missing See Language page
spider araña aranha flora-fauna Arachnidae, Araneae bʉjʉ bɨxɨ, bɨhɨ inheritance See Language page
jaguar yaguar, yaguareté, jaguar, otorongo (Peru), tigre (Peru) onca flora-fauna Panthera onca yai (general term) yai (general term), jai doubtful loan into protolanguage, direction unknown Arawak (Chacon reconstructs); cf. TG *jawar See Language page
manatee vaca marina, manatí peixe-boi flora-fauna Trichechus sp. See Language page
brown woolly monkey Mono Lanudo Común, Choro, Churucu, mono choro (Peru), mono lanudo cafe, barrigudo de Humboldt macaco barrigudo flora-fauna Lagothrix lagothricha seu (R95) seu (R95) inheritance See Language page
howler monkey (red-handed) mono aullador, mono coto (Peru) guariba flora-fauna Alouatta belzebul [or other Alouatta sp.] ugʉ. ug (R95) ugɨ inheritance See Language page
tufted capuchin monkey mono negro (Peru), Machín Negro, Maicero Cachón, mono maicero macaco prego flora-fauna Cebus apella gaque josu, wau; gaqué-gaqué (R95) gake, gakɛ xosu, wau inheritance See Language page
white-fronted capuchin Machín Blanco, mono blanco, Maicero Cariblanco, mono blanco (Peru) Caiarara flora-fauna Cebus albifrons gaquejosé (R95) gakehosé (R95) unknown See Language page
white-fronted spider monkey Machin Blanco, Mono Araña de Vientre Amarillo, maquisapa (Peru), braceadora (Colombia) macaco aranha, coatá, quatá flora-fauna Ateles belzebuth/paniscus cuata (R95) wau inheritance; loan - WW %kowata See Language page
opossum zarigüeya, rabipelado, zorro, zorrillo mucura flora-fauna family Didelphidae oa oa doubtful loan into protolanguage, direction unknown Tikuna See Language page
giant otter Lobo Grande de Río, nutria gigante, lutria ariranha flora-fauna Pteronura brasiliensis tĩmi tĩbĩ, tĩmi See Language page
neotropical otter (small) Nutria, Lobo de Agua, lobito de rio, perro de agua (Colombia) lontra flora-fauna Lontra longicaudis missing See Language page
collared peccary sajino, pecarí de collar, jabalf, Javelina, Saíno, Pecarí de Collar caititu, caetitu flora-fauna Pecari tajacu, Tayassu tajacu yese jese inheritance See Language page
white-lipped peccary Chancho de Monte, Cariblanco, Huangana queixada flora-fauna Tayassu pecari missing See Language page
porcupine puerco espín, erizo (Peru), casha cushillo (Peru) cuandu, porco-espinho flora-fauna family Erethizontidae wada sẽme wada sɛ̃mɛ doubtful loan (into protolg?) Carib, cf. Wai Wai waaro, also Yukuna walo See Language page
cotamundi, coatimundi Coatí, Tejón, Achuni, zorro guache quati flora-fauna genus Nasua missing See Language page
agouti (black agouti, black-rumped agouti) Guatusa Negra, Añuje, Agutí (black-rumped), picure, jochi colorado cutia flora-fauna Dasyprocta spp. bu bu inheritance See Language page
capybara Capibara, Carpincho, Ronsoco capivara flora-fauna Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris ria wekɨ ria wekɨ inheritance See Language page
green acouchi Guatín, Punchana, curi, picurito rabudo, picurito rabilargo cutiara flora-fauna Myoprocta pratti See Language page
paca (lowland) Guanta, Paca, Majaz, majás (Peru), labba (Guyana) paca flora-fauna Cuniculus paca (Agouti paca is sometimes used as well although cuniculus is the correct term.) sẽme sẽbẽ, sɛ̃mɛ inheritance See Language page
mouse, rat ratón camundongo, rata flora-fauna Mus musculus bi bi inheritance See Language page
squirrel ardilla, danta (Ven) serelepe, quatipuru, esquilo flora-fauna family Sciuridae ñisocã, ũisocã (red squirrel) ɲisokã, ũisokã (red squirrel) inheritance See Language page
tapir sachavaca, danta anta flora-fauna Tapirus terrestris wecʉ wɛkɨ, wekɨ inheritance See Language page
deer venado veado, cariacu flora-fauna family Cervidae, esp. Odocoileus virginianus ñama, ñama sũagũ jãbã, ɲama, ɲama sũagũ inheritance See Language page
horse caballo cavalho flora-fauna Equus caballus See Language page


Cultural Vocabulary (97)
English Spanish Portuguese Semantic Field Part of Speech Orthographic Form Phonemicized Form Gloss as in Source Etymology Code Proto-Form Proto-Language Loan Source Wanderwort Status Etyma Set Etymology Notes Word Structure Word Structure Notes General Notes Source
basket (general) canasta, canasto, cesta cesto culture-material jibʉ (thin knit) xibɨ (thin knit) unknown See Language page
basket, small canasta, canasto, cesta cesto pequeno, tampado culture-material jicobʉ, jicuga (small and knit compactly by women) sʉoga (for carrying fish) xikobɨ, xikuga (small and knit compactly by women) sɨoga (for carrying fish) See Language page
bead abalorio, mostacilla, cuenta, gota, puca; necklace=collar miçanga culture-material missing See Language page
bed cama cama culture-material hesa-do hesa-do unknown calque? See Language page
hammock hamaca, chinchorro rede culture-material jũgʉ̃ xũgɨ̃ inheritance See Language page
bench, seat banco, silla, asiento banco culture-material cũmurõ kũmuɾõ loan - WW %kumu See Language page
canoe canoa canoa transport cũma kũma loan - WW %kumu See Language page
drum (large signal) tambor, manguaré, maguaré (Colombia) tambor culture missing Used to be used by Tukanoan peoples (and others?), sound carried for long distances See Language page
drum tambor tambor culture-mythology bu toti, jukɨ toti bu toti, jukɨ toti loan - WW %toto (onomatopoeic?) See Language page
shaman, healer chamán, brujo xaman, pajé, feiticeiro culture-mythology cũmu kũmu loan - WW %kumu In RN region, there is typically one person per village (if that) who is a full-fledged 'shaman'. He is very much a specialist and has considerable power to cure, as well as power to curse. He is respected and feared. Shamans are thought to turn themselv See Language page
