Carib language

Carib or Kari'nja is a Cariban language spoken by the Kalina people (Caribs) of South America. It is spoken by around 7,400 people mostly in Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Brazil. The language is currently classified as highly endangered.[3]

This article is about the language of South America. For the language of the Caribs in the Caribbean, see Island Carib language.
Carib
Kari'nja
Native toVenezuela, the Guianas, Suriname, and Brazil
EthnicityKali'na
Native speakers
7,430 (2009)[1]
Cariban
  • Guianan Carib
    • Carib
Dialects
  • Tyrewuju (Suriname)
  • Aretyry (Suriname)
Latin script
Language codes
ISO 639-2car
ISO 639-3car
Glottologgali1262[2]
Ethnic Kali'na populations
Coordinates: 5°42′32.499″N 54°0′55.313″W

Names

The language is known by several names to both its speakers and outsiders. Traditionally it has been known as "Carib" or "Carib proper" in English, after its speakers, called the "Caribs" in English. It is known Caribe in Spanish, Galina in French, and Karaïeb in Dutch. However, the speakers call themselves Kalina or Karìna (variously spelled), and call their language Karìna auran [kaɽiɁnʲauɽaŋ].[4] Other variants include Kali'na, Kari'nja, Cariña, Kariña, Kalihna, Kalinya; other native names include Maraworno and Marworno.

Classification

Kari'nja is classified as a Cariban language, in the Guianan Carib branch.[5]

Geographic distribution
Pidgin Carib
Lengua generale
RegionOyapock
Era17th – early 20th centuries[6]
Carib-based pidgin
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologpidg1256[6]

Due to contact with Kari'nja invaders, some languages have Kari'nja words incorporated into them, despite being Arawakan languages linguistically.[7] A Carib-based lengua generale was once used in the old missions of the Oyapock and surrounding regions, apparently surviving at least along the Uaçá tributary into the 20th century.[6][8]

In Suriname, there is an area called Konomerume which is located near the Wajambo River. With about 349 people living there, a majority identify as ethnically Kari'nja and as for who knows the language, the adults are reported to at least have a decent knowledge of it. Those above the age of 65 use the language as a primary language among the members of the community. Speakers between the ages of 45 and 65 tend to use the language only when speaking with older residents or elder members of their family, while for the most part using the official languages: Dutch and Sranan Tongo. Younger adults between the ages of 20 to 40 for the most part understand the language but do not speak it, and children learn bits about Kari'nja in school.[9]

There is an attempt to revive Carib traditions, including the language, by some of the 500 people of Carib decent in Trinidad.[10]

Dialects

Carib dialects (with number of speakers indicated in parentheses):[4]

  • Venezuelan Carib (1000)
  • Guyanese Carib (2000)
  • Western Surinamese Carib (500)
  • Eastern Surinamese and French Guianese Carib (3000)
    • Suriname has two dialects of Kari'nja: Aretyry which is spoken in the west and central parts of the country, and Tyrewuju which is what the majority of Kari'nja speakers in Suriname use.[3]

Alphabet

The Carib alphabet consists of 15 letters: a, e, i, j, k, `, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, w, y.[4]

Phonology

In the Kari'nja language, there are four syllable patterns: V, CV, VC, CVC; C standing for consonants while V means a vowel. Regarding phonemes, consonants are divided into two groups: obstruents (voiceless stops—p, t, k) and resonants (voiced stops—b, d, g, s).[11]

Kari'nja has a typical 6 vowel system after *ô merged with *o, being a e i o u ï. Compared to past Kari'nja, the modern day Kari'nja has replaced the e in many words to o.[7]

Consonants
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ~h
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative s
Nasal m n
Tap/Flap ɾ
Approximant w j
Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u
Mid e o
Open a

Allophones for /r w t/ include sounds as [ɽ β,v tʃ]. /s/ before /i/ may be pronounced as [ʃ]. /n/ before a consonant may be pronounced as [ŋ] and also [ɲ] elsewhere. Another sound, ranging [h~x], often occurs before a voiced or voiceless consonant, and succeeding a vowel, it can also be an allophone of /ʔ/.[11][4]

Grammar

There are 17 particles within Kari'nja which include the ky- prefix and the -ng suffix.[12]

Vocabulary

All four dialects of Kari'nja have loan words from the primary language of the area (Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana). For example, the Kari'nja spoken in Suriname borrows words from Dutch and Sranantongo.[3]

Examples
Modern Kari'nja
"two" /oko/
"stone" /topu/
"flea" /siko/
"mountain" /wipi/
"axe" /wïwï/
"person" /itoto/
'one that has been dug' Ø-atoka-apo
'one that has burnt' i-tjoroty-ypo

Some of the words show instances in which the e has been replaced with o in present-day Kari'nja.[7] The two statements beneath the singular words show examples of two suffixes.[13]

gollark: I have backups of various older versions of it, too.
gollark: No, there are just a lot of files on pastebin and it's hard to track down all the places potatOS randomly downloads things.
gollark: ... if I can find it, actually.
gollark: Anyway, I figure I'll start on the whole project *now* by creating a folder™ containing all the potatOS code.
gollark: Plus verifying the checksums and such.

References
  1. Carib at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Galibi Carib". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Carlin, Eithne B.; Léglise, Isabelle; Migge, Bettina; Tjon Sie Fat, Paul B. (2014). In and Out of Suriname: Language, Mobility and Identity. BRILL. ISBN 9789004280120.
  4. Courtz, Henk (2008). A Carib Grammar and Dictionary (PDF). Magoria Books. p. 1. ISBN 978-0978170769. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  5. "Did you know Kari'nja is threatened?". Endangered Languages. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  6. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Pidgin Carib". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  7. Gildea, Spike (2010). "The Story of *ô in the Cariban Family" (PDF). In Berez, Andrea L.; Mulder, Jean; Rosenblum, Daisy (eds.). Fieldwork and Linguistic Analysis in Indigenous Languages of the Americas. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. pp. 91–123.
  8. Nimuendajú, Curt (1926). Die Palikur-Indianer und ihre Nachbarn (PDF). Göteborg: Elanders Boktryckeri Aktiebolag.
  9. Yamada, Racquel-María (2014). "Training in the Community-Collaborative Context: A Case Study" (PDF). Language Documentation & Conservation. 8: 326–344.
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2001-12-01. Retrieved 2001-12-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Grimes, Joseph E., ed. (1972). Languages of the Guianas (PDF). Summer Institute of Linguistics of the University of Oklahoma.
  12. Yamada, Racquel-María (2011). "A New Approach to ky- and -ng in Kari'nja: Evidentiality or Something Else?". International Journal of American Linguistics. 77 (1): 59–89. doi:10.1086/657328.
  13. "Patient Nominalization > Passive in Panare and Ye'kwana (Cariban)" (PDF). voice-systems-workshop.wdfiles.com. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
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