Kaimbé is an extinct unclassified language of eastern Brazil. The ethnic population numbered an estimated 1,100 to 1,400 in 1986. The language is scarcely attested; in 1961 one elder was able to remember a few single words mixed with Kiriri.

Kaimbé
Native toBrazil
RegionBahia
EthnicityKaimbé
ExtinctEarly 20th century[1]
unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3xai
Glottologkaim1235

The district of Caimbé in Euclides da Cunha, Bahia is named after the tribe.

Vocabulary

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Kaimbé words collected from an elderly rememberer in Massacará, Euclides da Cunha, Bahia by Wilbur Pickering in 1961:[2]

Portuguese gloss
(original)
English gloss
(translated)
Kaimbé
fogo fire ˈlumi
fumo smoke buzʌ̨
ave, (tipo aracuão?) bird (rufous-vented ground cuckoo?) kwakwι
barraco house, shed toˈkaya
caça (gambá?) wild game (possum?) koˈřoa
deus God ˈmeutipʌ̨
rede net kiˈsε

References

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  1. ^ Kaimbé at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)  
  2. ^ Meader, Robert E. (1978). Indios do Nordeste: Levantamento sobre os remanescentes tribais do nordeste brasileiro (in Portuguese). Brasilia: SIL International.
  • Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: KAIMBÉ[1]