Kamakã languages explained

Kamakã
Also Known As:	Kamakanan
Familycolor:	American
Glotto:	kama1371
Glottorefname:	Kamakanan
Map:	Kamakan languages.png

The Kamakã languages are a small family of extinct Macro-Jê languages of Bahía, northeastern Brazil. The attested Kamakã languages are:

• • (northern) Kamakã (dialects: Mongoyó/Mangaló), Kotoxó, Menién (southern) Masakará

Varieties

Loukotka (1968)

Below is a full list of Kamakã languages and dialects listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.^[1]

Southern

• Kamakán / Ezeshio - once spoken on the Ilhéus River, De Contas River and Pardo River, Bahia state.
• Mangaló / Mongoyo / Monshoko - extinct language once spoken on the lower Pardo River near the frontier of Bahia and Minas Gerais states.
• Kutasho / Cotoxo / Catathoy - once spoken between the Pardo River and De Contas River.
• Menien / Manyã - once spoken at the sources of the Jequitinhonha River.
• Dendi - once spoken in the Serra Geral de Condeúba, frontier area between the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais. (Unattested)
• Catolé - once spoken in the state of Minas Gerais in the valleys of the Pardo River and Verde River. (Unattested)
• Imboré / Amboré - once spoken at the sources of the Gongogi River, Bahia state. (Unattested)
• Piripiri - once spoken in the state of Minas Gerais in the valleys of the Verde River and Gorutuba River. (Unattested)
• Payaya - once spoken on the Camamu River, Bahia state. (Unattested)

Northern

• Masacará - extinct language once spoken south of the city of Juazeiro and in the old mission of Saco dos Morcegos, state of Bahia.

Mason (1950)

Camacán (Kamakán) varieties listed by Mason (1950):^[2]

• Camacán (Kamakán)
  • Mongoyó
  • Monshocó (Ezeshio)
• Cutashó (Kotoxó)
  • Catethoy (Katathoy)
• Menián (Manyá)
• Masacará

Classification

Martins (2007)

Internal classification of the Kamakã languages by Martins (2007):

Kamakã

• Masakará
• (core branch)
  • Kamakã
  • Menien
  • Kotoxó, Mongoyó

Masakará is the most divergent language.

Ramirez (2015)

Internal classification of the Kamakã languages according to Ramirez, et al. (2015):^[3]

• Masakará
• Kamakã proper
  • Menien
  • Kamakã (including Kotoxó, Mongoyó, Monxokó, Katatoi, etc.)

Nikulin (2020)

Internal classification of the Kamakã languages according to Nikulin (2020):^[4]

• Masakará
• Southern Kamakã
  • Menien
  • Kamakã

Kotoxó/Mongoyó

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.^[1]

gloss		Mangaló			Masacará
head	heró	hero	inro	heró	axaró
eye	an-kedó	kedó	im-gutó	kithó	gätxt
tooth	txó	dió	yo	dió	thüó
foot	wadé	uadä		hoata	huaxtö
water	d san	sa	sa	sin	tsyin
fire	yakó	diaxka	yarú	tiakíl	guxá
star	pʔiong	péo	pinia	pião	pinatsö
maize	hikamhi	kesho	kshó	kethió	käxü
jaguar	yakoe-dere	yaké-deré	kukiamú	tiuké-hiá	yakveo
black	kohada	koaxéda	kuatá	tá	koeixtá

Proto-language

Proto-Kamakã
Familycolor:	American
Ancestor:	Proto-Macro-Jê
Ancestor2:	Proto-Trans–São Francisco
Target:	Kamakã languages

Proto-Kamakã reconstructions by Martins (2007):^[5]

Portuguese gloss (original)	English gloss (translated)	Proto-Kamakã
água	water	tsã
andar	to walk	mã
anta		here
arara		tʃoke
arco	bow	kwã
árvore	tree	hi
banana	banana	tako
beber	to drink	ka
beber (água)	to drink (water)	tsã-ka
belo	beautiful	tʃoho
boca	mouth	eriko
branco	white	kVhVro
cabeça	head	hero
cabelo	hair	ke
carne	meat	kohoaja
casa	house	toa
chuva	rain	tsã
comer	to eat	jukwa
dente	tooth	tʃo
dormir	to sleep	hondõ
esp. de banana	banana sp.	tako
estrela	star	pio
faca	knife	ketʃa, *ketja
feijão	bean	kinja
filha	daughter	kiaxrará
filha, filho	daughter, son	krani
filho	son	ketje
flecha	arrow	hwaj, *waj
fogo	fire	tʃakɨ, *tjakɨ
irmã	sister	tʃakarata, *jak(a)ratã
lua	moon	hetʃe, *hedje
macaco	monkey	kaũ
machado	axe	kedo
madeira	wood	hi)-ta
mandioca		kajɨ
mão	hand	ker
menino	boy	kwanĩ
milho	maize	ketʃo
milho	maize	ketjo
muito	very	hie-hie
nariz	nose	niniko
olho	eye	keto
onça (Felis onça)	jaguar (Felis)	jake
orelha	ear	nikoka
pai	father	kehentã
papagaio	parrot	karaj
pássaro	bird	tʃano
pequeno	small	(V)ta
preto, negro	black	kwahda, *kwaxda
quati		pitako

References

• Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: KAMAKÃ.http://www.ling.fi/Entradas%20diccionario/Dic=Kamak%e3.pdf

Notes and References

1. Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.
2. Book: Mason, John Alden . John Alden Mason . 1950 . The languages of South America . Julian . Steward . Handbook of South American Indians . 6 . 157–317 . Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143 . Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office.
3. Ramirez, H., Vegini, V., & França, M. C. V. de. (2015). Koropó, puri, kamakã e outras línguas do Leste Brasileiro. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas, 15(2), 223 - 277.
4. Nikulin . Andrey . 2020 . Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo . Ph.D. dissertation . Brasília . Universidade de Brasília.
5. Martins, Andérbio Márcio Silva. 2007. Revisão da Família Lingüística Kamakã Proposta por Chestmir Loukotka. MA thesis, University of Brasília.