Languages of hunter-gatherers and their neighbors

Northern Emberá

Family
Chocoan
Region
South America
ISO 639-3
emp
Location
7.13°, -77.57°
Notes
Gaps in grammatical data have been filled in with information from a closely related but distinct variety - Embera Chami (Aguirre Licht 1998, 1999), as noted in source notes in Grammar table.
Features
Basic Vocabulary
Flora Fauna Vocabulary
Cultural Vocabulary
Grammatical Data
Data Sources
Aguirre, Daniel. 1998. Fundamentos morfosintácticos para una gramática Embera. Bogotá, Universidad de los Andes. [Embera Chami] Aguirre, Daniel. 1999. Embera. Munchen, Lincom Europa. [Embera Chami] Sara, Solomon I. 2002. A tri-lingual dictionary of Emberá-English-Spanish. Munich: Lincom Europa. Pardo Rojas, Mauricio. 2007. Northern Emberá. Intercontinental Dictionary Series, ed. Mary Ritchie Key. http://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/ids/ Stansel, David. 1973. Embera. In Aspectos de la Cultura Material de Grupos Etnicos de Colombia. Lomalinda: ILV. Huber, R. and Reed, R. 1992. Comparative vocabulary: selected words in indigenous languages of Colombia. ILV, Bogotá. Mortensen, Charles. 1999. A Reference Grammar of the Northern Embera Languages. Dallas, SIL.


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 nrɨ̃́ nrɨ̃́ See Language page
and y e grammar See Language page
ash ceniza(s) cinzas environment ntarrá ntarrá See Language page
at en, a em, a location See Language page
back espalda costas body ẽŋkarrá ẽŋkarrá See Language page
bad mal mal quality kadrɨ̃́a kadrɨ̃́a See Language page
belly barriga barriga body hɨ̃nsɨ̃́, bhíi hɨ̃nsɨ̃́, bhíi See Language page
below abajo, debajo abaixo location udáa, eddá udáa, eddá See Language page
big grande grande quality oaibʉ́a oaibʉ́a See Language page
black negro preto colour phaimá phaimá See Language page
blood sangre sangue body oá oá See Language page
boil/pimple espinilla, granos espinha, borbulha body ka'ɓɨ (IDS) ka'ɓɨ (IDS) See Language page
bone hueso osso body bɨbɨrɨ̃́ bɨbɨrɨ̃́ See Language page
breast pecho, seno peito body hú hú See Language page
child niño, niña criança human oárra zaké oárra zaké See Language page
cloud nube nuvem environment hɨ̃rã'rã (IDS) hɨ̃rã'rã (IDS) See Language page
cold frío frio quality kũrása kũrása See Language page
correct/true verdad, de veras verdade quality hippá nṹmʉ, kĩrápe hippá nṹmʉ, kĩrápe See Language page
day día dia time eoarí eoarí See Language page
dirty sucio sujo quality mititía mititía See Language page
dingo/wolf fauna See Language page
dry seco seco quality bhegẽaẽmbʉ́ bhegẽaẽmbʉ́ See Language page
dull/blunt sin filo, mocho, desafilado, embotado, romo maçante, desamolado, não afiado quality See Language page
dust polvo poeira environment phórbo phórbo See Language page
ear oreja orelha body kʉwʉrʉ́ kʉwʉrʉ́ See Language page
earth/soil tierra terra environment egoró, ẽhũá egoró, ẽhũá See Language page
egg huevo ovo fauna mmʉ́ mmʉ́ See Language page
eye ojo olho body dau, dháu dau, dháu See Language page
far lejos longe quality tɨ̃mʉ́ tɨ̃mʉ́ See Language page
fat/grease grasa gordura body nee beʉwá neː beʉwá See Language page
father padre, papá pai kinship zézaa zéza: See Language page
feather pluma pena fauna née-i née-i See Language page
fire fuego fogo environment tɨbʉ́-eradrɨ́a tɨbʉ́-eradrɨ́a See Language page
flower flor flor environment néephono néephono See Language page
fog niebla, neblina nevoeira, bruma, neblina environment hɨ̃ʉ̃rará, hɨ̃rãrã́ hɨ̃ʉ̃rará, hɨ̃rãrã́ See Language page
fruit fruta fruta flora néehõ, dyitáa, mã́ŋgo-hõ, nãrã́ha-hõ néehõ, dʒitáa, mã́ŋgo-hõ, nãrã́ha-hõ See Language page
good bueno bom quality biiáabʉ́ biːáabʉ́ See Language page
hair (of head) cabello cabelo body budá budá See Language page
hand mano mão body hʉwáa hʉwáa See Language page
3sg el/ella ele/ela grammar idyí, ãndyí idʒí, ãndʒí See Language page
head cabeza cabeça body booró boːró See Language page
heavy pesado pesado quality sɨggʉ́a sɨggʉ́a See Language page
how? como como grammar zãoá zãoá See Language page
1sg yo eu grammar mʉ̃ mʉ̃ For pronouns: include bound/cliticized pronominal forms where significantly different from the free forms See Language page
if si se grammar -bɨrɨ (IDS) -bɨrɨ (IDS) See Language page
in/inside dentro, adentro dentro location edháa edháa See Language page
intestines intestinos intestinos body hɨ̃nsɨ́ hɨ̃nsɨ́ See Language page
lake lago lago environment amené amené See Language page
leaf hoja folha environment kédua kédua See Language page
left/left hand izquierdo esquerdo location/body hɨu'a-ɨ'kɨa-ɗe ('hand-?-at') (IDS) hɨu'a-ɨ'kɨa-ɗe ('hand-?-at') (IDS) See Language page
leg/foot pierna perna body bhaakará bhaːkará See Language page
lightning rayo, relámpago relampago environment bha eraadrʉ́, nnagá númʉa bha eraːdrʉ́, nnagá númʉa See Language page
liver hígado figado body tháãrɨ (hígado), dadyi-thãrí (hígado de gente), phaká-thãrí (hígado de vaca), beegí-thˈãrí (hígado de venado), bidhóbe-thãrí (hígado de zaino) tháãrɨ, dadʒi-thãrí, phaká-thãrí, beːgí-thˈãrí, bidhóbe-thãrí See Language page
long largo comprido, longo quality drassóa drassóa See Language page
louse piollo, piojo piolho fauna tɨ̃ (IDS) tɨ̃ (IDS) order Phtiraptera See Language page
man/male hombre homem human mmákĩra, dyĩmákĩra mmákĩra, dʒĩmákĩra See Language page
meat/flesh carne carne fauna ǰi-ko 'meat, food' (IDS) ǰi-ko 'meat, food' (IDS) See Language page
moon luna lua environment heddéko heddéko See Language page
mother madre, mamá mãe kinship dádyi phápa dádʒi phápa See Language page
mouth boca boca body itté itté See Language page
name nombre nome human trɨ̃́ trɨ̃́ See Language page
near/close cerca de perto quality kaaíta-bɨ́ kaːíta-bɨ́ See Language page
nape base del cuello, nuca nuca body ɨ̃rɨ̃mi'si (IDS) ɨ̃rɨ̃mi'si (IDS) See Language page
neck cuello pescoço body kokóta , ochirú, nrɨ̃́ mʉsí kokóta , otʃirú, nrɨ̃́ mʉsí See Language page
new nuevo novo quality dyiwidí dʒiwidí See Language page
night noche noite time dimísi dimísi See Language page
no/not no não grammar 'n'n (IDS) 'n'n (IDS) See Language page
nose nariz nariz body kẽmbʉ́ kẽmbʉ́ See Language page
old viejo velho quality dadyinábẽmá, aseábi, drṍã, enéna dadʒinábẽmá, aseábi, drṍã, enéna See Language page
one uno um number bharã́ bharã́ See Language page
other otro outro grammar See Language page
pain/painful/sick dolor, doloroso, enfermo dor, doloroso, doente body hai (IDS) hai (IDS) See Language page
person/human being persona pessoa human ẽmberá ẽmberá See Language page
rain lluvia chuva environment kúe kúe See Language page
red rojo vermelho colour dyipurrú dʒipurrú See Language page
right/right hand derecha direita location/body hʉwáa-ará hʉwáa-ará See Language page
road/path camino caminho manufacture trócha, ó trótʃa, ó See Language page
root raíz raiz flora nékarra nékarra See Language page
rotten podrido podre quality mĩŋgía númʉa mĩŋgía númʉa See Language page
sand arena areia environment ĩmbʉ́ ĩmbʉ́ See Language page
sharp afilado, filudo, filoso afiado quality pebedhéa pebedhéa, pepedhéa-bʉ́ See Language page
short corto curto quality katutúa katutúa See Language page
shoulder hombro ombro body ekkiá ekkiá See Language page
shy/ashamed tímido, vergonzoso timido, com vergonha mental kĩrápera idabɨ́ kĩrápera idabɨ́ See Language page
skin piel pele body ée, ẽe ée, ẽe See Language page
sky cielo céu environment baahã́ baːhã́ See Language page
small pequeño pequeno quality kaabeeábʉ, maarĩ́mbʉ kaːbeːábʉ, maːrĩ́mbʉ See Language page
smoke humo fumaça environment kouwá kouwá See Language page
star estrella estrela environment luséro luséro See Language page
stick/wood palo pau, vara flora hʉwáte hʉwáte See Language page
stone piedra pedra environment mõŋgará mõŋgará See Language page
tail cola, rabo rabo body drú drú See Language page
that ese/esa esse grammar haribɨ̃́ , awábʉ haribɨ̃́ , awábʉ See Language page
3pl ellos/ellas eles/elas grammar ã'ǰa; ã'rã (IDS) ã'ǰa; ã'rã (IDS) See Language page
thick grueso, gordo, espeso grosso quality ba-adhá (grueso/fat, stout) ba-adhá See Language page
thin delgado fino quality chõndhá tʃõndhá See Language page
