Djeoromitxí language
| Djeoromitxi | |
|---|---|
| Jabuti | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Rondônia, at the headwaters of the Rio Branco |
| Ethnicity | 170 (2012)[1] |
Native speakers | 40 (2007)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | jbt |
| Glottolog | djeo1235 |
| ELP |
|
Djeoromitxi or Jabutí (Yabuti) is an endangered Yabutian language that is spoken by only about fifty people (though including some children) in Rondônia, Brazil, at the headwaters of the Rio Branco.
Phonology
There is no tonal system in Djeoromitxí and accent is not contrastive. Morphophonological processes are rare.
Syllable structure follows a (C)V pattern.[2]
Consonants
The table below shows the consonant phonemes of Djeoromitxí according to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010).[3]
Although Pires (1992) counts /b/ /d/ as distinct phonemes, Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) count them as allophones of /m/ /n/ before oral vowels.[4]
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | |||
| Plosive | p | t | k | ||
| Affricate | voiceless | ps | tʃ | ||
| voiced | bz | dʒ | |||
| Fricative | h | ||||
| Approximant | w | ||||
| Trill/Tap | r | ||||
According to Pires (1992), [ɸ] is an allophone of /p/ before high and medium round vowels, and [ɲ] is an allophone of /n/ following the high nasal vowel /ĩ/.
While /ps/ and /bz/ only occur before /i/, they are contrastive with the other bilabial obstruents.[5]
According to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010), /k/ is backed to [q] before [ʉ] and often aspirated before /ə/ and /u/. They state that /p/ is realized as [ɸ] or [pɸ] before back vowels and [ʉ].
When preceded by a personal prefix, or when starting the second element of a compound, /h/ becomes /r/. With some roots, /h/ can become /n/ in a similar manner.[6]
Vowels
The tables below show the vowel phonemes of Djeoromitxí according to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010).[3]
The accounts of Pires (1992) and Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) basically agree on the vowel phonemes.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ʉ | u |
| Close-mid | ə | ||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | ĩ | ||
| Open-mid | ɛ̃ | ɔ̃ | |
| Open | ã |
According to Pires (1992), [ũ] is an allophone of /õ/ in free variation with [õ] after /h/.[7]
Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) state that /ʉ/ is often realized as [ø].[3]
Grammar
Djeoromitxí has nouns, verbs, adverbs and particles, with adjectives treated as intransitive verbs. Its syntax is noun-modifier and SOV or OVS in order.[8]
The following examples demonstrate noun-modifier and SOV word order.
Pronouns and person markers
The following table shows Djeoromitxí pronominal forms.[8]
| Pronoun | Possessive/Preposition | Intransitive subject | Transitive subject | Transitive object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | hʉ | — | — | hʉ | — |
| 2nd person | adʒɛ | a- | a- | adʒɛ | a-/adʒɛ |
| 3rd person | na | i-/N | i-/na/N | na/N | i-/N |
| 1st person plural | hirʉ | hi- | hi- | hirʉ | hi- |
| Impersonal | — | hi- | — | — | i-/ɛ- |
The use of the forms is illustrated in the following examples:[11]
hʉ
I
hamə
tired
'I'm tired'
adʒɛ
you
a-
2-
ramə
tired
'You're tired'
nikʉ
field
'my planted field (with maize)'
i-
3-
rawa
flower
'(its) flower'
hʉ
I
a-
2-
tʉmi
beat
adʒɛ
you
'I'm going to beat you'
hʉ
I
i-
3-
tɛ
bring
a-
2-
ri
DAT
i-
3-
ũ
give
adʒɛ
you
'I brought it to give to you'
References
Citations
- ^ a b Djeoromitxi at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Pires (1992), pp. 17.
- ^ a b c Ribeiro & van der Voort (2010), pp. 531.
- ^ Pires (1992), pp. 19.
- ^ Pires (1992), pp. 20.
- ^ Ribeiro & van der Voort (2010), pp. 532–533.
- ^ Pires (1992), pp. 34.
- ^ a b Ribeiro & van der Voort (2010), pp. 533.
- ^ Pires (1992), pp. 68: Orthography and gloss adapted to match Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010)'s style.
- ^ Pires (1992), pp. 96: Orthography and gloss adapted to match Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010)'s style.
- ^ Ribeiro & van der Voort (2010), pp. 533–535.
Works cited
- Pires, Nádia N. (1992). Estudo da gramática da língua Jeoromitxi (Jabuti) (MA thesis). Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
- Ribeiro, Eduardo; van der Voort, Hein (2010). "Nimuendajú was right: The inclusion of the Jabutí language family in the Macro-Jê stock". International Journal of American Linguistics. 76 (4): 517–570.