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Carib or Kariʼnja is a Cariban language spoken by the Kalina people (Caribs) of South America. It is spoken by around 7,400 mostly in Brazil, The Guianas, and Venezuela. The language is currently classified as highly endangered,<ref name=":0" /> as it is only spoken by elders.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
NamesEdit
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 Template:Ipa.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref> Other variants include Kaliʼna, Kariʼnja, Cariña, Kariña, Kalihna, Kalinya; other native names include Maraworno and Marworno.
ClassificationEdit
Kariʼnja is classified as a Cariban language, in the Guianan Carib branch.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Geographic distributionEdit
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Due to contact with Kariʼnja invaders, some languages have Kariʼnja words incorporated into them, despite being Arawakan languages linguistically.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In Suriname, there is a village called Konomerume which is located near the Wajambo River. With about 349 people living there, a majority identify as ethnically Kariʼnja 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 and 40 for the most part understand the language but do not speak it, and children learn bits about Kariʼnja in school.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
DialectsEdit
Carib dialects (with number of speakers indicated in parentheses):<ref name=":2" />
- Venezuelan Carib (1000)
- Guyanese Carib (2000)
- Western Surinamese Carib (500)
- Eastern Surinamese and French Guianese Carib (3000)
- Suriname has two dialects of Kariʼnja: Aretyry which is spoken in the west and central parts of the country, and Tyrewuju which is what the majority of Kariʼnja speakers in Suriname use.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>
PhonologyEdit
In the Kariʼnja 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).<ref name=":3">Template:Cite book</ref>
Kariʼnja has a typical 6 vowel system after *ô merged with *o, being a e i o u ï. Compared to past Kariʼnja, the modern day Kariʼnja has replaced the e in many words to o.<ref name=":1" />
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link |
| Mid | Template:IPA link | Template:IPA link | |
| Open | Template:IPA link |
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/.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
AlphabetEdit
The Carib alphabet consists of 15 letters:
a, e, i, j, k, `, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, w, y.<ref name=":2" />
GrammarEdit
There are 17 particles within Kariʼnja which include the ky- prefix and the -ng suffix.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:Stub section
VocabularyEdit
All four dialects of Kariʼnja have loan words from the primary language of the area (Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana). For example, the Kariʼnja spoken in Suriname borrows words from Dutch and Sranantongo.<ref name=":0" />
ExamplesEdit
| English | Modern Kariʼnja |
|---|---|
| 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] |
| peccary/javelina | [pakira] |
Some of the words show instances in which the e has been replaced with o in present-day Kariʼnja.<ref name=":1" /> The two statements beneath the singular words show examples of two suffixes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Ka'lina (Carib) Vocabulary List (from the World Loanword Database)
- Surinamese Carib - English Online Dictionary
- Audio resources from the MPI-PL archive for linguistic resources, which origin from data collected by dr. Berend Hoff in the period 1955-1965
- How to count in Kali’na
- A video of someone speaking Kariʼnja is also available here.
- Endangered Languages Kariʼnja profile
- Kariʼnja main clauses vs nominalized phrases
- Formal Teaching of Kariʼnja
- Carib Phonology
- Template:JSTOR The Carib Language
- ELAR archive of Kariʼnja Dictionary and Video Documentation
- De'kwana (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)
- Portal Japiim (online dictionary)