this este/esta este grammar zaabʉ́ zaːbʉ́ See Language page
2sg xx xx grammar bʉ́ bʉ́ See Language page
throat garganta garganta body ochchirú otʃtʃirú See Language page
three tres tres number ũ'bea (IDS) ũ'bea (IDS) See Language page
thunder truenos trovão environment bá bá See Language page
bite morder morder body kái kái See Language page
blow soplar soprar body hãrãmpuái hãrãmpuái See Language page
breathe respirar respirar body bíai, iñabái bíai, iñabái See Language page
burn quemar queimar environment bhái bhái See Language page
chew masticar, mascar mastigar body kaéi, káedha kaéi, káedha See Language page
climb subir subir motion ntá ntá See Language page
come venir vir motion urú, zéi urú, zéi See Language page
cook cocinar cozinhar impact dyúi, aróbo-ói, nẽndyúi dʒúi, aróbo-ói, nẽndʒúi See Language page
count contar contar mental huachái huatʃái See Language page
cry llorar chorar mental hĩáĩ hĩáĩ See Language page
cut/hack cortar cortar impact kṍi kṍi See Language page
die/be dead morir morrer state beuí, haidái, baalẽ́ẽ, béu bodhóa beuí, haidái, baːlẽ́ẽ, béu bodhóa See Language page
dig cavar cavar impact korói korói See Language page
dream soñar sonhar mental kãaímokarái kãaímokarái See Language page
drink beber, tomar beber body dhooí dhoːí See Language page
eat comer comer body neekói neːkói See Language page
fall caer cair motion bhaaí bhaːí See Language page
fear miedo medo mental nee õayáa, neoayá neː õayáa, neoayá See Language page
flow fluir fluir motion we'a-ɓari 'pour-?' (IDS) we'a-ɓari 'pour-?' (IDS) See Language page
fly volar voar motion õamãrĩ õamãrĩ See Language page
grow crecer crescer state oarí oarí See Language page
hear oír ouvir mental ʉ̃rˈĩ ʉ̃rɨ̃́ See Language page
hide esconder esconder motion mẽrái mẽrái See Language page
hit golpear, pegar bater impact karái, boropéi, booro-péi karái, boropéi, boːro-péi See Language page
hold correr, asegurar, sostener segurar other erobhɨ́, erobhái erobhɨ́, erobhái See Language page
kill matar matar impact bheái bheái See Language page
know/be knowledgeable saber, conecer saber, conhecer mental kaoái, kaaõái kaoái, kaːõái See Language page
laugh reír rir mental iphidhái iphidhái See Language page
lie down acostarse, echarse deitar motion ɓa'r̃uɓari- (IDS) ɓa'r̃uɓari- (IDS) See Language page
live/be alive vivir viver, morar body zokkáibʉ zokkáibʉ See Language page
open/uncover abrir abrir other eoabɨ̃́ eoabɨ̃́ See Language page
pound/beat machacar, golpear bater impact bhĩ́raa huĩ́, berrachíi bhĩ́raː huĩ́, berratʃíi See Language page
say decir dizer mental ha'ra- (IDS) ha'ra- (IDS) See Language page
scratch rascar rasgar impact kuruí kuruí See Language page
see ver ver mental unúi, akʉ́i unúi, akʉ́i See Language page
shoot tirar, disparar, balear atirar impact baatái (disparar), chaa-drɨ́i (flechar), bathá-beái (fusilar) baːtái, tʃaː-drɨ́i, bathá-beái See Language page
sit sentar(se) sentar state chúmei tʃúmei See Language page
sleep dormir dormir body kãaĩ́ kãaĩ́ See Language page
sniff/smell olfatear, oler cheirar body nẽʉ̃́ĩn nẽʉ̃́ĩn primarily transitive See Language page
spit escupir cuspir body iddói iddói See Language page
split partir, dividir rachar, dividir, partir impact kõrái, toabéi kõrái, toabéi See Language page
squeeze estrujar, exprimir espremer impact chirá húi, trahɨ̃ndá, baraahúi tʃirá húi, trahɨ̃ndá, baraːhúi See Language page
stab/pierce apuñalar, acuchillar apunhalar impact kõŋkuái kõŋkuái See Language page
stand estar de pié ficar em pé state pi'radrɨ- (IDS) pi'radrɨ- (IDS) See Language page
steal robar roubar other drɨ́ai drɨ́ai See Language page
suck chupar chupar body thãnsói thãnsói See Language page
swell hincharse inchar body ogo rói ogo rói See Language page
swim nadar nadar motion ṹndha ṹndha See Language page
think pensar pensar mental kĩča- (IDS) kĩča- (IDS) See Language page
throw tirar, lanzar atirar, jogar impact taɓari (IDS) taɓari (IDS) See Language page
tie up/fasten atar, amarrar amarrar impact hɨ̃́ndha hɨ̃́ndha See Language page
turn girar, volter, torcer virar other pʉrrɨgábi, pʉrratˈɨi pʉrrɨgábi, pʉrratˈɨi may be transitive or intransitive See Language page
vomit vomitar vomitar body uédda uédda See Language page
walk caminar, andar andar motion pʉrrɨái, õáĩ pʉrrɨái, õáĩ See Language page
work trabajar trabalhar other trabahái, trahái trabahái, trahái See Language page
yawn bostezar bocejar body ɲa (IDS) ɲa (IDS) See Language page
tongue lengua lingua body kẽráme kẽráme See Language page
tooth diente dente body kidhá kidhá See Language page
two dos dois number u'me (IDS) u'me (IDS) See Language page
water agua agua environment bháidho bháidho See Language page
1pl.incl nosotros (inclusivo) nós (inclusivo) grammar dhá dyĩrã́ dhá dʒĩrã́ no inclusive/exclusive distinction unless noted See Language page
1pl.excl nosotros (exclusivo) nós (exclusivo) grammar See Language page
wet mojado molhado quality bhegẽabʉ́ bhegẽabʉ́ See Language page
what? que, qué que grammar kã́re / zãoá kã́re / zãoá See Language page
when? cuando quando grammar sã́mbe sã́mbe See Language page
where? donde onde grammar samá samá See Language page
white blanco branco colour thoorró thoːrró See Language page
who? quien, quién quem grammar káidha, kái káidha, kái See Language page
wife esposa esposa kinship kopéro kopéro See Language page
wind viento vento environment nã́ũra nã́ũra See Language page
wing ala asa body í í See Language page
woman/female mujer mulher human wẽ́ra wẽ́ra See Language page
yellow amarillo amarelo colour kuará kuará See Language page
2pl ustedes vocês grammar bʉ́ bʉ́ See Language page
foot pie pé body hĩrˈu, hĩrú hĩrˈu, hĩrú See Language page
again de nuevo, otra vez de novo grammar oa'ya (IDS) oa'ya (IDS) See Language page
all todo todos other hũmá hũmá See Language page
ankle tobillo tornozelo body hẽ'rũ-koro'go 'foot-snail' (IDS) hẽ'rũ-koro'go 'foot-snail' (IDS) See Language page
armpit axila, sobaco axila body ososó ososó See Language page
faeces heces, mierda, excremento, estiércol fezes body See Language page
lung pulmón pulmão body póthopotho, pótho-pothóa póthopotho, pótho-pothóa See Language page
sweat sudar suor, suar body hʉazéi hʉazéi See Language page
itch hormiguear, sentir comezón coçar body kibarái kibarái See Language page
bark corteza casca environment See Language page
fingernail uña unha body bichiwíi bitʃiwíi See Language page
heart corazón coração body sóo sóo See Language page
sun sol sol time mmãndáu mmãndáu See Language page
mountain/hill montaña, colina, loma, cerro morro, serra environment eyyá, chirúa, kathumá, katumá eyyá, tʃirúa, kathumá, katumá See Language page
green verde verde quality phaoãrã́ phaoãrã́ See Language page
hot caliente quente quality hɨ̃rɨáa, hɨ̃rɨ-hɨ̃rɨ̃́ hɨ̃rɨáa, hɨ̃rɨ-hɨ̃rɨ̃́ 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. ĩŋká ĩŋká; ĩkʰá(H&R) See Language page
bird pajaro, ave passaro flora-fauna ĩmbaná ĩmbaná See Language page
curassow mitu, montete (Peru), paujil/panjuil (Peru), paujil de Salvin (Peru for Mitu salvini) mutum flora-fauna Crax sp., Nothocrax sp. See Language page Amazonia
toucan tucán, pinsha (Peru) tucano flora-fauna Ramphastos sp. kẽõará kẽõará; kʰẽwãrã́ (H&R) See Language page Widespread Amazonia
gray-winged trumpeter Grulla, Trompetero Ala Gris jacamim flora-fauna Psophia crepitans 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. tʰusí (H&R) See Language page Different types have different localized ranges
tinamou tinamu, perdiz, gallineta inambu, inhambu flora-fauna family Tinamidae zokorró zokorró See Language page Widespread Amazonia
hummingbird colibrí, picaflor (Peru) beija-flor flora-fauna family Trochilidae ĩmbisú ĩmbisú See Language page Widespread
kingfisher martín pescador, catalan (Peru) martim-pescador flora-fauna family Alcedinidae See Language page Widespread Amazonia
owl (large) búho, lechuza corujão flora-fauna order Strigiformes bõmbṍra bõmbṍra; põpṍrã ('owl', H&R) See Language page Widespread
macaw ara, guacamaya Arara flora-fauna family Psittacidae; Ara sp. bhagará bhagará; pagaɾá (H&R) See Language page Widespread Amazonia
parrot loro real, loro (Sp. form is a loan from Carib) papagaio flora-fauna Amazona amazonica karé karé; kʰaré (H&R) See Language page Widespread
