Arawak language explained

Arawak
Nativename:Lokono
States:French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Jamaica, Barbados
Region:Guianas
Ethnicity:Lokono (Arawak)
Date:1990–2012
Ref:e25
Familycolor:American
Fam1:Arawakan
Fam2:Northern
Fam3:Ta-Arawakan
Iso2:arw
Iso3:arw
Glotto:araw1276
Glottorefname:Lokono
Script:Latin script
Map:Arawaks Aujourd'hui.jpg
Mapcaption:Arawakan languages in South America and the Caribbean
Map2:Lang Status 20-CR.svg

Arawak (Arawak: Arowak, Arawak: Aruák), also known as Lokono (Lokono Dian, literally "people's talk" by its speakers), is an Arawakan language spoken by the Lokono (Arawak) people of South America in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It is the eponymous language of the Arawakan language family.

Lokono is an active–stative language.[1]

History

Lokono is a critically endangered language.[2] The Lokono language is most commonly spoken in South America. Some specific countries where this language is spoken include Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Venezuela.[3] The percentage of living fluent speakers with active knowledge of the language is estimated to be 5% of the ethnic population.[4] There are small communities of semi-speakers who have varying degrees of comprehension and fluency in Lokono that keep the language alive.[5] It is estimated that there are around 2,500 remaining speakers (including fluent and semi-fluent speakers).[6] The decline in the use of Lokono as a language of communication is due to its lack of transmission from older speakers to the next generation. The language is not being passed to young children, as they are taught to speak the official languages of their countries.

Classification

The Lokono language is part of the larger Arawakan language family spoken by indigenous people in South and Central America along with the Caribbean.[7] The family spans four countries of Central America — Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua — and eight of South America — Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil (and also formerly Argentina and Paraguay). With about 40 extant languages, it is the largest language family in Latin America.[8]

Etymology

Arawak is a tribal name in reference to the main crop food, the cassava root, commonly known as manioc. The cassava root is a popular staple for millions of people in South America, Asia and Africa.[9] It is a woody shrub grown in tropical or subtropical regions. Speakers of Arawak also identify themselves as Arawak: Lokono, which translates as "the people". They call their language Arawak: Lokono Dian, "the people's speech".[10]

Alternative names of the same language include Arawák, Arahuaco, Aruak, Arowak, Arawac, Araguaco, Aruaqui, Arwuak, Arrowukas, Arahuacos, Locono, and Luccumi.[11]

Geographic distribution

Lokono is an Arawakan language most commonly found to be spoken in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It was also formerly spoken on Caribbean islands such as Barbados and other neighboring countries. There are approximately 2,500 native speakers today. The following are regions where Arawak has been found spoken by native speakers.

Phonology

Consonants

!Bilabial!Alveolar!Retroflex!Palatal!Velar!Glottal
Stopvoicelesspronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
aspiratedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
voicedpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Fricativepronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Nasalpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Approximantpronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/pronounced as /ink/
Rhotictrillpronounced as /ink/
tappronounced as /ink/

William Pet observes an additional pronounced as //p// in loanwords.[12]

Character UsedAdditional UsageIPA symbolArawak Pronunciation
bpronounced as /link/Like b in boy.
čch, tjpronounced as /link/Like ch in chair.
dpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /~/ pronounced as /link/Like d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep.
fpronounced as /link/This sound does not exist in English. It is pronounced by narrowing your lips and blowing through them, as if you were playing a flute.
hxpronounced as /link/Like h in hay.
jypronounced as /link/Like y in yes.
kc, qupronounced as /link/Like the soft k sound in English ski.
khk, c, qupronounced as /link/Like the hard k sound in English key.
lpronounced as /link/Like l in light.
lhřpronounced as /link/No exact equivalent in American English. This is a retroflex r, pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the palate. It is found in Indian-English. Some English speakers also pronounce this sound in the middle of the word "English: better" or "English: party".
mpronounced as /link/Like m in moon.
npronounced as /link/Like n in night.
ppronounced as /link/Like the soft p in spin.
r pronounced as /link/Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English "English: better".
sz, cpronounced as /link/Like the s in sun.
tpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /~/ pronounced as /link/Like the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
thtpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /~/ pronounced as /link/Like the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
huwpronounced as /link/w as in English: way.
'pronounced as /link/A glottal stop, like the pause in the word English: uh-oh.

