Gamela language
Extinct indigenous language of Brazil
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gamela (Gamella), a.k.a. Curinsi or Acobû, is an unclassified and extinct language of the municipality of Viana in the state of Maranhão of Northeastern Brazil. It was originally spoken along the Itapecuru River, Turiaçu River, and Pindaré River, with ethnic descendants reported to be living in Cabo and Vianna in Maranhão State.[3] The Gamela today speak Xavante and Portuguese. The last full-blooded Gamela died around the 1910s, and by 1930 only one old woman still remembered something of the language.[2] 19 words of the language are recorded in Nimuendajú (1937:68).[4]
Kaufman (1994) said that 'only Greenberg dares to classify this language', due to the lack of data on it.
Other varieties
Nimuendajú also mentioned the Guaná, Uruaty, Cahicahy, Guaxioná, Aranhi, Suassuhy, Arayó, Anapurú, Guanaré, Coroatá, Barbado and Gamella as existing in Maranhão in the 17th and 18th centuries.[2]
Vocabulary
Gamella words recorded by Nimuendajú (1937:68) from his informant Maria Cafuza in Viana, Maranhão:[2]
gloss Gamella fire tatá (< Tupi) penis purú vulva sebú Negro katú-brohó White? Indian? katú-koyaká brother-in-law múisi pot kokeáto gourd bowl kutubé club tamarána (< Tupi) knife kasapó jaguar yopopó monkey kokói (< Timbira) horse pohoné cattle azutí domestic fowl kureːká tree kyoipé tobacco anéno pepper birizu thick tomabéto
A single proper name survives of the language of the Gamela people of Codó: Bertrotopama, the name of their chief.[2]