dove paloma pomba flora-fauna family Columbidae puchchˈĩra putʃtʃˈĩra See Language page
hawk halcón, gavilán gavião flora-fauna family Accipitridae néhobũ néhobũ See Language page
vulture buitre, gallinazo, rinahui (Peru) urubu flora-fauna family Cathartidae ãŋgosó ãŋgosó; ãgosó, ãkosó (H&R) See Language page Widespread South America
duck pato pato, marreco flora-fauna Anatidae family phatúrã phatúrã See Language page
great egret Garza Blanca, Guyratî Garça-Branca-Grande flora-fauna Ardea alba dowa 'heron' (IDS) dowa 'heron' (IDS) See Language page Widespread South America
woodpecker pájaro carpintero, carpintero pica-pau flora-fauna family Picidae sorré sorré See Language page Widespread Amazonia
dog (camp, domestic) perro cachorro flora-fauna Canis famililaris usá bérrako usá bérrako; usá(H&R) 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) tʰapudá (H&R) 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 tʰɾo(H&R) See Language page Widespread in Amazonia
sloth pereza, pelejo (Peru), perezoso (Peru) macaco preguica flora-fauna Choloepus sp., Bradypus sp. kṍã kṍã See Language page Widespread Amazonia
alligator, black caiman babilla; cachirre jacaré flora-fauna Melanosuchus niger, Caiman schlerops; Paleosuchus sp. koré koré, kʰoré ('cayman', H&R) See Language page Throughout Amazonia Port term reportedly borrowed from Tupi
electric eel anguila eléctrica poraquê flora-fauna Electrophorus electricus tuiná tuiná See Language page
fish (generic) pez peixe flora-fauna bhedá; ɓetá (H&R) See Language page
pacu fish palometa, garopita, garopa, curhuara (Peru) pacu flora-fauna Mylossoma sp. See Language page
pirana piraña, caribe piranha flora-fauna subfamily Serrasalmidae tʰoá (H&R) See Language page Widespread Amazonia
tigerfish taraira, guabina, huasaco (Peru) traíra flora-fauna Hoplias sp. 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. 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 bokorró bokorró; pokʰoró (H&R) See Language page
iguana iguana, garipiares (Colombia) camaleão flora-fauna Iguana sp. opʰogá (H&R) See Language page iguana' is reportedly from Arawak iwana
small lizard lagartija calango flora-fauna order Squamata dhéborrigéro dhéborrigéro See Language page
stingray (generic) rayas látigo, raya arraia flora-fauna Potamotrygon sp. See Language page
crab cangrejo caranguejo flora-fauna infraorder Brachyura heebhé he:bhé See Language page
anaconda anaconda, boa, boa acuática grande sucuri flora-fauna genus Eunectes hepʰã (H&R) See Language page Widespread Amazonia
boa boa; mantona (red-tailed boa); boa de altura jiboia flora-fauna family Boidae, subf. Boinae See Language page
snake (generic) culebra, serpiente cobra flora-fauna daamá daːmá, tamá (H&R) See Language page
snake (poisonous generic) or rattlesnake víbora (Peru), jergón (Peru), yarara jararaca flora-fauna Bothrops jararaca/atrox daamá (same as snake) daːmá (same as snake), ɓɨ́rɨ́ (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 chibigí tʃibigí See Language page Widespread
Amazon dolphin bufeo, delfín, tonina (del Orinoco) boto cor-de-rosa flora-fauna Inia geoffrensis See Language page Downstream of major rapids and waterfalls
mushroom champiñón, hongo cogumelo flora-fauna (any edible generic) nee pṍo nee pṍo 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. See Language page floodplains, swamp; esp. northern Amazonia
miriti palm moriche (Col, Ven), aguaje (Col, Peru), achual, miriti buriti flora-fauna Mauritia flexuosa 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 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 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 memé chonta [??] memé Stansel 1973: 182 Cognate in Epena Pedee means 'ualte chonta'. Astrocaryum? Dept Chocó, western Colombia
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 ɓegó(H&R) See Language page secondary scrub vegetation. lower alt. of eastern Andes plant
cotton algodón algodão flora-fauna Gossypium (barbadense: long fibers; hirsutum: short fibers) arboróna arboróna 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 pidhá pidhá; pʰiɗá(‘chili pepper’, H&R) 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 dyihṍ dʒihṍ See Language page plant
arrow cane, wildcane caña flecha, caña brava, caña isana cana para flechas, frecheira, Cana-do-rio flora-fauna Gynerium sagittatum tʃʰiá(‘cane’, H&R) See Language page tropical regions, especially river banks plant
banana, plantain banano, banana, cambur, bellaco, variedad de plátano banana flora-fauna Musa sp. padhá (plantain), ãmbo:rómia (banana) padhá (plantain), ãmbo:rómia (banana) 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. prihól prihól See Language page plant
grass hierba, pasto capim, grama flora-fauna (generic) chirúa ; chirúa; chˈãnso-dyipée tʃirúa ; tʃˈãnso-dʒipée See Language page
maize, corn mazorca, maiz milho flora-fauna Zea mays bée bée; pe(H&R) See Language page widespread, esp. in river floodplains plant
tobacco tabaco tabaco flora-fauna Nicotiana tabacum thabháko (Sp: tabaco) thabháko See Language page plant
tree árbol arvore flora-fauna bakurú bakurú; pakʰuɾú (+'wood', H&R) See Language page
achiote, anatto achiote urucum flora-fauna Bixa orellana kʰãtʃí(H&R) See Language page secondary scrub vegetation and indigenous gardens shrub
inga guaba, guamo, guama, shimbillo (Peru) inga flora-fauna Inga spp. 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 beegó be:gó 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 marañṍ (Sp. loan) marañṍ (Sp. loan) 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 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. káucho káutʃo 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 úbha úbha 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 i'uka (loan, 'yuca') (IDS) i'uka (loan, 'yuca') (IDS) 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 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 bata'ta (loan; IDS) bata'ta (loan; IDS) See Language page plant
cará tuber, purple or white camote, sachapapa cará roxo, branco flora-fauna Dioscorea sp. See Language page secondary scrub vegetation; forest clearings plant
tannia, yautia huitina (Peru), ñame taioba branca flora-fauna Xanthosoma spp. ika'ɗe (IDS) ika'ɗe (IDS) 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) sã'bɨ (IDS) sã'bɨ (IDS) See Language page indigenous gardens plant; tree
squash calabaza, calabacines, auyamas, zapallos, huingo (Peru) abóbora flora-fauna Cucurbita sp. sa'paya (loan zapallo, IDS) sa'paya (loan zapallo, IDS) See Language page plant
cipó vine tamishi, bejuco, yare cipó flora-fauna Heteropsis spp. hɨ̃ka'ra 'vine' (IDS) hɨ̃ka'ra 'vine' (IDS) See Language page secondary forest, floodplain vine
fish poison, barbasco barbasco, matapez (Colombia) timbó flora-fauna Lonchocarpus spp. do'kãɨ̃ (IDS) do'kãɨ̃ (IDS) See Language page secondary forests and secondary srcrub vegetation shrub/tree
hallucinogenic vine, banisterium, ayahuasca ayahuasca, yage ayahuasca, caapi flora-fauna Banisteriopsis caapi 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 [no generic] [no generic] See Language page
bullet ant, lesser giant hunter ant conga, hormiga yanabe (Colombia), isula (Peru), Hormiga Veinticuatro tocandira flora-fauna Paraponera clavata See Language page
leaf-cutter ant Colombia: zampopo, hormiga arriera; Venezuela: bachaco; Peru: curuhuinse saúva flora-fauna Atta sp. kaabudɨdɨ́ ka:budɨdɨ́ See Language page
honeybee abeja abelha flora-fauna Apis mellifera; Tetragonisca angustula; Trigona amazonensis kĩĩmí kĩ:mí; kʰimí (H&R) See Language page
cockroach cucaracha barata-do-mato flora-fauna order Blattaria kʰẽperé (H&R) See Language page
firefly, lightning bug lampírido, luciérnaga (Peru), añañahui (Peru), cocuyo (attributed Taino origin) vagalume flora-fauna fam: Elateridae, Fengodidae, Lampyridae kukúyo kukúyo [loan Spanish?] See Language page
butterfly, moth mariposa borboleta flora-fauna order Lepidoptera bagábaga bagábaga See Language page
moth mariposa nocturna, polilla mariposa flora-fauna order Lepidoptera bagábaga (same as butterfly) bagábaga (same as butteɹflj) See Language page