healer curandero benzador, curandeiro, kumu (Tukano) culture-mythology Refers to a lower-level healer; in RN region, most older men in a village have this capacity, and command a repertoire of healing spells. Power is primarily for good, whereas the true shaman is capable of malignant acts as well. See Language page
broom escoba vassoura culture-material missing See Language page
clothing ropa roupa culture-mythology yutabaju, yutabuju yutabaxu, yutabuxu semantic shift from 'cotton' See Language page
fence, palisade cerco cerca other missing may be related to defense/warfare? See Language page
firewood leña lenha other jea xɛa inheritance See Language page
Curupira (spirit type) Curupira, Madremonte Curupira culture-mythology malignant forest spirit, covered with long hair, feet turned backward; in Upper Rio Negro region See Language page
ghost (of dead person)/evil spirit espíritu malo, espíritu maligno, fantasma, demonio espirito culture-mythology ghost: rʉ̃mʉ; ʉsi; ghost of a dead person: wʉjo ɾɨ̃mɨ; ɨsi; wɨxo unknown See Language page
deity/powerful spirit/culture figure dios(es), deidad divinidade, figura mítica culture-mythology missing In RN region, frequently translates as 'Bone-Son', 'One on the bone', etc. See Language page
flute flauta, quena (Peru) flauta culture-mythology tẽroraga tẽɾoɾaga inheritance multiple types? japurutu, deer-bone, etc. See Language page
panpipe carrizo, zampoñas, flautas de pan, rondadora caniço, flauta de pã culture-mythology See Language page
hollow log/trough for beer-making canoa para chicha cocho de caxiri narcotics See Language page
ritual song cycle (kapiwaya) kapiwaya capiwaya culture-mythology See Language page
knife cuchillo faca culture-material wajara jãi waxaɾa xãi unique See Language page
machete machete facão culture-material yoara jãi, yoarijĩ yoaɾa xãi, yoalixĩ inheritance shared Wanano See Language page
axe/stone axe hacha (de piedra) machado (de pedra) subsistence tool cocõmea (cõmea - ax) kokõmɛa (kõmɛa - ax) inheritance especially for clearing fields See Language page
arrow flecha flecha subsistence tool yirugʉ jirugʉ inheritance hunting, warfare See Language page
spear lanza lança subsistence tool rocaragʉ, sareragʉ lokaɾagɨ, saɾɛɾagɨ unique See Language page
bow arco arco subsistence tool jatura jãi, jaturijĩ xatuɾa xãi, xatulixĩ unknown arco See Language page
paddle/oar remo remo transport wea-rã-hãĩ wea-rã-hãĩ inheritance See Language page
plate plato prato culture-material missing See Language page
pot olla, pote panela, vasilha subsistence tool sotʉ sotɨ inheritance See Language page
basin/bowl tazón, plato hondo, taza tijela culture-material missing See Language page
griddle for cooking flatbread tiesto (Colombia), budare (Venezuela), tortera (Peru) forno para beiju subsistence tool gataro gatalo inheritance agriculture? See Language page
rattle matraca, maraca marico, chocalho culture-mythology ñasagã jasagã inheritance See Language page
resin resina, brea, copal resina, brea, breu subsistence tool missing See Language page
wax cera cera other missing See Language page
honey miel mel food missing only gathered in wild throughout Amazonia? See Language page
stone for lighting fires piedra para hacer fuego pedra para acender fogo culture-material See Language page
rope/string mecate, cuerda, soga corda culture bĩsĩ-bã, hũ gɨbo bĩsĩ-bã, hũ gɨbo inheritance See Language page
tattoo tatuaje, tatu tatuagem culture-mythology See Language page
thatch/roof crisneja palha, caraná culture-material missing See Language page
yurupari, jurupari (or any flutes forbidden to women) yurupari jurupari culture-mythology tʉ̃tʉ (agamí trompeta) tɨ̃tɨ (agamí trompeta) a ritual complex in various parts of Amazonia involving sacred flutes/trumpets, forbidden to women. See Language page
fetish, charm fetiche, encanto, filtro de amor, pusanga feitiço, puçanga culture-mythology See Language page
feather headdress plumaje, corona de plumas enfeite/capacete de penas culture-mythology See Language page
paint body, body paint pintura corporal pintura corporal culture-mythology gʉ̃nañi, gʉ̃nañe, we (black) gɨ̃naɲi, gɨ̃naɲɛ, wɛ (black) See Language page
afterworld, land of dead, Heaven tierra do los muertos terra dos mortos culture-mythology See Language page
school escuela escola acculturation See Language page
bottle botella garrafa acculturation See Language page
paper papel papel acculturation papera papera loan Span/Port 'papel' See Language page
dream sueño, soñar sonho, sonhar culture-mythology wʉjo wʉho See Language page
chicken gallina galinha acculturation cara kara loan - WW %kara See Language page
grave tumba, sepultura, sepulcro sepultura, sepulcro, cova culture-mythology See Language page
pipe for tobacco pipa cachimbo other See Language page
sugarcane/sugar azúcar, caña de azúcar açucar (de cana) acculturation mimi yucʉ mimi yukʉ See Language page
skirt falda, saya, fustan, pollera saia culture-material missing See Language page
shoes zapatos sapatos dress See Language page
policeman polícia policía acculturation See Language page
soldier soldado soldado acculturation missing See Language page
cat gato gato acculturation pisana pisana loan - WW %pisana See Language page
gun arma, escopeta espingarda, fusil acculturation jeaga xeaga calque from 'fire' See Language page
hat sombero chapéu dress sapewa sapewa loan Port chapeu See Language page
chief/leader jefe, cacique chefe culture-mythology ʉjʉ ʉjʉ inheritance? cf. %apu See Language page
club garrote, cachiporra clava, porrete subsistence tool See Language page
loincloth taparrabos, guayuco, pampanilla tanga, tapa-sexo dress wasoro wasoro See Language page
fireplace hogar lareira other See Language page
fishing line cordel/cuerda p/ pescar, sedal, tanze linha de pesca subsistence tool See Language page
