Arawak language

Template:Short description {{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Main other Arawak ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}), also known as Lokono (Lokono Dian, literally "people's talk" by its speakers), is an Arawakan language spoken by the Lokono (Arawak) Indigenous peoples of South America in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, and French Guiana.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> It is the eponymous language of the Indigenous Arawakan language family.

Lokono is an active–stative language.<ref>Aikhenvald, "Arawak", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, eds., The Amazonian Languages, 1999.</ref>

History

Lokono is a critically endangered language.<ref name=":02">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Lokono language is most commonly spoken in South America. Some specific countries where this language is spoken include Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and Venezuela.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> The percentage of living fluent speakers with active knowledge of the language is estimated to be 5% of the ethnic population.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite journal</ref> There are small communities of semi-speakers who have varying degrees of comprehension and fluency in Lokono that keep the language alive.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It is estimated that there are around 2,500 remaining speakers (including fluent and semi-fluent speakers).<ref name=":4">Template:Cite book</ref> The decline in the use of Lokono as a language of communication is due to its lack of transmission from older speakers to the next generation. The language is not being passed to young children, as they are taught to speak the official languages of their countries.<ref name=":02" />

Classification

The Lokono language is part of the larger Arawakan language family spoken by indigenous people in South and Central America along with the Caribbean.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The family spans four countries of Central America — Belize, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua — and eight of South America — Bolivia, Guyana, French Guiana, Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil (and also formerly Argentina and Paraguay). With about 40 extant languages, it is the largest language family in Latin America.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Etymology

Arawak is a tribal name in reference to the main crop food, the cassava root, commonly known as manioc. The cassava root is a popular staple for millions of people in South America, Asia and Africa.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite journal</ref> It is a woody shrub grown in tropical or subtropical regions. Speakers of Arawak also identify themselves as {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, which translates as "the people". They call their language {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, "the people's speech".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Alternative names of the same language include Arawák, Arahuaco, Aruak, Arowak, Arawac, Araguaco, Aruaqui, Arwuak, Arrowukas, Arahuacos, Locono, and Luccumi.<ref name=":102">Template:Cite book</ref>

Geographic distribution

Lokono is an Arawakan language most commonly found to be spoken in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. There are approximately 2,500 native speakers today. The following are regions where Arawak has been found spoken by native speakers.<ref name=e25/>

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants<ref name=":11">Template:Harvnb</ref>

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless		Template:IPAlink			Template:IPAlink
	aspirated		Template:IPAlink			Template:IPAlink
	voiced	Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Fricative		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink				Template:IPAlink
Nasal		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink
Approximant		Template:IPAlink	Template:IPAlink		Template:IPAlink
Rhotic	trill		Template:IPAlink
	tap			Template:IPAlink

William Pet observes an additional {{#invoke:IPA|main}} in loanwords.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite thesis</ref>

Character Used	Additional Usage	IPA symbol	Arawak Pronunciation
b		Template:IPA link	Like b in boy.
č	ch, tj	Template:IPA link	Like ch in chair.
d		Template:IPA link {{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:IPA link	Like d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep.
f		Template:IPA link	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	x	Template:IPA link	Like h in hay.
j	y	Template:IPA link	Like y in yes.
k	c, qu	Template:IPA link	Like the soft k sound in English ski.
kh	k, c, qu	Template:IPA link	Like the hard k sound in English key.
l		Template:IPA link	Like l in light.
lh	ř	Template:IPA link	lang}}" or "{{#invoke:Lang|lang}}".
m		Template:IPA link	Like m in moon.
n		Template:IPA link	Like n in night.
p		Template:IPA link	Like the soft p in spin.
r		Template:IPA link	lang}}".
s	z, c	Template:IPA link	Like the s in sun.
t		Template:IPA link {{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:IPA link	Like the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
th	t	Template:IPA link {{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:IPA link	Like the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
hu	w	Template:IPA link	lang}}.
'		Template:IPA link	A glottal stop, like the pause in the word {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

Pet notes that phonetic realization of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} varies between [[[:Template:IPA link]]] and [[[:Template:IPA link]]].<ref name=":0" />