angleworm lombriz minhoca flora-fauna order Opisthopora pãŋgúla pãŋgúla See Language page
centipede ciempiés centopéia flora-fauna class Chilopoda i-ɓa-'do-mia 'liquid-drinker' (IDS) i-ɓa-'do-mia 'liquid-drinker' (IDS) See Language page
scorpion escorpión; alacran escorpião flora-fauna order Scorpiones drɨnzooré drɨnzoːré See Language page
cicada cigarra, chicharra cigarra flora-fauna super fam. Cicadoidea See Language page
flea pulga pulga flora-fauna order Siphonaptera púrga púrga See Language page
blowfly/housefly mosca mosca flora-fauna Diptera ĩŋgánana ĩŋgánana; ɨ̃kʰánana (H&R) See Language page
cricket saltón, grillo grilo flora-fauna family Gryllidae addíchichi addítʃitʃi See Language page
edible palm-dwelling larva (palm weevil) suri, mojojoy larva, broca-do-coqueiro, aramandaiá flora-fauna Rhynchophorus sp. See Language page
praying mantis, stick insects mantis religiosa louva-a-deus flora-fauna order Mantodea, family Mantidae See Language page
mosquito mosquito, zancudo mosquito, carapana flora-fauna Anopheles sp. sãŋkúro sãŋkúro See Language page
termites, white-ants comején (Peru), termitas cupim flora-fauna order Isoptera posóa posóa; pʰõsóa(H&R) See Language page
tick garrapata carrapato flora-fauna superfam Ixodoidea karrápatha (Sp: garrapata) karrápatha See Language page
wasp avispa; specific type: ronzapa/ronsapa caba flora-fauna order Hymenoptera, sub: Apocrita nẽndhʉrrʉ nẽndhʉrrʉ See Language page
snail caracol, churo (Peru) caracol flora-fauna class Gastropoda korogó korogó See Language page
spider araña aranha flora-fauna Arachnidae, Araneae bʉgʉrʉ bʉgʉrʉ; ɓɨgɨrɨ́ (H&R) See Language page
jaguar yaguar, yaguareté, jaguar, otorongo (Peru), tigre (Peru) onca flora-fauna Panthera onca imaamá páima imaːmá páima; imamá(H&R) 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 See Language page
howler monkey (red-handed) mono aullador, mono coto (Peru) guariba flora-fauna Alouatta belzebul [or other Alouatta sp.] See Language page
tufted capuchin monkey mono negro (Peru), Machín Negro, Maicero Cachón, mono maicero macaco prego flora-fauna Cebus apella misurá 'cebus monkey’ (H&R) See Language page
white-fronted capuchin Machín Blanco, mono blanco, Maicero Cariblanco, mono blanco (Peru) Caiarara flora-fauna Cebus albifrons 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 jaré ‘spider monkey’ (H&R) See Language page
opossum zarigüeya, rabipelado, zorro, zorrillo mucura flora-fauna family Didelphidae bõsã'ĩ (IDS) bõsã'ĩ (IDS) See Language page
giant otter Lobo Grande de Río, nutria gigante, lutria ariranha flora-fauna Pteronura brasiliensis See Language page
neotropical otter (small) Nutria, Lobo de Agua, lobito de rio, perro de agua (Colombia) lontra flora-fauna Lontra longicaudis nútri [loan Sp] nútri See Language page
collared peccary sajino, pecarí de collar, jabalf, Javelina, Saíno, Pecarí de Collar caititu, caetitu flora-fauna Pecari tajacu, Tayassu tajacu piɗowe (H&R) See Language page
white-lipped peccary Chancho de Monte, Cariblanco, Huangana queixada flora-fauna Tayassu pecari piɗó (H&R) See Language page
porcupine puerco espín, erizo (Peru), casha cushillo (Peru) cuandu, porco-espinho flora-fauna family Erethizontidae See Language page
cotamundi, coatimundi Coatí, Tejón, Achuni, zorro guache quati flora-fauna genus Nasua See Language page
agouti (black agouti, black-rumped agouti) Guatusa Negra, Añuje, Agutí (black-rumped), picure, jochi colorado cutia flora-fauna Dasyprocta spp. kʰuɾiwa (H&R) See Language page
capybara Capibara, Carpincho, Ronsoco capivara flora-fauna Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris tʃʰiɗima(=’small squirrel’, H&R) 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.) pẽrṍwãrã (H&R) See Language page
mouse, rat ratón camundongo, rata flora-fauna Mus musculus chúri tʃúri, posã́i (H&R) See Language page
squirrel ardilla, danta (Ven) serelepe, quatipuru, esquilo flora-fauna family Sciuridae bɨdʉ bɨdʉ See Language page
tapir sachavaca, danta anta flora-fauna Tapirus terrestris bɨtʃʰá- (‘sloth’, H&R) See Language page
deer venado veado, cariacu flora-fauna family Cervidae, esp. Odocoileus virginianus bhegí bhegí; ɓegí(H&R) See Language page
horse caballo cavalho flora-fauna Equus caballus ka'wayo (loan caballo) (IDS) ka'wayo (loan caballo) (IDS) 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 e (also 'shell'; IDS) e (also 'shell'; IDS) See Language page
basket, small canasta, canasto, cesta cesto pequeno, tampado culture-material See Language page
bead abalorio, mostacilla, cuenta, gota, puca; necklace=collar miçanga culture-material kɨ'r̃ɨ-hɨ̃-ma ('waist-tied; belt') (IDS) kɨ'r̃ɨ-hɨ̃-ma ('waist-tied; belt') (IDS) See Language page
bed cama cama culture-material See Language page
hammock hamaca, chinchorro rede culture-material hiráabaa hiráaba: See Language page
bench, seat banco, silla, asiento banco culture-material bugée bugée See Language page
canoe canoa canoa transport hãmbá hãmbá See Language page
drum (large signal) tambor, manguaré, maguaré (Colombia) tambor culture thãmbóra (Sp: tambór) thãmbóra Used to be used by Tukanoan peoples (and others?), sound carried for long distances See Language page
drum tambor tambor culture-mythology thãmbóra (Sp: tambór) thãmbóra See Language page
shaman, healer chamán, brujo xaman, pajé, feiticeiro culture-mythology haĩmbaná haĩmbaná 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 eskóa eskóa See Language page
clothing ropa roupa culture-mythology wáa wáa See Language page
fence, palisade cerco cerca other korrá korá (from Spanish?) may be related to defense/warfare? See Language page
firewood leña lenha other tɨbʉ onokó tɨbʉ onokó See Language page
Curupira (spirit type) Curupira, Madremonte Curupira culture-mythology háure háure 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 nee háure nee háure See Language page
deity/powerful spirit/culture figure dios(es), deidad divinidade, figura mítica culture-mythology ãŋkõré ãŋkõré In RN region, frequently translates as 'Bone-Son', 'One on the bone', etc. See Language page
flute flauta, quena (Peru) flauta culture-mythology plaúta (Sp: flauta) plaúta 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 néko néko See Language page
machete machete facão culture-material púuya púuya See Language page
axe/stone axe hacha (de piedra) machado (de pedra) subsistence tool zagará zagará especially for clearing fields See Language page
arrow flecha flecha subsistence tool chaa tʃa: hunting, warfare See Language page
spear lanza lança subsistence tool miássu miássu See Language page
bow arco arco subsistence tool enẽ́ndrʉma enẽ́ndrʉma arco See Language page
paddle/oar remo remo transport dhóbii dhóbi: See Language page
plate plato prato culture-material ephedéko ephedéko See Language page
pot olla, pote panela, vasilha subsistence tool pháana pháana See Language page
basin/bowl tazón, plato hondo, taza tijela culture-material thaśa thaśa See Language page
griddle for cooking flatbread tiesto (Colombia), budare (Venezuela), tortera (Peru) forno para beiju subsistence tool agriculture? See Language page
rattle matraca, maraca marico, chocalho culture-mythology See Language page
resin resina, brea, copal resina, brea, breu subsistence tool bréa bréa See Language page
wax cera cera other kãdo'r̃ona 'beeswax' (IDS) kãdo'r̃ona 'beeswax' (IDS) See Language page
honey miel mel food ke'mi-hõ 'bee-sweet' (IDS) ke'mi-hõ 'bee-sweet' (IDS) 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 dyihĩ́na, hũŋkará dʒihĩ́na, hũŋkará See Language page
tattoo tatuaje, tatu tatuagem culture-mythology See Language page
thatch/roof crisneja palha, caraná culture-material ho'a- 'thatch' (IDS) ho'a- 'thatch' (IDS) See Language page
yurupari, jurupari (or any flutes forbidden to women) yurupari jurupari culture-mythology 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 áwai áwai See Language page
feather headdress plumaje, corona de plumas enfeite/capacete de penas culture-mythology née-i (plume) née-i (plume) See Language page