Vowels

FrontCentralBack
Closepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/

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

Character Used Additional Usage IPA Symbol Arawak Pronunciation
a pronounced as /link/Like the a in father.
aapronounced as /link/Like a only held longer.
e pronounced as /link/Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in Spanish; Castilian: gate.
eee·, e:pronounced as /link/Like e only held longer.
ipronounced as /link/Like the i in police.
iii·, i:pronounced as /link/Like i only held longer.
opronounced as /link/ pronounced as /~/ pronounced as /link/Like o in note or u in flute.
ooo·, o:pronounced as /link/Like o only held longer.
yu, ipronounced as /link/ Like the e in English: roses.
yyy:, uu, iipronounced as /link/Like the above y, only held longer.

Grammar

The personal pronouns are shown below. The forms on the left are free forms, which can stand alone. The forms on the right are bound forms (prefixes), which must be attached to the front of a verb, a noun, or a postposition.

SingularPlural
1st Personde, da-we, wa-
2nd Personbi, by-hi, hy-
3rd Personli, ly- (he)tho, thy- (she)ne, na-

Cross-referencing affixes

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

! colspan="2"
prefixessuffixes
singular pluralsingular plural
1st personnu- or ta-wa--na, -te-wa
2nd person(p)i-(h)i--pi-hi
3rd personri-, ina-ri, -i-na
thu-, ru-na--thu,-ru, -u-na
'impersonal'pa----
A= Sa=cross referencing prefix

O=So= cross referencing suffix

Vocabulary

Gender

In the Arawak language, there are two distinct genders of masculine and feminine. They are used in cross-referencing affixes, in demonstratives, in nominalization and in personal pronouns. Typical pronominal genders, for example, are feminine and non-feminine. The markers go back to Arawak third-person singular cross-referencing: feminine -(r)u, masculine -(r)i[11]

Number

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

Possession

Arawak nouns are fragmented into inalienably and alienably possessed. Inalienably crossed nouns include things such as body parts, terms for kinship and common nouns like food selections. Deverbal nominalization belong to that grouping. Both forms of possession are marked with prefixes (A/Sa). Inalienably possessed nouns have what is known as an "unpossessed" form (also known as "absolute") marked with the suffix *-tfi or *-hV. Alienably possessed nouns take one of the suffixes *-ne/ni, *-te, *-re, *i/e, or *-na. All suffixes used as nominalizers.[13]

Negation

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

Tenses

Tenses are added at the end of a sentence: past tense is indicated with bura or bora (from ubura "before"), future tense with dikki (from adiki "after"), present continuous tense uses loko or roko.[14] [15]

Writing system

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

Character UsedAdditional UsageIPA symbolArawak Pronunciation
bbLike b in boy.
čtjt͡ʃLike ch in chair.
dd ~ d͡ʒLike d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep.
fɸThis sound does not exist in English. It is pronounced by narrowing your lips and blowing through them, as if you were playing a flute.
xhhLike h in hay.
jjLike y in yes.
kc, qukLike the soft k sound in English ski.
khk, c, qukhLike the hard k sound in English key.
llLike l in light.
řrh, lhɽNo exact equivalent in American English. This is a retroflex r, pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the palate. It is found in Indian-English. Some American English speakers also pronounce this sound in the middle of the word "hurting."
mmLike m in moon.
nnLike n in night.
ppLike the soft p in spin.
r ɾLike the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter.
sz, csLike the s in sun.
tt ~ t͡ʃLike the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
thtth ~ t͡ʃʰLike the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
huwwLike w in way.
'ʔA pause sound (glottal stop), like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."
Character Used Additional Usage IPA Symbol Arawak Pronunciation
a aLike the a in father.
aaLike a only held longer.
e eLike the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in gate.
eee·, e:Like e only held longer.
iiLike the i in police.
iii·, i:Like i only held longer.
oo ~ uLike o in note or u in flute.
ooo·, o:Like o only held longer.
yɨ Like the u in upon, only pronounced higher in the mouth.
yyy:ɨːLike y only held longer.
The letters in brackets under each alphabetical letter is the IPA symbol for each letter.

