Kamayurá language

Currently, there are many works of the Kamayurá language. Lucy Seki, a Brazilian linguist, is credited with the completion of a book detailing the grammar of the Kamayurá language, as well as the publication of a number of other works on Kamayurá.^[5][6] Through her work with the Kamayurá, she also earned the status of an honorary member in the Linguistic Society of America. In an interview done by “Nova Raiz” in September 2011, Seki had apparently retired, but continued to speak positively of her work with the Kamayurá.^[7]

Kamayurá is one of the few languages in the world with two mechanisms for causation that differ in how involved the causer is in the action. The prefix mo- indicates that the causer was not involved in the activity ("he stopped in the canoe when he was outside it") while the prefix (e)ro- expresses that it was involved ("he stopped in the canoe when he was inside it").^[11] This is common in general in the languages of the Tupian stock, and both causatives have been posited to exist in Proto-Tupian.^[12]

In the Kamayurá language, affixes, clitics, order of constituents, postpositions, derivational processes and certain particles are all needed in order to express the syntactic and semantic functions of the noun.

• Affixes: a set of casual suffixes that indicate the noun in a nuclear function, locative, attributive, and external, and a set of relational prefixes including prefixes which encode the specified and indefinite third-person, reflexive and non-reflexive as well as the subject and object of the third person.
• Clitics: there are a set of flexible clitics which indicates a person and the number of the possessor as well as the subject of the object of verbs and postpositions.
• Order of constituents: are relevant to distinguish “a” (feminine the) and “o” (masculine the) when both are expressed by nominal, both receive the same suffix [-a]. The basic order of the constituents are “AOV” in the transitive sentence and “SV” in the intransitive sentences, which vary in certain contexts.
• Postpositions: Postpositions are used to express a variety of syntactic and semantic functions.
• Derivational Processes: there are a series of derivational affixes which form complex nominal from verbs and adverbs and of which are used to indicate syntactic and semantics roles of the noun.
• Particles: Certain particles ae used to indicate semantic/syntactic roles of the noun. There are several relations that are expressed in Portuguese by nominal or postpositional phrases which in Kamayurá, are expressed by adverbs and other types of constructions.^[13]

The Kamayurá language is composed of combined aspects of the nominative-accusative, active-stative and the establishment of a final verb with initial interrogative words.^[17] The Kamayurá language is also hierarchical, for example: The forms in series I with transitive verbs in the indicative and exhortative modes are used to codify A, the clitic pronouns to codify O and the prefixes of series IV to indicate A and O simultaneously.^[18]

The choice of the participant is being governed by the hierarchy of reference indicated in following which:

1. the first person has precedence over the second person
2. the second person has precedence over the third
3. A has precedence over O
   1. 1>2>3
   2. A>O

Depending on the hierarchy, given by both the A and O participants, the one higher hierarchical, will be expressed with the verb by the corresponding pronominal element. The following example explains lines 1 – 5 in the above hierarchical reference.^[20]

a-etsak	“I see him”	(1sg Vs. 3)
ja-etsak	“We (incl) see him”	(1ip Vs. 3)
oro-etsak	“We (excl) see him”	(1ep Vs. 3)
ere-etsak	“You see him”	(2sg Vs. 3)
pe-etsak	“You all see him”	(2pl Vs. 3)
je = r-etsak	“He sees me”	(3 Vs. 1sg)
jene = r-etsak	“He sees (1incl) us”	(3 Vs. 1ip)
ore = r-etsak	“He sees (1excl) us”	(3 Vs. 1ep)
ne = r-etsak	“He sees you”	(3 Vs. 2g)
pe = n-etsak	“He sees you all”	(3 Vs. 2pl)
o-etsak	“He sees him”	(3 Vs. 3)
je = r-etsak	“You see me”	(2sg Vs. 1sg)
ore = r-etsak	“You see (excl) us”	(2sg Vs. 1ep)
oro-etsak	“We (excl) see you”	(1ep Vs. 2sg)

The following sample is taken from Seki (2000), p. 438. It is a small excerpt of a folk take about the hero Arawitará, who is summoned by his deceased friend to help the souls of the dead in their eternal war against the birds. Here Arawitará has returned to the world of the living, and his describing his journey to the friend's old mother.

1. jererahame rake koʔɨt aʔŋa rupi rak orohome koʔɨt
2. jene peuan ikatu aʔia koʔɨpɨ
3. jawaʔipaip eheʔaŋ jajuw aʔe
4. te aʔiaʔiw aʔiwĩ jene retama koʔɨpɨ
5. jakatupe tete ne jene retama jaetsa koʔɨpɨ
6. nite ne jawaʔiawa koʔɨpɨ
7. kopiaip eheʔaŋ jaju kʷãjʔawan
8. petsakame te jene retama koʔɨwa
9. ipeiripɨrera witene
10. ipeiripɨrera wite aʔiaʔiwine jeneretama koʔɨpɨ
11. ojewunewunawa aʔiweru je wi kʷãj
12. okoj opiretepewewara ruri we

1. He [the deceased friend] took me [Arawitará]. We went this way.
2. Our straight path^[a] is very beautiful
3. Here we live among ugly weeds
4. Ah, how beautiful is our [otherworldly] village!
5. I saw the [otherworldly] village very clean,^[b]
6. There is not even a single weed there!
7. Here we live as in the path to the orchards,^[c] folks!
8. You should see our [otherworldly] village!
9. It is like one which has been swept
10. it is like one which has been swept a lot, our village
11. The poor [souls] spat on the ground for my being there^[d]
12. Here comes someone who is still in his original skin.