paint body, body paint pintura corporal pintura corporal culture-mythology nephábanaa, phĩnthúra (paint) nephábana:, phĩnthúra (paint) 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 karta (loan Sp. carta, IDS) karta (loan Sp. carta, IDS) See Language page
dream sueño, soñar sonho, sonhar culture-mythology kãĩ-mokara- (vb.) (IDS) kãĩ-mokara- (vb.) (IDS) See Language page
chicken gallina galinha acculturation ete'r̃e (IDS) ete'r̃e (IDS) See Language page
grave tumba, sepultura, sepulcro sepultura, sepulcro, cova culture-mythology beu-a'ra (IDS) beu-a'ra (IDS) See Language page
pipe for tobacco pipa cachimbo other See Language page
sugarcane/sugar azúcar, caña de azúcar açucar (de cana) acculturation čia-sõ ('reed-suck' IDS) čia-sõ ('reed-suck' IDS) See Language page
skirt falda, saya, fustan, pollera saia culture-material ka'misa (loan Sp) (IDS) ka'misa (loan Sp) (IDS) See Language page
shoes zapatos sapatos dress See Language page
policeman polícia policía acculturation See Language page
soldier soldado soldado acculturation See Language page
cat gato gato acculturation misi (loan Sp michico, IDS) misi (loan Sp michico, IDS) See Language page
gun arma, escopeta espingarda, fusil acculturation põũ'ã (IDS) põũ'ã (IDS) See Language page
hat sombero chapéu dress sõ'bena (loan Sp sombrero, IDS) sõ'bena (loan Sp sombrero, IDS) See Language page
chief/leader jefe, cacique chefe culture-mythology See Language page
club garrote, cachiporra clava, porrete subsistence tool See Language page
loincloth taparrabos, guayuco, pampanilla tanga, tapa-sexo dress 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 tã (IDS) tã (IDS) See Language page
song (generic) canción, canto canção culture-mythology trɨ̃ã- (vb.) (IDS) trɨ̃ã- (vb.) (IDS) See Language page
blowgun cerbatana, pucuna (Peru) zarabatana subsistence tool 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 hunting and warfare See Language page
fan abanico abanador, abano subsistence tool hãrãũéi hãrãũéi esp. for fanning a cooking fire See Language page
fish (with line) anzuelear, pescar con linea pescar (com linha) food See Language page
fish (with fish-poison) pescar con barbasco, barbasquear pescar com timbó; tinguijar food See Language page
hunt cazar caçar food nee-beái ne:-beái See Language page
game animal caza, animal de caza caça, animal de caça food meãõã́i meãõã́i Interesting correlation to 'fish' in Tukanoan languages See Language page
gourd (dipper/bowl) cucharón, pate (Peru), totomo, totuma, totumo cuia subsistence tool sã'bɨ (IDS) sã'bɨ (IDS) See Language page
grater rallador, rallo ralador, ralo subsistence tool ibhárra ibhárra 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 See Language page
mortar mortero pilão subsistence tool pi'lon (Sp loan; IDS) pi'lon (Sp loan; IDS) See Language page
pestle pilón, mano de mortero, mazo, moledor mão de pilão subsistence tool mano (Sp loan, IDS) mano (Sp loan, IDS) See Language page
fermented drink masato, chicha caxiri, chicha culture chíchaa tʃítʃa: prioritizes manioc beer where distinction is made See Language page
flour/meal from manioc fariña, mañoco (Venezuela); harina farinha food poku'ra 'meal, flour' (IDS) poku'ra 'meal, flour' (IDS) agriculture See Language page
flat bread, cassava bread pan de yuca, casabe/cazabe beiju food ɓe'ka (from corn, plantains, rice; IDS) ɓe'ka (from corn, plantains, rice; IDS) usually manioc; agriculture, but also can be made from certain wild seeds/fruits See Language page
starch (tapioca, other) almidón goma de tapioca food See Language page
tapioca drink, mingau cahuana, caguana mingau food agriculture See Language page
tipiti (manioc squeezer) tipiti, matafrio, sebucán, exprimador, prensa para yuca tipiti food word of Tupi origin; agriculture: specifically for squeezing poison out of manioc See Language page
tripod for washing manioc trípode tripé subsistence tool agriculture See Language page
venom for darts, poison veneno curare subsistence tool dyibebéno dʒibebéno 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 sãmbʉrrɨ̃́ka sãmbʉrrɨ̃́ka 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 trã́mpha trã́mpha 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 See Language page
spearthrower subsistence tool See Language page
house other dhé dhé 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 It is caused by process of progressive and regressive nasalization Aguirre 1999:20 Chamí
Phonology - Segmental Glottalized/ejective consonants Phonemic contrast [NOT counting glottal stop/fricative] yes In Southern Embera there are not aspirated and glottalized stops (Aguirre 1999:16-7) Mortensen 1999:5 Catío
Phonology - Segmental Palatalized stops Phonemic contrast no Aguirre 1999:16-7 Chamí
Phonology - Segmental Phonemic vowel length Does the language have long and short vowels? no Aguirre 1999:16-7 Chamí
Phonology - Segmental Phonemic glottalization/laryngealization of vowels no Aguirre 1999:16-7 Chamí
Phonology - Segmental Complex onsets Onset consists of more than one consonant phoneme no Only the complex onset Cr is allowed. Southern Embera does not allow complex onset Cr (Aguirre 1999:16-7) Mortensen 1999:6 Catío
Phonology - Segmental No codas *(C)VC [no also equals highly constrained] no Codas are allowed Aguirre 1999:17-8, Mortensen 1999:6 Chamí
Phonology - Segmental Word-final coda required Do all syllables end in a consonant? no Aguirre 1999:17-8 Chamí
Phonology - Suprasegmental Contrastive tones Note how many contrastive tones no more likely not Aguirre 1999:16-26; Mortensen 1999:4-8 Chamí
Phonology - Suprasegmental Contrastive stress Does stress occur on different syllables with meaning difference? no Mortensen shows some minimal pairs differentiated by stress though (1999:7) Aguirre 1999:19-20; Mortensen 1999:5 Chamí
Phonology - Suprasegmental Nasalization property of morpheme or syllable In contrast to nasalization as a property of segments yes At least there is a morpheme {-de} which changes to [nẽ] when next to a nasal segment Mortensen 1999:6, Mortensen 1999:26 Catío
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 Aguirre 1999:20-21 Chamí
Phonology - Suprasegmental Vowel harmony no info more likely not Aguirre 1999:16-26; Mortensen 1999:4-8 Chamí
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] no Mortensen 1999:8-14 Catío
Morphology - General Inflection manifested by replacement of segmental or suprasegmental phonemes Stem change, tone no Mortensen 1999:8-14 Catío
Morphology - General Verbal synthesis (1+ inflectional categories marked by verbal affixes) Morphological complexity in verbs - multiple inflectional affixes in a single verb word yes Mortensen 1999:59 Catío
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: strongly prefixing There are many more prefixes than suffixes no Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: strongly suffixing There are many more suffixes than prefixes yes There are only suffiixes in northern Embera Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Morphology - General Prefixing/suffixing inflectional morph: roughly equal or one weakly preferred The numbers of suffixes and prefixes are not notably different no Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Morphology - General Reduplication: full The full morpheme is reduplicated yes Mortensen 1999:31 Catío
Morphology - General Reduplication: partial Only part of the morpheme is reduplicated yes Mortensen 1999:32 Catío
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive NN compounding Noun compounds created from two noun phrases are common and systematically produced yes Mortensen 1999:33-4 Catío
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 yes Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Morphology - Compounding, auxiliaries, light verbs Productive VV compounding Serial verb constructions involve chaining of roots together in one morphophonological word no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:59-60 Catío
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' yes These are verbs mainly related to motion as "go" and "come" Mortensen 1999:68 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:12 Catío
