Pykobjê language
Pykobjê (also Gavião-Pykobjê,[3] Pykobjê-Gavião,[1] Gavião,[4] Pyhcopji, or Gavião-Pyhcopji[5]:11) is a Timbira variety of the Northern Jê language group (Jê, Macro-Jê) spoken by the Gavião-Pykobjê people in Terra Indígena Governador close to Amarante, Maranhão (Brazil).
| Pykobjê | |
|---|---|
| Gavião-Pykobjê, Pykobjê-Gavião, Gavião, Pyhcopji, or Gavião-Pyhcopji | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Maranhão |
| Ethnicity | Gavião-Pykobjê |
Native speakers | 600 (2010[1]) |
Macro-Jê
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | krik1239[2] |
Pykobjê is closely related to Krĩkatí, but differs from it in retaining the velar nasal /ŋ/ of Proto-Timbira[6] (spelt <g> in the orthography, as in cagã ‘snake’, gõr ‘to sleep’), which Krĩkatí has replaced with /h/,[3]:22, 158 as well as in having the voiceless fricative [s ~ ʃ] (spelt <x>, as in cas ‘pacará basket’ or hõhmtyx ‘his/her wrist’), which occurs in the coda position only and corresponds to /j/ in all other Timbira varieties, including Krĩkatí.[3]:21
Morphology
Finiteness morphology
As in all other Northern Jê languages,[7] verbs in Pykobjê inflect for finiteness and thus have a basic opposition between a finite (or short) form and a nonfinite (or long) form. Finite forms are used in matrix non-past clauses only, whereas nonfinite forms are used in all types of subordinate clauses as well as in some matrix clauses (such as past, negated or quantified).[3]:101 Nonfinite forms are most often formed via suffixation and/or prefix substitution. Some verbs (including all descriptives with the exception of cato ‘to leave, to arrive, to appear’, whose nonfinite form is cator) lack an overt finiteness distinction.
The following nonfinite suffixes have been attested: -r (the most common option, found in many transitive and intransitive verbs), -n (found in some transitive verbs), as well as -c, -m, and -x (found in a handful of intransitive verbs which take a nominative subject when finite).[7]:543
| finite | nonfinite | gloss |
|---|---|---|
| suffix -r | ||
| mo | mor | to go slowly |
| pẽh | -pẽhr | to extinguish |
| coh | -’cohr | to eat (a part) |
| cahu | cahur | to suck, to eat soft food |
| -’coohquehj | -’coohcjir | to ask |
| suffix -n | ||
| pe | -’pen | to drink up |
| pu | -pun | to untie |
| cwy | -’cwyn | to dig |
| -’coohpỳ | -’coohpỳn | to gnaw |
| -’coh’tu | -’coh’tun | to spit |
| suffix -c | ||
| tyh | -’tyhc | to die |
| ry | -ryc | to rain |
| suffix -m | ||
| tẽ | -’tẽm | to go (singular) |
| ẽhjcõ | -’cõm | to drink |
| xa | xãm | to stand (singular) |
| suffix -x | ||
| aacji | -ncjix | to enter (plural) |
Prefix substitution or loss
In addition to the aforementioned processes, the finiteness inflection may involve prefix substitution or loss. For example, the valency-reducing prefixes are a(j)- (anticausative) and a(a)-, aw- (antipassive) in finite verb forms, but -pe(e)h-, -pẽh-[3]:112 and -jỳ-,[3]:111/-jõh-[3]:144–5, respectively, in the nonfinite forms. In addition, some verbs which denote physiological activities or movement have a prefix (ehj- and aa-, respectively) in their finite forms but not in the nonfinite form. Some examples are given below.[4]
| finite | nonfinite | gloss |
|---|---|---|
| anticausatives | ||
| axpa | -pehxpar | to grieve |
| axpoh | -pehxpoh | to fight |
| amteh | -pẽhmtehr | to dream |
| ampraa | -pẽhmpraa | to wake up |
| ajquẽ | -peehquẽn | to dance |
| ajcapu | -pehcapun | to split up in two |
| ajri | -peehrin | to get torn |
| antipassives | ||
| aapi | -jỳyhpin | to fish |
| aapi | -jỳyhpir | to blow (of wind) |
| aapỳ | -jỳyhpỳ | to eat |
| a’tip | -jỳ’tip | to come close |
| awjacu | -jõhjacur | to smoke |
| awjãarẽ | -jõhjãarẽn | to narrate |
| awjahi | -jõhjahir | to hunt |
| awcapeh | -jõhcapeh | to choose |
| awpa | -jõhpar | to be able to hear |
| awpỹ | -jõhpỹr | to be able to smell |
| awryh | -jõhwryh | to travel far away, to be far away |
| physiological verbs | ||
| ẽhjcõ | -’cõm | to drink |
| ẽhjtoh | -’tohr | to urinate |
| ẽhjcwỳ | -’cwỳr | to defecate |
| movement verbs | ||
| aajit | jit | to hang (singular) |
| aaxỳ | -xỳr | to enter (singular) |
| aacji | -ncjix | to enter (plural) |
Derivational morphology
Productive affixes
Pykobjê widely uses the diminutive suffix -re and the augmentative suffix -teh, which may combine with nouns and descriptive predicates.[3]:36–7
Instrumental/locative nominalizations are formed by means of the suffix -xỳ,[3]:47 which attached to the nonfinite forms of verbs.
References
- Silva, Talita Rodrigues da. "Pykobjê". Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Pykobjê". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Sá Amado, Rosane de (2004). Aspectos morfofonológicos do Gavião-Pykobjê (PDF) (Ph.D. dissertation). São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.
- Pries, Stanley T. (2008). Dicionário Gavião-Krikati.
- Nikulin, Andrey (2020). Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (PDF) (Ph.D. dissertation). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
- Ribeiro-Silva, Nandra (2020). Reconstrução fonológica do Proto-Timbira (Ph.D. dissertation). Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará.
- Nikulin, Andrey; Salanova, Andrés Pablo (October 2019). "Northern Jê Verb Morphology and the Reconstruction of Finiteness Alternations". International Journal of American Linguistics. 85 (4): 533–567. doi:10.1086/704565.