Sanumá language explained

Sanumá
Nativename:	Sanöma
Pronunciation:	pronounced as /[ˈsɑnɨmɑ]/
Also Known As:	Kohoroxitari
States:	Venezuela, Brazil
Ethnicity:	Sanumá
Date:	2000–2006
Ref:	e18
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Yanomaman
Iso3:	xsu
Glotto:	sanu1240
Glottorefname:	Sanuma
Map:	Yanomaman.svg
Mapcaption:	Yanomaman languages location

Sanumá ^[1] or Sanöma is a Yanomaman language spoken in Venezuela and Brazil. It is also known as Sanema, Sanima, Tsanuma, Guaika, Samatari, Samatali, Xamatari and Chirichano. Most of its speakers in Venezuela also speak Ye'kuana, also known as Maquiritare, the language of the Ye'kuana people the Sanumá live alongside in the Caura River basin.

History

Throughout the centuries, the Yanomami, originally from the Parima range, have spread up toward river valleys on the plains both to the south in Brazil, and to the north in Venezuela. The Sanumá speak one of the four known Yanomami languages. It is in the rainforests of north Brazil and south Venezuela that the groups have lived undisturbed until recently. In the last 40 years or so the western world has been knocking at their doorsteps wanting lumber and gold.^[2]

Dialects

Some linguists identify dialects such as Yanoma, Cobari, Caura, and Ervato-Ventuari in Venezuela and Auaris in Brazil. All the dialects are mutually intelligible. In Venezuela, Sanumá is spoken in the vicinity of the Caura and Ervato-Ventuari Rivers in Venezuela, while in Brazil, it is spoken in the Auari River region of Roraima.

There are three dialects spoken in Roraima, Brazil:^[3]

• Awaris (2,955 speakers)
• Aracaçá (29 speakers)
• Hokomawä (180 speakers)

Phonology

!Labial!Alveolar!Dorsal!Glottal

Plosive	plain	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
	aspirated		pronounced as /ink/
Nasal		pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Fricative			pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Lateral			pronounced as /ink/
Approximant		pronounced as /ink/		(pronounced as /link/)

• The sound [j] has limited distribution as a phoneme.
• /k/ can be heard as [ɣ] and /t/ can be heard as a flap [ɾ], in intervocalic positions.
• /k/ becomes palatalized as [kʲ] when preceding /i/.
• /s/ becomes palatalized as [ʃ] when preceding /i/. In initial positions, /s/ can be heard as an affricate [ts], or as [tʃ] when palatalized, preceding /i/.
• /l/  becomes palatalized as [ʎ] when preceding sounds /i, e/.

Vowels!!Front!Central!Back

Close	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/
Open		pronounced as /ink/ pronounced as /ink/

• /a/ may be heard as [ʌ] after sounds [m, l, j].
• /o/ may be heard as [ɔ] in free variation.
• /e/ may be heard as [ɛ] after when a consonant is palatalized.^[4]

Further reading

• Alcida Ramos, Sanuma Memories: Yanomami Ethnography in Times of Crisis (University of Wisconsin Press, 1995)
• Bruce Parry, Tribe: Adventures in a Changing World (Michael Joseph Ltd, 2007)

Notes and References

1. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
2. Book: Ramos, Alcida Rita. Sanumá memories: Yanomami ethnography in times of crisis . Memórias sanumá.English . c. 1995. Madison, Wis.. 2027/txu.059173015239841 . 9780299146542 .
3. Ferreira, Helder Perri; Machado, Ana Maria Antunes; Senra, Estevão Benfica. 2019. As línguas Yanomami no Brasil: diversidade e vitalidade. São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) and Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). 216pp.
4. Book: Autuori, Joana Dworecka . Aspectos da fonología da língua Sanumá . Universidade Federal de Roraima . 2013.