salt sal sal food moa moa inheritance/sem shift? See Language page
song (generic) canción, canto canção culture-mythology basa basa inheritance See Language page
blowgun cerbatana, pucuna (Peru) zarabatana subsistence tool bujaga buxaga inheritance currently limited to certain groups (favoring h-g orientation, e.g. Nadahup) within RN region See Language page
dart (blowgun) dardo, birote (Peru), bala (Peru) dardo, seta subsistence tool jeaje, waca xɛaxɛ, waka hunting and warfare See Language page
fan abanico abanador, abano subsistence tool wẽniro wɛ̃nilo inheritance esp. for fanning a cooking fire See Language page
fish (with line) anzuelear, pescar con linea pescar (com linha) food wai jore wai xolɛ See Language page
fish (with fish-poison) pescar con barbasco, barbasquear pescar com timbó; tinguijar food missing See Language page
hunt cazar caçar food rʉ̃nʉ- rʉ̃nʉ- See Language page
game animal caza, animal de caza caça, animal de caça food waibʉcʉ (edible animal) waibɨkɨ (edible animal) inheritance Interesting correlation to 'fish' in Tukanoan languages See Language page
gourd (dipper/bowl) cucharón, pate (Peru), totomo, totuma, totumo cuia subsistence tool coa ('calabaza', Smothermon dict) koa inheritance? See Language page
grater rallador, rallo ralador, ralo subsistence tool sõgõro sõgõno inheritance esp. for grating manioc, but can be used for other things as well See Language page
grid of sticks for smoking meat or placing objects (shelf) barbacoa jirau subsistence tool missing See Language page
mortar mortero pilão subsistence tool missing See Language page
pestle pilón, mano de mortero, mazo, moledor mão de pilão subsistence tool See Language page
fermented drink masato, chicha caxiri, chicha culture idire idiɾe inheritance? prioritizes manioc beer where distinction is made See Language page
flour/meal from manioc fariña, mañoco (Venezuela); harina farinha food naju gatere naxu gatɛɾɛ unique agriculture See Language page
flat bread, cassava bread pan de yuca, casabe/cazabe beiju food bedero, naju, ʉ̃jʉri bɛdɛlo, naxu, ɨ̃xɨli unique; inheritance usually manioc; agriculture, but also can be made from certain wild seeds/fruits See Language page
starch (tapioca, other) almidón goma de tapioca food bede bɛdɛ inheritance See Language page
tapioca drink, mingau cahuana, caguana mingau food cãmu kãmu loan, direction unknown Arawak (Baniwa) agriculture See Language page
tipiti (manioc squeezer) tipiti, matafrio, sebucán, exprimador, prensa para yuca tipiti food jĩnomʉ jĩnomʉ inheritance word of Tupi origin; agriculture: specifically for squeezing poison out of manioc See Language page
tripod for washing manioc trípode tripé subsistence tool ñama ñama agriculture See Language page
venom for darts, poison veneno curare subsistence tool rĩma lĩma inheritance cf. %namo hunting, currently is falling out of use in Vaupés region, associated primarily with h-g groups (but this may be recent?) See Language page
woven strainer/sieve colador tejido, cedazo (Peru), cernedor (Peru) peneira, cumatá subsistence tool bijeraga (for manioc), sʉaraga bixɛɾaga (foɾ manioc), sɨaɾaga inheritance?; inheritance agriculture? commonly used for sifting dry manioc flour See Language page
bait for fishing cebo, carnada para pescar, empate (Peru) isca subsistence tool can refer to worms; more generic See Language page
fishtrap trampa de peces, trampa matapi, cacuri subsistence tool tuga tuga See Language page
bottom grinding stone manufacture if different word from top grinding stone See Language page
digging stick subsistence tool See Language page
top grinding stone metate, mano; piedra de moler metate, mano manufacture use word for top grinding stone if different from bottom stone See Language page
boomerang/throwing stick (generic) subsistence tool waca waka See Language page
spearthrower subsistence tool See Language page
house other wi wi inheritance See Language page


Grammatical Data (226)
Category Grammatical Feature Grammatical Feature: Notes Feature Status Grammatical Notes Source Etymology Notes General Notes Phylogenetic Code
Phonology - Segmental Pre-/post-nasalized stops Analysis posits that the stop is the most relevant underlying phoneme. Comment in notes on whether the nasal contour is understood as a phonetic (allophonic) effect, or is phonologically contrastive. yes Smothermon & Smothermon p.46 prenasalization
Phonology - Segmental Glottalized/ejective consonants Phonemic contrast [NOT counting glottal stop/fricative] no no info/not expected Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 24
Phonology - Segmental Palatalized stops Phonemic contrast no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.26 not indicated/expected
Phonology - Segmental Phonemic vowel length Does the language have long and short vowels? no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993,p. 23,28-29 some opinions that vowel length is phonemic. Elongated vowels only occur in final break in the data collected and seem to focus, rest or hesitation.
Phonology - Segmental Phonemic glottalization/laryngealization of vowels no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.24-26 not indicated/expected
Phonology - Segmental Complex onsets Onset consists of more than one consonant phoneme no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 26
Phonology - Segmental No codas *(C)VC [no also equals highly constrained] yes (C)V Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 26 glottal stop only
Phonology - Segmental Word-final coda required Do all syllables end in a consonant? no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 26
Phonology - Suprasegmental Contrastive tones Note how many contrastive tones yes 2; high and low Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 27 Animal parts and human parts are distinguished only by tonal differences.