Examples

EnglishEastern Arawak (French Guiana)Western Arawak (Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname)
OneÁbąAba
TwoBianBiama
ThreeKabunKabyn
FourBitiBithi
ManWadiliWadili
WomanHiaroHiaro
DogPéero Péero
SunHadaliHadali
MoonKatiKathi
WaterUiniVuniabu
[16]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Aikhenvald, "Arawak", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, eds., The Amazonian Languages, 1999.
  2. Web site: Lokono . Endangered Languages Project . 2018-01-05 . 2018-01-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180106072848/http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1708 . live .
  3. Book: Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. . https://books.google.com/books?id=sPGe7aBSkpkC&pg=PA167 . Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative Linguistics . 2006 . 9780199283088 . Aikhenvald . Alexandra Y. . Oxford University Press . 7. Areal Diffusion, Genetic Inheritance and Problems of Subgrouping: A north Arawak Case Study . Dixon . R. M. W. . 2020-11-24 . 2024-05-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526094611/https://books.google.com/books?id=sPGe7aBSkpkC&pg=PA167#v=onepage&q&f=false . live .
  4. Edwards . W. . Gibson . K. . 1979 . An Ethnohistory of Amerindians in Guyana . Ethnohistory . 26 . 2 . 161 . 10.2307/481091 . 481091.
  5. Harbert . Wayne . Pet . Willem . 1988 . Movement and Adjunct Morphology in Arawak and Other Languages . International Journal of American Linguistics . en . 54 . 4 . 416–435 . 10.1086/466095. 144291701 .
  6. Book: Aikhenvald, Alexandra. Linguistics. 2013. Arawak Languages. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/28542/. Aronoff, Mark, (Ed.) Linguistics: Oxford Bibliographies. Oxford Bibliographies Online. Oxford Bibliographies. 10.1093/OBO/9780199772810-0119. 9780199772810. Oxford University Press. 2018-01-05. 2018-01-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20180106071742/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/28542/. live.
  7. De Carvalho . Fernando O. . 2016 . The diachrony of person-number marking in the Lokono-Wayuunaiki subgroup of the Arawak family: reconstruction, sound change and analogy . Language Sciences . en . 55 . 1–15 . 10.1016/j.langsci.2016.02.001.
  8. Web site: Arawak languages. Research@JCU. en-GB. 2018-07-10. 2016-08-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20160828034054/https://research.jcu.edu.au/lcrc/language-archives/south-america-languages/arawak-languages/arawak-languages. dead.
  9. Aikhenvald . Alexandra Y. . 1995 . Person marking and discourse in North Arawak languages . Studia Linguistica . en . 49 . 2 . 152–195 . 10.1111/j.1467-9582.1995.tb00469.x.
  10. Book: A Brief Introduction to Some Aspects of the Culture and Language of the Guyana Arawak (Lokono) Tribe . 1980 . Amerindian Languages Project, University of Guyana . 2020-11-24 . 2024-05-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526094611/https://books.google.com/books?id=Aq8PAQAAMAAJ . live .
  11. Book: Hill, Johnathon . Comparative Arawakan Histories : Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area in Amazonia . 2010-10-01 . University of Illinois Press . 9780252091506 . 2020-11-24 . 2024-05-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240526094614/https://books.google.com/books?id=A9JSYzAynBEC&q=arawak+language+%28lokono%29&pg=PP2#v=snippet&q=arawak%20language%20(lokono)&f=false . live .
  12. Pet . William . Lokono dian: the Arawak language of Surinam: a sketch of its grammatical structure and lexicon. . 1988 . PhD . Cornell University.
  13. Rybka . Konrad . 2015 . State-of-the-Art in the Development of the Lokono Language . Language Documentation & Conservation . 9 . 110–133 . free . 10125/24635.
  14. Web site: The Arawack language of Guiana in its linguistic and ethnological relations . Daniel Garrison . Brinton . Daniel Garrison Brinton. 1871 . Philadelphia, McCalla & Stavely.
  15. Book: Patte, Marie-France . fr . La langue arawak de Guyane: présentation historique et dictionnaires arawak-français et français-arawak . 2011 . Institut de recherche pour le développement . Marseille . 978-2-7099-1715-5 .
  16. Trevino . David . 2016. Arawak . Salem Press Encyclopedia . ebescohost.