Morphology - Incorporation Incorporation of nouns into verbs is a productive intransitivizing process Verb contains nominal segment yes Mortensen 1999:60 Catío
Morphology - Incorporation Productive incorporation of other elements (adjectives, locatives, etc.) into verbs Like noun incorporation, but incorporated elements are not nouns no Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
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 no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Number of noun classes/genders Note the (approximate) total number of noun classes/genders 0 Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
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. no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex is a relevant category in noun class(ification) system for animates Masculine, feminine, neuter no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Sex is a relevant category in noun class(ification) system for inanimates no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
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 no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
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 no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Shape is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system for animates no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Shape is a relevant category in the noun class(ification) system for inanimates no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Gender and noun classification Numeral classifiers (specific to numerals) Special classifier forms that occur only with numerals no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
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.' no Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
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 no info
Nominal Categories - Number Plural affix on noun yes It seems that the plural is a clitic rather than a nominal suffix since it attaches to the end of the NP. Aguirre 1999:74, Mortensen 1999:15 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked by stem change or tone on noun no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked by reduplication of noun no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Number Plural word/clitic no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Number Plural marked on human or animate nouns only no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:15-6 Catío
Nominal Categories - Number Pronominal plural: stem + nominal plural affix Pronouns use a nominal plural affix not specific to pronouns no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Nominal Categories - Number Unique associative plural marker e.g. 'John and his associates', 'John and them' no info
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 info
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Marker of definiteness distinct from demonstratives Focus on articles/markers whose primary function is to mark definiteness no info
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Indefinite or non-specific article or marker no info
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Inclusive/exclusive: in free pronominals Inclusive =us + you, exclusive = us but not you yes Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Inclusive/exclusive: in verbal inflection (bound) no Verbs do not show pronominal affixes Mortensen 1999:59 Catío
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Distance contrasts in demonstratives (number) Note the number of distances in the demonstrative system 2 Aguirre 1999:78 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Definiteness and clusivity Other contrasts in demonstratives (visibility, elevation, etc.) no Aguirre 1999:78-9 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 3sg pronouns no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 3pl pronouns no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Gender in 1st and/or 2nd person pronouns no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Nominal Categories - Pronominal categories Formal/informal distinction in pronouns Polite pronominal variants or differential avoidance of pronouns no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
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 no info
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Adpositions mark core NPs Prepositions or postpositions mark subjects, objects, beneficiaries/recipients no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: number of cases Note the number of grammatical relations that may be morphologically marked on the noun 8 Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: only non-core arguments morphologically marked Subjects, objects, beneficiaries/recipients NOT marked, but other grammatical relations are no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: asymmetrical Semantically defined subset of NPs marked for case, e.g. animates no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: suffix or postpositional clitic yes Mortensen 1999:10-1 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: prefix or prepositional clitic no Mortensen 1999:10-1 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: infix or inpositional clitic no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: stem change no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: tone no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Case and adpositions Case: comitative = instrumental Same marking for 'with a person' and 'with an instrument' no Mortensen 1999:47-57 Catío
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-2 At least some part of the system involves base-2 no Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-5 At least some part of the system involves base-5 yes Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Numerals Base-10 At least some part of the system involves base-10 no Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Numerals Other base (specify) 4, 20, etc. no Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Numerals Etymological transparency in any numerals under 5 e.g. two = 'eye-quantity' yes Only the numeral for five is etymological transparent: "hand all" Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Numerals Numerals do not go above 5 'Many' or some other non-exact term used yes Native numerals do not go beyond 5 Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Numerals Numerals do not go above 10 'Many' or some other non-exact term used yes Aguirre 1999:83 Chamí
Nominal Categories - Other nominal Tense or aspect inflection on non-verbal predicates i.e. nominal or adjectival no Mortensen 1999:8-14, 33-4 Catío
Nominal Categories - Other nominal Person inflection on non-verbal predicates i.e. nominal or adjectival no Mortensen 1999:8-14, 33-4 Catío
Nominal Syntax - Possession Pronominal possessive affixes: prefix on N alienable/inalienable? no It seems that the possessive is an independent word Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
Nominal Syntax - Possession Pronominal possessive affixes: suffix on N alienable/inalienable? no Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
Nominal Syntax - Possession Head/dependent marking in possessive NP: dependent e.g. 'the boy-'s dog' no info
Nominal Syntax - Possession Head/dependent marking in possessive NP: head e.g. 'the boy his-dog' no info
Nominal Syntax - Possession Possessive classifiers There are special classifiers that occur with possessed entities no Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
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 Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
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 Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
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 Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Inalienable possession of kin terms 'my-father' but *father no info
Nominal Syntax - Possession - Alienability Inalienable possession of body parts (human/animal) 'my-leg' but *leg no info
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 info