Phonology - Suprasegmental Contrastive stress Does stress occur on different syllables with meaning difference? no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993
Phonology - Suprasegmental Nasalization property of morpheme or syllable In contrast to nasalization as a property of segments yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 28 property of morpheme
Phonology - Suprasegmental Nasal spreading across some morpheme boundaries Do some affixes or other morphemes take the nasal/oral properties of the root they attach to? yes Progressive and regressive in the phonological word. Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 28 Until stopped by an intrinsically oral suffix.
Phonology - Suprasegmental Vowel harmony no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.26 The vowel /e/ varies freely between [e] and [ɛ].
Morphology - General Verbal fusion (2+ categories marked by portmanteau morphemes on verb) Verb combines two or more categories (tense, aspect, mood, person, number, etc.) in portmanteau morphemes{ [ignore proclitics unless they are fused with values other than person/number] yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.38
Morphology - General Inflection manifested by replacement of segmental or suprasegmental phonemes Stem change, tone no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-35
Morphology - General Verbal synthesis (1+ inflectional categories marked by verbal affixes) Morphological complexity in verbs - multiple inflectional affixes in a single verb word yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-35
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: strongly prefixing There are many more prefixes than suffixes no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31 only one prefix; du- 'hacer al revés'
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: strongly suffixing There are many more suffixes than prefixes yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: roughly equal or one weakly preferred The numbers of suffixes and prefixes are not notably different no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31
Morphology - General Reduplication: full The full morpheme is reduplicated no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993 not indicated/expected
Morphology - General Reduplication: partial Only part of the morpheme is reduplicated no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993 not indicated/expected
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive NN compounding Noun compounds created from two noun phrases are common and systematically produced no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive VV serialization (without compounding) Verb roots can be combined in a single predicate without markers of subordination (distinct from subordinating construction) or distinct inflection no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43 agglutinative
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive VV compounding Serial verb constructions involve chaining of roots together in one morphophonological word yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Verb-adjunct (aka light verb) constructions There is a set of semantically weak verbs used in complex verbal constructions, e.g. 'take a nap' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Auxiliary verb(s) There are verbs that accompany main verbs of clauses and take grammatical marking not expressed by main verbs yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43
Morphology - Incorporation Incorporation of nouns into verbs is a productive intransitivizing process Verb contains nominal segment no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-47
Morphology - Incorporation Productive incorporation of other elements (adjectives, locatives, etc.) into verbs Like noun incorporation, but incorporated elements are not nouns yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Noun classes/genders Nouns are organized into sets with distinct morphological treatment; usually affects all nouns and involves agreement within the NP yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p. 33
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Number of noun classes/genders Note the (approximate) total number of noun classes/genders 2 Animate (4) and Inanimate Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-35
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Noun classifiers (distinct from noun classes/genders) Nouns are organized into sets, but only a limited set of nouns may be implicated, with no or limited agreement marking. If only numeral classifiers exist, indicate yes but explain. yes 140 commonly used Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.37
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex is a relevant category in noun class(ification) system for animates Masculine, feminine, neuter yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex is a relevant category in noun class(ification) system for inanimates no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Animacy (w/o reference to sex) is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system Animate/inanimate, human/non-human yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33 animate/inanimate
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex/gender distinction only in 3rd person pronouns add in notes section whether gender is present in other PNs or not in any PNs; consider with reference to pronouns and person marking only yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35 Third person pronouns distinguish masculine and the feminine singular and plural.
