FS:female speech FEMALE:female EGO:ego

Cocama (Kokáma) is an indigenous language spoken by thousands of native people in western South America. It is spoken along the banks of the Northeastern lower Ucayali, lower Marañón, and Huallaga rivers and in neighboring areas of Brazil and an isolated area in Colombia. There are three dialects. The robust dialect is known as Cocama, Kokama, Kukama-Kukamiria, Ucayali, Xibitaoan, Huallaga, Pampadeque, and Pandequebo. By 1999, Cocamilla (Kokamíya) was moribund, being only spoken by people over 40.[citation needed]

Out of a projected ethnic population of 15,000, the majority of Cocama speakers, 2,000, live in Perú. Remaining speakers live in Amazonas state in Brazil, where 50 out of 411 ethnic Chayahuitas speak it and it is known as Kokama or Kokamilla. Most speakers are trilingual and can also speak Portuguese and Spanish. Very few are monolingual. There are 20 ethnic groups in Colombia's Lower Putumayo area with an unknown number of Cocama-Cocamilla speakers. Most expected speakers would also be trilingual, but the language may be extinct in the region.[citation needed]

Cocama speakers have a 3% literacy rate, compared with 50% for Spanish. <> The language is written using the Latin script. Parts of the Bible have been translated into the language.[citation needed]

Cocama is typically classified as belonging to the Tupí-Guaraní language family, [1][2][3] but this classification is not uncontroversial. It has been argued that Cocama may be best characterized as a creole with heavy influence from Tupí-Guaraní languages.[4] Cocama is closely related to Omagua, a nearly extinct language spoken in Peru and Brazil.

TO DO: Add links to other Wikipedia pages

Phonology

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Vowels

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Kukama-Kukamiria has five vowel phonemes, given in the table below in IPA. There are two front vowels, /i/ and /e/, two central vowels, /ɨ/ and /a/, and one back vowel, /u/, the only rounded vowel of this set.[5]: 51 

Front Central Back
High i ɨ u
Mid e
Low a

There has been some controversy about whether /e/ is the right vowel quality to represent the mid front vowel phoneme, as it "seems to be produced higher and more centralized than a Spanish /e/".[5]: 51 

In fluent speech, the first vowel in a word is often lengthened, a process separate from (penultimate) stress assignment.

TO DO: Add links to the vowel parameter Wikipedia pages.

Consonants

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There are eleven consonant phonemes in Kukama-Kukamiria, spanning four places of articulation, and six manners. Voicing is not contrastive.[5]: 40 

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar
Occlusive (plosive) p t k
Fricative x
Affricate ts
Nasal m n
Tap r [ɾ]
Approximant w j

The phoneme /x/ is marginal, appearing only between vowels in very few words, and only in female speech.[5]: 40 

TO DO: Add links to the places/manners of articulation Wikipedia pages; format with voiced segments on the right, voiceless on the left.

Syllable structure

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The syllabic template in Kukama-Kukamiria is (C)(C)V(C), as illustrated in the words below, with the relevant syllable(s) bolded.[5]: 56 

Template Example Translation
V /u.ni/ 'water'
CV /pa.ra.na/ 'river'
VC /aj.tʃe/ 'bad'
CVC /tun.tu/ 'drum'
CCV /kwa.ra.tʃi/ 'sun'
CCVC /i.kjan/ 'this'

CV syllables are the most common, while VC syllables are the least common. Further, there are phonotactic restrictions on which phonemes can occupy which syllable positions: only vowels can be syllable nuclei, CC onset clusters are restricted to {plosive, tap, n} + approximant, and codas are restricted to the set /j, w, r, n/.[5]: 56–57 

Generally-speaking, words must consist of at least one syllable, though monosyllabic words cannot consist just of a V syllable. For example, we find the monosyllabic words pe ('path', CV), aj ('already', VC), tsaw ('stink', CVC), pwa ('rotten', CCV), and rjaj ('also' in male speech, CCVC).[5]: 60–61 

Stress

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Stress in Kukama-Kukamiria is for the most part predictable, and not lexically-determined. Stress typically falls on the penultimate syllable of a word, with clitics included in the domain of the word, e.g., /wɨ.ra.kɨ.rá.tsu/ (wɨra=kɨra=tsu, bird=DIM=DAT, 'to the little bird').[5]: 62 

Morphology

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Kukama-Kukamiria is an analytic language with relatively few bound morphemes overall (around 12 in total), all of which are suffixes, and the majority of which are derivational. The lack of a rich morphology sets it apart from many other Amazonian languages, though Kukama-Kukamiria does have rich systems of clitics and particles.[5]: 82 

Kukama-Kukamiria has three basic root categories: nouns, verbs, and adverbs.[5]: 83 

There is no morphological case marking in Kukama-Kukamiria,[5]: 85  nor is there agreement.

