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Arawak Language
History
The Arawak Language, also known as Lokono, is a critically endangered language[1]. The Arawakan language is most commonly spoken in South America. Some specific geographic areas where this language is spoken include Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Venezuela.[2] The percentage of living fluent speakers with active knowledge of the language is estimated to be 5% of the ethnic population. [3]There are small communities of semi-speakers who have varying degrees of comprehension and fluency in Arawak that keep the language alive despite its decline in usage[4]. It is estimated that around 2,500 remaining speakers (including fluent and semi-fluent speakers) remain in existence.[5] The decline in the use of Arawak as a language of communication is due to its lack of transmission from speaker to speaker to the next generation. The language is not passed to young children, as they are taught to practice the official languages of their countries. The oldest generation of speakers are around the age of 70 years of age of older. [1]
Classification
The Arawak language is part of the larger language group of Arawakan languages. The Arawakan languages are a large family of languages that developed in South America by its indigenous people.[6] The language eventually spread in branches to areas such as Central America, the Caribbean and the Bahamas[7]. Arawak is the largest family of languages in the Americas in vast comparison to other language groups. The languages have crossed numerous barriers, having been found in Suriname, Guyana, French Guyana, Venezuela most commonly.[8] It has been found with native speakers in Trinidad and Tobago and Colombia on the northern coast of South America and as far north as spanish predominant countries such as Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Honduras The languages have also been found in Argentina and Paraguay as well.[5]
Etymology
Arawak is a tribal name in reference to the main crop food , the cassava root. It is commonly known as Manioc. The cassava root is a popular staple to millions in South America, Asia and Africa. [9]It is a woody shrub grown in tropical or subtropical regions. The speakers of the Arawak language also identify themselves as, Lokono, which translates to "the people" . The Arawak language within itself is known as, Lokono Dian, "the people's speech"[10]
Alternative Names
Alternative names of the same language include Arawák, Arahuaco, Aruak, Arowak, Arawac, Araguaco, Aruaqui, Arwuak, Arrowukas, Arahuacos, Locono, and Luccumi. [11]
Geographic Distribution
Arawak 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.
Sounds/Phonology
Arawak Consonants[12]
| Character Used | Additional Usage | IPA symbol | Arawak Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| b | b | Like b in boy. | |
| ch | č | t | Like ch in chair. |
| d | d ~ d3 | Like d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep. | |
| f | Φ | 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. | |
| h | h | Like h in hay. | |
| j | y | j | Like y in yes). |
| k | c, qu | k | Like the soft k sound in English ski. |
| kh | c, qu, k | kh | Like the hard k sound in English key. |
| l | Like l in light. | ||
| lh | r,r | l | No exact equivalent in American English. This is a retroflex r, pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the palate. You may recognize this sound if you've heard people from India speaking English. Some American English speakers pronounce this sound in the middle of the word "hurting." |
| m | Like m in moon. | ||
| n | m | Like n in night. | |
| p | n | Like the soft p in spin. | |
| r | p | Like the r in Spanish pero, somewhat like the tt in American English butter. | |
| s | z,c | s | Like the s in sun. |
| t | t ~ t | Like the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek. | |
| th | t | th ~ t | Like the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek. |
| w | hu | w | Like w in way. |
| ' | A pause sound, like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh." |
Arawak Vowels[12]
| Character Used | Additional Usage | IPA Symbol | Arawak Pronounciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | a | Like the a in father. | |
| aa | a· | a | Like a only held longer. |
| e | e | Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in gate. | |
| ee | e·, e: | e | Like e only held longer. |
| i | i | Like the i in police. | |
| ii | i·, i: | i | Like i only held longer. |
| o | o ~ u | Like o in note or u in flute. | |
| oo | o·, o: | o | Like o only held longer. |
| y | u, |
i | Like the u in upon, only pronounced higher in the mouth. |
| yy | y:, uu, |
i | Like y only held longer. |
Grammar
Cross-Refrencing Affixes
All verbs are sectioned into transitive, active transitive and stative intransitive.[12]
| Prefixes( A/Sa) and Suffixes(O/So) of Cross-Reference Affixes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| prefixes | suffixes | |||
| Person | sg | pl | sg | pl |
| 1 | nu- or ta- | wa- | -na, -te | -wa |
| 2 | (p)i- | (h)i- | -pi | -hi |
| 3(non formal) | ri-, i | na- | ri, -i | -na |
| 3(formal) | thu-, ru- | na- | -thu,-ru, -u | -na |
| 'impersonal' | pa- | - | - | - |
A= Sa=cross referencing prefix
O=So= cross referencing suffix
| Personal Pronouns | ||
|---|---|---|
| singuar | plural | |
| 1st person | de, da- | we, wa- |
| 2nd person | bi, by- | hi, hy- |
| 3rd person |
li, ly- (he) tho, thy- (she) |
ne, na- |
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)[11]
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 aka. bind) .