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Shape is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system for animates no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Shape is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system for inanimates yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.37
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification "Repeater" classifiers Where no distinct classifier exists, a copy of the noun itself may function in the morphosyntactic classifier "slot" no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40 possibly partial (check)
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Numeral classifiers (specific to numerals) Special classifier forms that occur only with numerals no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Classifiers used as derivational suffixes to derive nouns Verb + classifier = 'thing for doing V, thing that does V, etc.' yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35 verb + gender-number classifier = noun
Nominal Categories - Number Singular number may be marked on the noun Often occurs in a small subset of nouns if a single entity is referred to, e.g. insects that normally occur in groups yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Number Plural affix on noun yes -a (anim.), -ri (inanimate) Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked by stem change or tone on noun no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked by reduplication of noun no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Number Plural word/clitic no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked on human or animate nouns only yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.34
Nominal Categories - Number Pronominal plural: stem + nominal plural affix Pronouns use a nominal plural affix not specific to pronouns yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Nominal Categories - Number Unique associative plural marker e.g. 'John and his associates', 'John and them' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Definite or specific articles Definite = particular referent known to both speaker and addressee; specific = particular referent known to speaker only no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Marker of definiteness distinct from demonstratives Focus on articles/markers whose primary function is to mark definiteness no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Indefinite or non-specific article or marker yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-36
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Inclusive/exclusive: in free pronominals Inclusive =us + you, exclusive = us but not you yes For the first person plural personal pronouns, we distinguish the inclusive and exclusive pronouns. Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Inclusive/exclusive: in verbal inflection (bound) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Distance contrasts in demonstratives (number) Note the number of distances in the demonstrative system yes 3 for inaminates (dist., prox., med.) and 2 for animates (dist., prox.) Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Other contrasts in demonstratives (visibility, elevation, etc.) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 3sg pronouns yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 3pl pronouns no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 1st and/or 2nd person pronouns no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Formal/informal distinction in pronouns Polite pronominal variants or differential avoidance of pronouns no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.36
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Reflexive pronouns e.g. English 'himself', Spanish 'se'; distinct form(s) from basic (non-reflexive) pronominals; distinct from reflexive verbal affix yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35 Macuna contains personal, interogative, demonstrative, indefinite, and reflexive pronouns.
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Adpositions mark core NPs Prepositions or postpositions mark subjects, objects, beneficiaries/recipients yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.42
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: number of cases Note the number of grammatical relations that may be morphologically marked on the noun 2 Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: only non-core arguments morphologically marked Subjects, objects, beneficiaries/recipients NOT marked, but other grammatical relations are no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31-32
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: symmetrical All NPs marked if in appropriate syntactic relation; no distinction in marking based on semantics (type of entity) yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: asymmetrical Semantically defined subset of NPs marked for case, e.g. animates no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: suffix or postpositional clitic yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993,
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: prefix or prepositional clitic no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993,
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: infix or inpositional clitic no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993,
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: stem change no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993,
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: tone no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993,
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: comitative = instrumental Same marking for 'with a person' and 'with an instrument' yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-2 At least some part of the system involves base-2 no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-5 At least some part of the system involves base-5 yes base-5 until 20 (then x20) Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39 hɨa- 'two' and hɨa-ria 'two-plural'
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-10 At least some part of the system involves base-10 no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Numerals Other base (specify) 4, 20, etc. no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Numerals Etymological transparency in any numerals under 5 e.g. two = 'eye-quantity' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Numerals Numerals do not go above 5 'Many' or some other non-exact term used no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Numerals Numerals do not go above 10 'Many' or some other non-exact term used no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Nominal Categories - Other nominal Tense or aspect inflection on non-verbal predicates i.e. nominal or adjectival no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993 no info/not expected
Nominal Categories - Other nominal Person inflection on non-verbal predicates i.e. nominal or adjectival no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993 no info/not expected
Nominal Syntax - Possession Pronominal possessive affixes: prefix on N alienable/inalienable? no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.36-40 Genitive constructions are formed by a noun or pronoun possessor head noun plus noun phrase (the possessed). The owner usually precedes the possessed. When the genitive construction relates to family relationships or intimate possession, there is no genit
Nominal Syntax - Possession Pronominal possessive affixes: suffix on N alienable/inalienable? no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.36-40
Nominal Syntax - Possession Head/dependent marking in possessive NP: dependent e.g. 'the boy-'s dog' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.36-40
Nominal Syntax - Possession Head/dependent marking in possessive NP: head e.g. 'the boy his-dog' yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.36-40
Nominal Syntax - Possession Possessive classifiers There are special classifiers that occur with possessed entities no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Morphological marking of inalienable possession Where inalienable possession differs from alienable, the former takes a morphological marker (may include an associated free particle/pronoun) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40-41
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Morphological marking of alienable possession Where inalienable possession differs from alienable, the latter takes a morphological marker (may include an associated free particle/pronoun) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40-41