Character Used	Additional Usage	IPA Symbol	Arawak Pronunciation
a		Template:IPA link	Like the a in father.
aa	a·	Template:IPA link	Like a only held longer.
e		Template:IPA link	lang}}.
ee	e·, e:	Template:IPA link	Like e only held longer.
i		Template:IPA link	Like the i in police.
ii	i·, i:	Template:IPA link	Like i only held longer.
o		Template:IPA link {{#invoke:IPA|main}} Template:IPA link	Like o in note or u in flute.
oo	o·, o:	Template:IPA link	Like o only held longer.
y	u, i	Template:IPA link	lang}}.
yy	y:, uu, ii	Template:IPA link	Like the above y, only held longer.

Writing system

The Arawak language system has an alphabetical system similar to the Roman Alphabet with some minor changes and new additions to letters.

Character Used	Additional Usage	IPA symbol	Arawak Pronunciation
b		b	Like b in boy.
č	tj	t͡ʃ	Like ch in chair.
d		d ~ d͡ʒ	Like d in day. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the j in jeep.
f		ɸ	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.
x	h	h	Like h in hay.
j		j	Like y in yes.
k	c, qu	k	Like the soft k sound in English ski.
kh	k, c, qu	kh	Like the hard k sound in English key.
l		l	Like l in light.
ř	rh, lh	ɽ	No exact equivalent in American English. This is a retroflex r, pronounced with the tongue touching the back of the palate. It is found in Indian English. Some American English speakers also pronounce this sound in the middle of the word "hurting."
m		m	Like m in moon.
n		n	Like n in night.
p		p	Like the soft p in spin.
r		ɾ	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 ~ t͡ʃ	Like the soft t in star. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
th	t	th ~ t͡ʃʰ	Like the hard t in tar. Before i the Arawak pronunciation sounds like the ch in cheek.
hu	w	w	Like w in way.
'		ʔ	A pause sound (glottal stop), like the one in the middle of the word "uh-oh."

Character Used	Additional Usage	IPA Symbol	Arawak Pronunciation
a		a	Like the a in father.
aa	a·	aː	Like a only held longer.
e		e	Like the e sound in Spanish, similar to the a in gate.
ee	e·, e:	eː	Like e only held longer.
i		i	Like the i in police.
ii	i·, i:	iː	Like i only held longer.
o		o ~ u	Like o in note or u in flute.
oo	o·, o:	oː	Like o only held longer.
y		ɨ	Like the u in upon, only pronounced higher in the mouth.
yy	y:	ɨː	Like y only held longer.

The letters in brackets under each alphabetical letter is the IPA symbol for each letter.<ref name="e25" />

File:Arawak Language Alphabet EN.svg

Writing System & Language of Arawak (Lokono) Language

Grammar

The personal pronouns are shown below. The forms on the left are free forms, which can stand alone. The forms on the right are bound forms (prefixes), which must be attached to the front of a verb, a noun, or a postposition.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>

	Singular	Plural
1st Person	de, da-	we, wa-
2nd Person	bi, by-	hi, hy-
3rd Person	li, ly- (he) tho, thy- (she)	ne, na-

Cross-referencing affixes

All verbs are sectioned into transitive, active transitive, and stative intransitive.<ref name=":11" />

Prefixes (A/Sa) and Suffixes (O/So) of Cross-Reference Affixes

		prefixes		suffixes
		singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person		nu- or ta-	wa-	-na, -te	-wa
2nd person		(p)i-	(h)i-	-pi	-hi
3rd person	Template:Small	ri-, i	na-	ri, -i	-na
	Template:Small	thu-, ru-	na-	-thu,-ru, -u	-na
'impersonal'		pa-	-	-	-

A= Sa=cross referencing prefix

O=So= cross referencing suffix

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<ref name=":102"/>

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).<ref name=":102" />

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.<ref name=":12">Template:Cite journal</ref>

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", i.e., a blind woman).

Tenses

Tenses are added at the end of a sentence: past tense is indicated with bura or bora (from ubura "before"), future tense with dikki (from adiki "after"), present continuous tense uses loko or roko.<ref name="DGB1871">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Further explanation needed

Examples

English	Eastern Arawak (French Guiana)	Western Arawak (Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname)
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

<ref name=":14">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book