Derivational affixes

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There are a number of derivational affixes in Kukama-Kukamiria, such as the verbalizer -ra (e.g., chira-ra, name-VZR, 'to have a name') and the causativizer and verbalizer -ta (umanu-ta, die-CAUS, 'to kill'; ipia-ra firewood-VZR, 'to cut and collect firewood').[5]: 83, 86 

Some nouns can be converted with zero derivation (no change) into verbs, e.g., amana can refer to 'rain' the noun or 'be raining' the verb.[5]: 88 

Inflectional affixes

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There a few inflectional affixes in Kukama-Kukamiria, all belonging to a class of aspectual markers, e.g., completive -pa (eyu-pa, eat-CPL, 'to eat up') and progressive -ari (yapana-ari, run-PROG, 'be running').[5]: 85–86 

Inflectional affixes may stack on top of derivational affixes, as in uchima-ta-ari, go.out-CAUS-PROG, 'taking out'.[5]: 86 

Clitics

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Kukama-Kukamiria has many clitics, which range in function from postpositions, to marking plurality and tense, to modality and focus. Clitics come in four types, based on their distribution: phrasal clitics cliticize onto a phrase; second position clitics appear in clausal second position, i.e., after the first constituent of the clause; positionally-flexible clitics; and pronominal clitics, which appear in argument positions.

Phrasal clitics

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An example of a phrasal clitic is number marking, which appears attached to the last word inside the noun phrase. Plural marking is differentiated into a form that is used when the speaker is a male, =kana, as in puka-chasu=kana (turtle-AFF=PL.MS, 'the poor turtles'), and a form that is used when the speaker is female, =nu, as in chita uka=kɨra=nu (many house=DIM=PL.FS, 'many small houses').[5]: 93–94 

Tense and modality are also marked by phrasal clitics, and cliticize to the end of the verb phrase. Postpositions are phrasal clitics as well. The following example shows both a modal marker (first bolded morpheme, marking hypotheticality) and a postposition (second bolded morpheme, marking a purpose).

maka=tipa ta purara waina=mia ta=mirikua=ra

where=Q 1SG.MS find woman=HYP 1SG.MS=wife=PUR

'Where would I find a woman to be my wife?'[5]: 95 

TO DO: Use the fancy template to make glosses line up, here and for all examples below.

Second position clitics

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Interrogative =tipa and some modality markers appear in clausal second position, i.e., after the first constituent of the clause, which in Kukama-Kukamiria will typically be a noun phrase or pronoun, an oblique, a question word, or a sentential coordinator.[5]: 96 

ene=tipa erura ipir=ui

2=Q bring fish=PAS1

'You brought fish?'[5]: 97 

ikun=taka ra chikuarata ini=utsu

today=UNC 3SG.MS follow 1PL.IN=FUT1

'Now, maybe, he will follow us.'[5]: 97 

Positionally-flexible clitics

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Two focus markers, =pura (regular focus) and =nan (restrictive focus), can appear in many places in a clause, with their position determining the target of focus, as in tsuwɨ=pura (blood=FOC, 'the BLOOD') and ɨpɨtsa=nan (night=only, 'only at night').[5]: 98–100 

Pronominal clitics

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Clitic pronouns stand in contrast to free pronouns (which have a short form and long form). The distribution of clitics vs. free pronouns is constrained by both syntactic position and discourse factors,[5]: 148–149  in particular givenness in the discourse[5]: 157 . Phonologically, clitic pronouns are reductions of short form free pronouns.