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Default marker for inalienably possessed nouns if unpossessed An inalienable noun that is in an unpossessed state must have a derivational affix or associated form no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40-41
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Inalienable possession of kin terms 'my-father' but *father no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40-41
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Inalienable possession of body parts (human/animal) 'my-leg' but *leg no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Generic human nouns are obligatorily bound/possessed Human nouns must co-occur with another noun (e.g. Hup-man, NonIndian-woman, but *man) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40-41
Nominal Syntax - Adjectives Underived adjectives There are underived adjectives which do not have counterparts in other word classes no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41
Nominal Syntax - Adjectives Gender inflection on adjectives within the NP There is gender agreement/concord (animate/inanimate or masc/fem, etc.) within the NP, e.g. la casa blanca, el perro blanco no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: action/state (arrive/arrival) There is a morpheme which derives an event from a verb no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: agentive (sing/singer) There is a morpheme which derives an agent or subject from a verb yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35 animate and inanimate
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: object (sing/song) There is a morpheme which derives a patient or object from a verb no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive verbalizing morphology There is a morpheme which derives a verb from a noun or adjective no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-42
Nominal Syntax - Other NP coordination and comitative phrases marked differently 'John and Mary went to market' is marked differently from 'John went to market with Mary' no no info/not to be expected Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.33-42
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Dedicated past marker(s) Past tense is regularly morphologically marked on the verb or elsewhere yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.49
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Multiple past tenses, distinguishing distance from time of reference e.g. distant vs. recent past yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.49
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Multiple future tenses, distinguishing distance from time of reference e.g. imminent vs. distant future no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.54
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Dedicated future or non-past marker(s) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.55
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: prefix no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.48-55
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: suffix yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.48-55
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: tone or ablaut no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.48-55
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect suppletion no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.48-55
Verbal Categories - Mood Dedicated imperative morpheme or verb form There is a special morpheme (or morphemes, or a bare verb root where inflection is normally expected) used to signal imperative (command) mood yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.62
Verbal Categories - Mood Polite imperative morpheme There is a distinct morpheme for polite imperative constructions (specify if it has other functions in the language) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.62-64
Verbal Categories - Mood Difference between negation in imperative (prohibitive) and declarative clauses There are different strategies for marking negation in imperative and declarative clauses no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60
Verbal Categories - Mood Dedicated hortative morpheme or verb form (1pl or 3rd person imperative) as opposed to imperative; the person in control of desired state of affairs is not the addressee; ex: 'Let's sing' / 'Let him sing' yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.62
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: affix on verb Inflectional marking of capacity to do something yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: verbal construction no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: other marking no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: affix on verb Modal expressing hypothesis no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64, 70 not indicated but source is limited
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: verbal construction no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: other marking no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Marking of expected/unexpected action or result There is inflectional marking of expected/unexpected no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Verbal frustrative Modal expressing frustration ("in vain") yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Verbal Categories - Mood Verbal habitual Modal expressing habituality yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.57
Verbal Categories - Mood Apprehensive construction There is a single morpheme or verb form to mean '(be careful lest) X happens' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64-70
Verbal Categories - Mood Reality status marking on verbs There are dedicated morpheme(s) for realis/irrealis 'actualized/unactualized events' yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47
Verbal Categories - Mood Affect markers (positive/negative) Note whether these inflectional markers are positive or negative no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.59-60
Verbal Categories - Directionals Directional elements affixed to the verb There are grammaticalized elements indicating movement away, toward, there and back, etc. no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.42
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized visual Indicates information has been witnessed visually - indicate only if an overt marker yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47 Evidential categories including witnessed, heard, inferred, reporting, conjecture, and future.
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized nonvisual Indicates information has been sensed firsthand but not visually (usually heard; also smelled, tasted, felt) yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47 heard (but not seen)
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized inferential Indicates information has not been experienced firsthand, but inferred from some kind of evidence - indicate only if an overt marker. yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.50
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized reportive Indicates speaker is not responsible for veracity of statement, merely reporting; 'allegedly' yes Formed using the deductive suffix -ji plus a suffix for person/number/gender. Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.51
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized quotative Indicate presence of adjacent representation of repeated discourse no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Other evidential Any other evidential values not represented above no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47 Evidential categories including witnessed, heard, inferred, reporting, conjecture, and future.
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: verb affix or clitic yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47-52
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: part of tense system Includes portmanteau morphs yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47-52
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: separate particle no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47-52
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: modal morpheme no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47-52
Verbal Categories - Verbal number Verbal number suppletion no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47
Verbal Categories - Other Social interaction markers Note the type of interaction no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.47-52 no info/not expected
Word Order No fixed basic constituent order no Smotheron 1993, p.31 In general, the relative clauses and other nominal modifiers follow the noun, but may vary from this position and precede it.