Nominal Syntax - Adjectives Underived adjectives There are underived adjectives which do not have counterparts in other word classes no Aguirre 1999:43 Chamí
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 Aguirre 1999:43-4 Chamí
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: action/state (arrive/arrival) There is a morpheme which derives an event from a verb no info
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: agentive (sing/singer) There is a morpheme which derives an agent or subject from a verb yes Mortensen 1999:30 Catío
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive nominalizing morphology: object (sing/song) There is a morpheme which derives a patient or object from a verb no info
Nominal Syntax - Derivation Productive verbalizing morphology There is a morpheme which derives a verb from a noun or adjective yes Aguirre 1999:41-3 Chamí
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 info
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Dedicated past marker(s) Past tense is regularly morphologically marked on the verb or elsewhere yes There are at least four different past tenses Mortensen 1999:71-4 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Multiple past tenses, distinguishing distance from time of reference e.g. distant vs. recent past yes Mortensen 1999:71-4 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Multiple future tenses, distinguishing distance from time of reference e.g. imminent vs. distant future no Mortensen 1999:75 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Dedicated future or non-past marker(s) yes Mortensen 1999:75 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: prefix no Mortensen 1999:71-82 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: suffix yes Mortensen 1999:71-82 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect affixes: tone or ablaut no Mortensen 1999:71-82 Catío
Verbal Categories - Aspect and tense Tense-aspect suppletion no Mortensen 1999:71-82 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:85 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:85, 96 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Difference between negation in imperative (prohibitive) and declarative clauses There are different strategies for marking negation in imperative and declarative clauses yes {=ẽ} is the declarative negator whereas {-rã} is the imperative negator Mortensen 1999:11-2 Catío
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' no A declarative or a verification mood marker is used instead Mortensen 1999:85 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: affix on verb Inflectional marking of capacity to do something no Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: verbal construction no info
Verbal Categories - Mood Situational possibility: other marking no Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: affix on verb Modal expressing hypothesis no Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: verbal construction no info
Verbal Categories - Mood Epistemic possibility: other marking no info
Verbal Categories - Mood Marking of expected/unexpected action or result There is inflectional marking of expected/unexpected no Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Verbal frustrative Modal expressing frustration ("in vain") no Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Verbal habitual Modal expressing habituality yes Mortensen 1999:80 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Apprehensive construction There is a single morpheme or verb form to mean '(be careful lest) X happens' no info
Verbal Categories - Mood Reality status marking on verbs There are dedicated morpheme(s) for realis/irrealis 'actualized/unactualized events' no There is no irrealis marker Mortensen 1999:85 Catío
Verbal Categories - Mood Affect markers (positive/negative) Note whether these inflectional markers are positive or negative no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
Verbal Categories - Directionals Directional elements affixed to the verb There are grammaticalized elements indicating movement away, toward, there and back, etc. no Directionals are nominal elements Mortensen 1999:59-87 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized visual Indicates information has been witnessed visually - indicate only if an overt marker no But information that is believed to be true or certain by the speaker takes the verbal suffix /-a/ Mortensen 1999:86 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized nonvisual Indicates information has been sensed firsthand but not visually (usually heard; also smelled, tasted, felt) no Mortensen 1999:86-7 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:87 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized reportive Indicates speaker is not responsible for veracity of statement, merely reporting; 'allegedly' yes Mortensen 1999:87 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Grammaticalized quotative Indicate presence of adjacent representation of repeated discourse yes Mortensen 1999:86 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Other evidential Any other evidential values not represented above no Mortensen 1999:86-7 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: verb affix or clitic yes Mortensen 1999:86-7 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: part of tense system Includes portmanteau morphs no Mortensen 1999:86-7 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: separate particle no Mortensen 1999:86-7 Catío
Verbal Categories - Evidentiality Evidentiality: modal morpheme no Mortensen 1999:86-7 Catío
Verbal Categories - Verbal number Verbal number suppletion no There are verbal suffixes marking singular/plural Mortensen 1999:76-7 Catío
Verbal Categories - Other Social interaction markers Note the type of interaction no info
Word Order No fixed basic constituent order no Mortensen 1999:89 Catío
Word Order VS in intransitive clauses Verb precedes subject no Mortensen 1999:89 Catío
Word Order VS in transitive clauses no Mortensen 1999:89 Catío
Word Order VO in transitive clauses Verb precedes object no Mortensen 1999:89 Catío
Word Order OS in transitive clauses Object precedes subject yes Mortensen 1999:89-90 Catío
Word Order Preposition-Noun no Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Noun-Postposition or case suffix yes Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Gen-Noun Possessive phrase composed of a free possessor and its possessum has possessor first (e.g. John's book) yes Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
Word Order Noun-Gen Possessive phrase composed of a free possessor and its possessum has possessum first (e.g. 'book of John') no Aguirre 1999:79-80 Chamí
Word Order Adj-Noun Adjective precedes the noun yes Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Noun-Adj Adjective follows the noun yes descriptive adjectives follow the noun Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Demonstrative-Noun yes Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Noun-Demonstrative no Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Num-Noun no Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Noun-Num yes Mortensen 1999:10 Catío
Word Order Noun-Rel Relative clause follows noun that it modifies no Relative clauses are internally headed Mortensen 1999:11 Catío
Word Order Rel-Noun Relative clause precedes noun that it modifies no Mortensen 1999:11 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:127 Catío
Word Order Relative clause is correlative or adjoined e.g. 'what is running, the dog chased that cat' no Mortensen 1999:127-30 Catío
Word Order Question word is clause initial 'what', 'who', etc. come first in interrogative clause yes Mortensen 1999:93 Catío
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 no Mortensen 1999:8, 47 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:8, 47 Catío