Clitic pronouns may appear as possessors, as in na=mirikua (2SG=wife, 'your wife'), as well as as subjects (bolded below), attached to the predicate:

t=ɨkɨratse=tsui=ka t=umi rana=tsuri, hasta t=aypa

1SG.MS=be.small=ABL=LOC 1SG.MS=see 3PLM=PAS3 until 1SG.MS=grow.up

'Since I was a kid, I saw them, until I grew up.'[5]: 157 

Particles

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Unlike clitics, particles are phonologically independent. Particles perform functions like quotative marking, modality, and negation.

Tsaniuri, na tsa kumitsa=tsuriai ya=tsui

come.in QT1 1SG.FS speak=PAS3 3SG.FS=DAT

' "Come on in," I told him.'[5]: 102 

Reduplication

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Reduplication in Kukama-Kukamiria has functions of (re)iterativity, intensification, and emphasis, and is nearly always partial. For example, reduplication derives iterativity in the change from maynani 'take care' to reduplicated may-maynani 'protect constantly, guard'.[5]: 89 

Compounds

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The most productive form of compounding in Kukama-Kukamiria is found with noun-noun compounds, e.g., yaki-tsa (head-leaf, 'hair').[5]: 90  Less common are verb-verb compounds, e.g., ukɨrɨ-aitse (sleep-be.bad, 'dream, have nightmares').[5]: 91 

Syntax

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Basic clausal word order

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The basic word order of Kukama-Kukamiria is SVO in transitive clauses, and SV in intransitive clauses. Overall, ~92% of transitive clauses have this word order in natural discourse.[5]: 258  For example:

tsa

1SG.FS

mɨmɨra

son.FEMALE.EGO

ukɨrɨ

sleep

tsa mɨmɨra ukɨrɨ

1SG.FS son.FEMALE.EGO sleep

'My son sleeps.'[5]: 259  (SV)

Waina

woman

piruka

peel

yawiri

yucca

Waina piruka yawiri

woman peel yucca

‘The woman peels yucca.’[5]: 263  (SVO)

Alternative clausal word orders

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Both pragmatic factors and tense/aspect condition word order.

In progressive aspect, allowable word orders for intransitive clauses are SV and VS, and for transitive clauses, SOV.[5]: 260  For example:



ukɨrɨ-ari tsa mɨmɨra

sleep-PROG 1SG.FS son.FEMALE.EGO

'My son is sleeping.'[5]: 260  (VS)

Waina      yawiri piruka-ari    

woman     yucca peel-PROG

'The woman is peeling yucca.'[5]: 260  (SOV)

Focalization allows fronting to a clause-initial position, e.g., with a focalized object, OSV word order is possible:

ipuku chiru napitsara=nu akita

long cloth man=PL.FS wear

'Long clothes, the men wear.'[5]: 598  (OSV)

Along the same lines, wh-words are clause-initial, e.g.:

mania-puka=taka ikian ritama tua=utsu

how-when=UNC this community be.big=FUT1

'When will this town grow?'[5]: 435 

Word order in smaller constituents

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In possession structures, the possessor (whether pronominal or not) precedes the possessee.

tapira rimariru

tapir grandson

'the tapir's grandson'[5]: 190 

As seen above, Kukamiria has postpositions (adpositions follow their object).

Finally, auxiliary verbs (e.g., utsu 'go', uri 'come') most typically follow the verb phrase:[5]: 366–369 

rana eyu=ura uri=ui

3PL.MS eat=3SG.MS.OBJ VEN=PAS1

'They came to eat it.': 369 [5]

Male and female speech

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To come: A note on a typologically unusual feature of Kukama-Kukamiria

  1. ^ Adam, L. (1896). Materiaux pour servir à l'éstablissement d'une grammaire comparée des dialectos de la famille Tupi-Guarani. Bibliotheque Linguistique Americaine Vol. XVIII. Paris: Maisonneuve.
  2. ^ McQuown, N. (1955). "The Indigenous languages of Latin America". American Anthropologist. 70: 501–570.
  3. ^ Loukotka, C. (1968). Classification of South American Indian Languages. Latin American Center, University of California.
  4. ^ Cabral, A. S. (1995). Contact induced language change in the Western Amazon: The non genetic origin of the Kokama language. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am Rosa, Vallejos (2016). A grammar of Kukama-Kukamiria : a language from the Amazon. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004314528. OCLC 946968405.