Writing System
The Arawak language system has an alphabetical system similar to the the Roman Alphabet with some minor changes and new additions to letters. The letters in brackets under each alphabetical letter is the IPA symbol for each letter. An IPA symbol is phonetic transcriptions for English learners.[14]
Examples[15]
| English | Eastern Arawak Words (French Guiana) | Western Arawak(Guyana) |
|---|---|---|
| One | Ábą | Aba |
| Two | Bian | Biama |
| Three | Kabun | Kabyn |
| Four | Biti | Bithi |
| Man | Wadili | Wadili |
| Woman | Hiaro | Hiaro |
| Dog | Péero | Péero |
| Sun | Hadali | Hadali |
| Moon | Kati | Kathi |
| Water | Uini | Vuniabu |
References [2][3][14][13][1] [12][11][9][7][8][6][5][4][10][15]
- Aikhenvald, Alexandra (2006). Areal Diffusion, Genetic Inheritance and Problems of Subgrouping: A north Arawak Case Study. ISBN 978-0-19-928308-8.
- Edwards, W. (1979). "An Ethnohistory of Amerindians in Guyana". Ethnohistory. 26 (2): 161–175. doi:10.2307/481091. JSTOR 481091 – via JSTOR.
- Habert, Wayne. "Movement and Adjunct Morphology in Arawak and Other Languages". Ebsco Host – via MLA International Bibliography.
- Aikhenvald, Alexandrs (2013). "Arawak Languages". Ebsco Host – via Oxford Bibliographies.
- Carvalho, F. (2016). "The diachrony of person-number marking in the Lokono-Wayuunaiki subgroup of the Arawak family: Reconstruction, sound change and analogy". Ebsco Host – via Scopus.
- Aikhenvald, Alexandra (2006). Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance : Problems in Comparative Linguistics : A north Arawak Case Study. ISBN 978-0-19-928308-8.
- Granadillo, Tania (2014). "Negation in Arawak Languages". EBook Collection (EBSCOhost).
- Aikhenvald, Alexandra (2008). "Person Marking and Discourse in North Arawak Languages". Studia Linguistica. 49 (2): 152–195. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9582.1995.tb00469.x – via Wiley.
- Gibson, Kean (1980). "A brief introduction to some aspects of the culture and language of the Guyana Arawak (Lokono) tribe". Ebsco Host – via HathiTrust (Ebsco Host ).
- Hill, Johnathon (October 2010). Comparative Arawakan Histories : Rethinking Language Family and Culture Area in Amazonia. ISBN 9780252091506.
- Willem, Pet (1987). "A Grammar Sketch and Lexicon of Arawak (Lokono Dian)". SIL International. Series Issue: 30 – via SIL.
- Rybka, Konrad (2015). "State-of-the-Art in the Development of the Lokono Language". Language Documentation & Conservation: 9110–9133 – via ebscohost.