Word Order VS in intransitive clauses Verb precedes subject no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.44
Word Order VS in transitive clauses yes Smotheron 1993, p.31 subject may appear clause initial also; focus
Word Order VO in transitive clauses Verb precedes object no Smotheron 1993, p.31
Word Order OS in transitive clauses Object precedes subject yes Smotheron 1993, p.31
Word Order Preposition-Noun no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.42
Word Order Noun-Postposition or case suffix yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.42
Word Order Gen-Noun Possessive phrase composed of a free possessor and its possessum has possessor first (e.g. John's book) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40 genitive takes classifier
Word Order Noun-Gen Possessive phrase composed of a free possessor and its possessum has possessum first (e.g. 'book of John') yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40
Word Order Adj-Noun Adjective precedes the noun no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.37-42
Word Order Noun-Adj Adjective follows the noun yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.37-42
Word Order Dem-Noun yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36, 40
Word Order Noun-Dem no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36, 40 can exist when noun is focus
Word Order Num-Noun yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Word Order Noun-Num no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.39
Word Order Noun-Rel Relative clause follows noun that it modifies no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41
Word Order Rel-Noun Relative clause precedes noun that it modifies no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41
Word Order Re<Noun>l (internally headed relative) e.g. 'the dog cat chased-NMZR got away' ('the cat that the dog chased got away') yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41 The relative clause is a verb-noun embedded clause, which modifies the head noun of the noun phrase.
Word Order Relative clause is correlative or adjoined e.g. 'what is running, the dog chased that cat' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41
Word Order Question word is clause initial 'what', 'who', etc. come first in interrogative clause yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.61
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: nominative-accusative w/ marked accusative Objects of transitive clauses ('P') have a unique marker, while subjects of transitive ('A') and intransitive ('S') clauses are unmarked or share a different marker from that occurring on objects yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: nominative-accusative w/ marked nominative Subjects of transitive and intransitive clauses share a marker, while objects of transitives are unmarked no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: ergative-absolutive Subjects of intransitive clauses and objects of transitives share a unique marker, while subjects of transitive clauses are unmarked or have a different marker no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: tripartite Intransitive subjects, transitive subjects, and transitive objects all receive distinct case markers no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: active-inactive Subjects of intransitive clauses are treated two different ways: like subjects of transitives if they are more agent-like (e.g. he jumped), and like objects of transitives if they are more patient-like (e.g. he fell asleep) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.31-33
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: marked accusative no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: marked nominative no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: ergative-absolutive yes, no, mixed, other no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: tripartite no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: active-inactive no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: nominative-accusative Same as above, for pronominal affixes/clitics on verbs yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: ergative-absolutive yes, no, mixed, other no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-46
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: active-inactive no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-46
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: hierarchical Marking of A and P depends on their relative ranking on a hierarchy (usually 1>2>3 or 2>1>3) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43- (no info/not expected)
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: split More than one of the above systems is represented in person marking, depending on e.g. person (e.g. 1/2 vs. 3), tense-aspect value, main vs. subordinate clause type, etc. yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-46 (possible/likely; but provide evidence/example)
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: pronouns in subject position Pronominal subjects are free pronouns that occur in the same position as full NP subjects yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: prefixes on verb Pronominal subjects are marked as verbal prefixes (free pronouns may be another option) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: suffixes on verb Pronominal subjects are marked as verbal suffixes (free pronouns may be another option) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: clitics on variable host Pronominal subjects are clitics that can attach to verbs, nominal constituents, etc. no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Pronominal subjects: pronouns in non-subject position Pronominal subjects are free pronouns but do not normally occur in the position expected for full NP subjects no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person marking on intransitive verbs Intransitive verbs take person-marking clitics/affixes no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-44
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person marking (of agents) on transitive verbs Transitive verbs take subject (A) markers yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person-marking (of objects) on transitive verbs Transitive verbs take object (P) markers yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking 3rd person zero in verbal person marking: subjects 3rd person subjects are not overtly marked within the verbal person-marking system no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45-47 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking 3rd person zero in verbal person marking: objects 3rd person objects are not overtly marked within the verbal person-marking system no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45-47
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Number can be marked separately from person on the verb Verbal person marking exists, but number is (or can) be marked separately yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45-47
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Possessive affixes/clitics on nouns are same as verbal person markers Where nouns take possessive affixes, these are the same as the person-marking affixes no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.40 possession is determined by word order or genitive 'ja' (which takes the same person-marking affixes)
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Gender distinguished in verbal person markers For any person, verbal person markers exhibit different forms depending on the gender (masc/fem, animate/inanimate, etc.) of the referent yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice Ditransitive constructions: indirect object In ditransitives (e.g. 'John gives a book to Bill'), the theme (book) is treated in the same way as are objects of transitives, while the recipient/beneficiary (Bill) is treated differently no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice Ditransitive constructions: double object In ditransitives (e.g. 'John gives Bill a book'), both the theme (book) and the recipient/beneficiary (Bill) is treated in the same way as are objects of transitives no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice Ditransitive constructions: secondary object In ditransitives, the recipient/beneficiary is treated in the same way as are objects of transitives, while the theme (book) is treated differently yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.45 (check this)
