Puinave language

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Puinavé
Wãnsöhöt
Pronunciation[ˈwãnsɤhɤt]
Native toColombia, Venezuela
Ethnicity7,000 (ca. 2007)[1]
Native speakers
3,000 (2001–2008)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3pui
Glottologpuin1248
ELPPuinave
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Puinave, a.k.a. Waipunavi (Guaipunabi) or Wanse (Puinave: Wãnsöhöt), is an indigenous language of Colombia and Venezuela. It is generally considered to be an unclassified language.

Varieties[]

Varieties listed by Mason (1950):[2]

  • Puinave (Epined)
    • Western: Bravos, Guaripa
    • Eastern: Mansos
  • Macú
    • Macú
    • Tikié
    • Kerarí
    • Papurí
    • Nadöbo

Alternate names of Puinave are Puinabe, Puinavis, Uaipunabis, Guaipunavos, Uaipis.[2]

Classification[]

Puinave is sometimes linked to other poorly attested languages of the region in various Macro-Puinavean proposals, but no good evidence has ever been produced. The original motivation seems to simply be that all of these languages were called Maku "babble" by Arawakans.[3] Ongoing work on Puinave by Girón Higuita at the University of Amsterdam will hopefully clarify the situation.

Phonology[]

Consonants[]

Labial Coronal Dorsal Glottal
Plosive Oral p t k
Nasal m n
Fricative s h

Vowels[]

Front Back
unround. 		Back
round.
Close i ĩ ɯ u
Mid e ɤ ɤ̃ o õ
Open a ã

Syllable structure is (C)V(C); nasal syllabic nuclei cause allophonic variation of consonantal segments in the same syllable. The phonemes /m n/ have oral, non-sonorant allophones [b d] in the onsets of syllables with oral nuclei.

The high vowel [u], when occurring in onset or coda position, is realized as a glide [w]. When the high vowel /i/ is in coda position, it is also realized as a glide [j], but in onset position, it is realized as a palatal stop matching in nasality with the nucleus, either [ɟ] or [ɲ], in the same way that /m n/ match the following vowel's nasality. Any glides [w] occurring before or [j w] occurring after a nasalized nucleus are also realized as nasal [j̃ w̃].

Tone[]

Puinave distinguishes four surface (phonetic) tones: two simple (H and L) and two contour (HL and LH); these are analyzed as being composed of two phonemic tone values, H and L. Girón Higuita and Wetzels (2007) note that speakers seem to associate H with prominence, rather than increased duration or intensity (the typical correlates of prominence in languages like English).

Morphology and syntax[]

Jesús Mario Girón's description of the morphology and the function of nominalized constructions in this language can be found in The Linguistics of Endangered Languages (edited by Leo Wetzels).

Bibliography[]

  • Bautista Sánchez, E. (2008). Diccionario puinave-español y la oración gramatical. CIRCUI, Centro de Investigaciones de rescate cultural Puinave Autóctonas.
  • Girón, J. M. (2008). Una gramática del Wã́nsöjöt (Puinave). Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit. (Doctoral dissertation).
  • Girón Higuita, J.M. and W. Leo Wetzels (2007). Tone in Wãnsöhöt (Puinave). Language Endangerment and Endangered Languages: Linguistic and Anthropological Studies with Special Emphasis on the Languages and Cultures of the Andean-Amazonian Border Area, W. Leo Wetzels ed., CNWS Publications.

References[]

  1. ^ a b Puinavé at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South America". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
  3. ^ Patience Epps, 2008. A Grammar of Hup. Mouton de Gruyter.

External links[]

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