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 yes Mortensen 1999:8, 47 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking in full NPs: tripartite Intransitive subjects, transitive subjects, and transitive objects all receive distinct case markers no Mortensen 1999:8, 47 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:8, 47 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: marked accusative no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: marked nominative no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: ergative-absolutive yes, no, mixed, other yes Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: tripartite no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of case marking of pronouns: active-inactive no Mortensen 1999:42-3 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: nominative-accusative Same as above, for pronominal affixes/clitics on verbs no There is no pronominal marking on verbs Mortensen 1999:21 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: ergative-absolutive yes, no, mixed, other no Mortensen 1999:21 Catío
Simple Clauses - Alignment Alignment of verbal person-marking: active-inactive no Mortensen 1999:21 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:21 Catío
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. no Mortensen 1999:21 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:43 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:43 Catío
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person marking on intransitive verbs Intransitive verbs take person-marking clitics/affixes no Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person marking (of agents) on transitive verbs Transitive verbs take subject (A) markers no Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
Simple Clauses - Pronouns and person marking Person-marking (of objects) on transitive verbs Transitive verbs take object (P) markers no Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 yes But notice that any person in subject or object position is marked on the verb Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 yes But notice that any person in subject or object position is marked on the verb Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 Actually, only number is marked on the verb Mortensen 1999:76 Catío
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 Since person is not marked on the verb Mortensen 1999:59 Catío
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 no Mortensen 1999:16, 59 Catío
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 yes The indirect object takes a suffix while direct object does not (zero asolutive) Mortensen 1999:17 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:17 Catío
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 no Mortensen 1999:17 Catío
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. no info
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. no Aguirre 1998:85 Chamí
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 info
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 no info
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 info
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Decreasing Other intransitivizing morphology There is/are some other mechanism(s) for reducing valency no info
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Applicative: benefactive Applicative adds a beneficiary/maleficiary object argument to the verb no info
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Applicative: other Applicative adds some other object argument to the verb no info
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: prefix Causative is morphological and is attached before the root of the verb no Mortensen 1999:62 Catío
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: suffix Causative is morphological and is attached after the root of the verb yes Mortensen 1999:62 Catío
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative marked by circumfix, stem change, or tone Morphological causative other than simple prefix/suffix no Mortensen 1999:62 Catío
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: serial verb or analytical construction Causative construction that involves periphrasis or serialization no Mortensen 1999:62-3 Catío
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 info
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Causative: dedicated sociative Indicates that causer participates in event no info
Simple Clauses - Valence and voice - Increasing Other transitivizing morphology (adds valence) There is/are some other mechanism(s) for increasing valency no info
Simple Clauses - Negation Clausal negator is a preposed element Clausal negator is a preposed element no Mortensen 1999:98-102 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Clausal negator is a postposed element Clausal negator is a postposed element no Mortensen 1999:98-102 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: affix Negatives: affix yes Mortensen 1999:98 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: particle Negatives: particle no Mortensen 1999:98-102 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: auxiliary verb Negatives: auxiliary verb yes This is the most common way of negation Mortensen 1999:98 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Negatives: double Standard (non-emphatic) negation typically requires two morphemes, e.g. French 'ne V pas' no info Mortensen 1999:98-102 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Distinct negative form for 'NP does not exist' no There is a change in the order of the negator to negate an NP. Not sure if this different semantics counts as "distintict negative form" Mortensen 1999:98-102 Catío
Simple Clauses - Negation Distinct negative expression 'I don't know' Lexical expression or highly idiomatic phrase no info
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: interrogative particle Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by interrogative particle yes Rising intonation is used along with the polar interrogative particle Mortensen 1999:13 Catío
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: verb morphology Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by interrogative verb morphology yes Mortensen 1999:13 Catío
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: word order Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by word order (esp. subject-verb inversion) no Mortensen 1999:13 Catío
Simple Clauses - Interrogatives Polar questions: intonation only Yes/no questions distinguished from declaratives by intonation only no Intonation is used along the polar interrogative suffix Mortensen 1999:13 Catío
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 13
Simple Clauses - Predication Predicate adjectives: verbal Adjectives act like verbs in predicative position yes The adjective predicate has to take the verbalizer {-a} Aguirre 1999:56-7 Chamí
Simple Clauses - Predication Predicate adjectives: nominal Adjectives act like nouns in predicative position no Aguirre 1999:56-7 Chamí
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) yes Aguirre 1999:54-6, Mortensen 1999:25 Chamí
Simple Clauses - Predication Headless relative clauses Compare Eng 'the one that fell' (but in Eng 'one' could be considered a head) yes Mortensen 1999:129 Catío
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 Internally headed relative clauses are the most common Mortensen 1999:127 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:128-34 Catío
Simple Clauses - Predication Relativizer is a verbal affix no It seems that there is no relativizer Mortensen 1999:127-30 Catío
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 Mortensen 1999:127-30 Catío
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 info more likely not Mortense 1999:59-88 Catío
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 There is verb serialization Mortensen 1999:59-60 Catío
Simple Clauses - Other Morphologically marked switch-reference system There are special markers to indicate same vs. different subject when two clauses are combined no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío
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 no info more likely not Mortensen 1999:59-88 Catío