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Reciprocal: dedicated morpheme Verb becomes reciprocal through use of reciprocal morpheme associated with the verb (may be attached to the verb root). This morpheme is only used to mean reciprocal. yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Reflexive: dedicated morpheme Verb becomes reflexive through use of reflexive morpheme associated with the verb (may be attached to the verb root). This morpheme is used only to mean reflexive. yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35-36
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Reciprocal/reflexive: same morpheme Verb becomes reciprocal or reflexive through use of a morpheme that means either reciprocal or reflexive which attaches to the root of the verb no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.35,64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Passive Passive voice usually involves a change to the verb, while the object of the active voice verb is promoted to subject in the passive voice, and the former subject is deleted/demoted yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Antipassive Like passive, but deletes or demotes the object of a transitive verb; usually found in ergative languages no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-46
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Other intransitivizing morphology There is/are some other mechanism(s) for reducing valency no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43-44 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Applicative: benefactive Applicative adds a beneficiary/maleficiary object argument to the verb yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Applicative: other Applicative adds some other object argument to the verb no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: prefix Causative is morphological and is attached before the root of the verb no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: suffix Causative is morphological and is attached after the root of the verb yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative marked by circumfix, stem change, or tone Morphological causative other than simple prefix/suffix no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: serial verb or analytical construction Causative construction that involves periphrasis or serialization no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: dedicated 'make do by proxy' Indicates that the causer does not directly cause the action of the verb to be realized, but does so by inducing someone else to carry out the action, e.g. 'John had the house painted.' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: dedicated sociative Indicates that causer participates in event no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Other transitivizing morphology (adds valence) There is/are some other mechanism(s) for increasing valency no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Negation Clausal negator is a preposed element Clausal negator is a preposed element no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60
Simple Clauses - Negation Clausal negator is a postposed element Clausal negator is a postposed element yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: affix Negatives: affix yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60 shortened versions also used (-be/bi)
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: particle Negatives: particle yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: auxiliary verb Negatives: auxiliary verb yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60 shortened versions also used (bã)
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: double Standard (non-emphatic) negation typically requires two morphemes, e.g. French 'ne V pas' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60 scarce info.
Simple Clauses - Negation Distinct negative form for 'NP does not exist' no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60 scarce info.
Simple Clauses - Negation Distinct negative expression 'I don't know' Lexical expression or highly idiomatic phrase no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.60 scarce info.
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: interrogative particle Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by interrogative particle yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.61 replaces other suffixes
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: verb morphology Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by interrogative verb morphology no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.61
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: word order Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by word order (esp. subject-verb inversion) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.61
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: intonation only Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by intonation only no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.61
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Content questions: word order differs from declaratives Content questions distinguished from declaratives by word order (esp. subject-verb inversion) as well as by presence of Q-word (who, what, etc.) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.61
Simple Clauses - Predication Predicate adjectives: verbal Adjectives act like verbs in predicative position yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.44
Simple Clauses - Predication Predicate adjectives: nominal Adjectives act like nouns in predicative position no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.44
Simple Clauses - Predication Zero copula for predicate nominals is possible Predicate nominals may occur without a copula (i.e. grammatical in some circumstances, if not all) no info Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.43 no info/not expected
Simple Clauses - Predication Headless relative clauses Compare Eng 'the one that fell' (but in Eng 'one' could be considered a head) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41-42
Simple Clauses - Predication Headless relative clauses are the dominant or only form of relative clause Relative clauses that form a constituent with a head noun (in a single noun phrase) are rare or nonexistent; some descriptions may refer to adjoined or correlative clauses. no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41-42
Simple Clauses - Predication Relative clause may occur with a noun classifier/class marker It may be unclear whether the classifier is the nominal head of the construction or is an agreement marker on the relative clause no info not enough info. Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.30, 68
Simple Clauses - Predication Relativizer is a verbal affix no Verb used in relative clause takes on markers (not Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41-42 embedded relative clauses
Simple Clauses - Predication Morphological relativizer is homophonous with nominalizer The same morpheme marks a relative clause and is a nominalizer on verbs (and/or other word classes) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.41-42
Simple Clauses - Desiderative expressions Grammaticalized verbal desiderative Indicates that the subject desires to carry out the action denoted by the verb (distinct from verb 'want', but may be grammaticalized from it) no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.64-65 not indicated/expected
Simple Clauses - Other Clause chaining Clauses can be grouped such that only one bears most of the verb morphology, and the others are marked as to whether they share a subject with this reference clause. yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.68
Simple Clauses - Other Morphologically marked switch-reference system There are special markers to indicate same vs. different subject when two clauses are combined no Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.68 not indicated/expected (order dependent with subject final position)
Simple Clauses - Other Morphologically marked distinction between simultaneous and sequential clauses Morphology (usually on verb) distinguishes between clauses denoting events that occur at the same time or in sequence yes Smothermon & Smothermon 1993, p.68


Ethnographic Information
Current Population (speakers) Former Population Estimate Subsistence Preference Density Sedentism Ecotome Marriage Pattern Notes Source
Linguistic exogamy