Palikúr (Brazilian Portuguese: Palicur, French: Palikur) is an Arawakan language of Brazil and French Guiana. Knowledge of French and Portuguese is common, and French Guianese Creole is used as the common language among the tribes in the area and with the local population. Palikúr is considered endangered in French Guiana and vulnerable in Brazil.[2][3]

Palikúr
Karipuna
Pa'ikwené, Pa'ikwaki
Native toBrazil, French Guiana
EthnicityPalikur
Native speakers
1,500 (2000–2010)[1]
Arawakan
  • Northern
    • Palikuran
      • Palikúr
Language codes
ISO 639-3plu
Glottologpali1279
ELPPalikur

Phonology

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Consonants

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Consonant phonemes
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative s ʃ h
Nasal m n
Glide w j
  • Plosives in word-final position are heard unreleased as [p̚, t̚, k̚, b̚, d̚, ɡ̚].
  • /p/ can be heard as [v] or [β] when before close vowels /i, u/, or within intervocalic positions.
  • /t, d, n/ when before front vowels /i, ĩ/ are heard as palatal and post-alveolar sounds [tʃ, dʒ, ɲ].

Vowels

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Vowel phonemes
Front Central Back
Close i ĩ u ũ
Mid e o õ
Open a ã
  • /e, o/ are heard as [ɛ, ɔ] within different positions.
  • /a/ is heard as a nasalized central vowel sound [ɐ̃] when preceding a nasal consonant.[4]

Loanwords

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Palikúr has several loanwords, many of which are wildlife-related, from the Carib language, including:[5]

English Palikúr Carib
Sloth waikuli waikore
Anteater tamanua tamaanuwa
Giant armadillo malulaima manuraimo
Paca urana urana
Agouti kuʃiwai akusiwai
Peccary pakira pakiira
Coati kuwaʃ kuwasi
Otter saruru sarooro
Squirrel monkey akarma akarima
Pied tamarin kusiri kusiri
Spider monkey kuwata kuwata
Hummingbird tukusi tukuʔsi
Juruti wilusi werusi
Thrush kuwaswi kurasiwai
Southern American bushmaster urukru urukuku
Tortoise wajamu wajaamu
Giant Amazonian ants irakrĩ irako

Pronouns

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Palikúr has dependent and independent personal pronouns.[5] The verb marks the object by using suffixes, but not the subject, which must appear in the form of a nominal group or as an independent pronoun. This affixation of only the object and not of the subject is linguistically very rare: the norm is the affixation for both or for only the subject. The noun complement is marked by a possessive prefix.[3]

Palikúr English Prefixes
Noun, Relation, Subject of Verb
Suffixes
Object of verb
Independent Pronouns
1sg I n(u)- -(u)n náhu
2sg you (singular) pi- -pi písu
3msg he ri- -ri irV
3fsg she ru- -ru erV
1pl.incl we (inclusive) u- -wi wísu
1pl.excl we (exclusive) w(a)- u-su
2pl you (plural) ji- -ji jí-su
3pl they ri-...-kisV, ru-...-kisV -rikisV, rukisV irV-kisV

References

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  1. ^ Palikúr at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Rosélis Remor de Souza Mazurek (2016). "Mapping in the Oiapoque Indigenous Territories". Revue d'ethnoécologie (9). doi:10.4000/ethnoecologie.2701. Archived from the original on 2023-02-14. Retrieved 2021-03-27.
  3. ^ a b "Le palikur". Sorosoro (in French). Archived from the original on 13 July 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  4. ^ da Silva, Elissandra Barros (2016). A Língua Parikwaki (Palikur, Arawak): Situação Sociolinguística, Fonética e Fonologia. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
  5. ^ a b Ramirez, Henri (17 March 2021). Enciclopédia das línguas Arawak acrescida de seis novas línguas e dois bancos de dados (in Brazilian Portuguese). Editora CRV. ISBN 9786555788822.
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  • Lev, Michael; Stark, Tammy; Chang, Will (2012). "Phonological inventory of Palikúr". The South American Phonological Inventory Database (version 1.1.3 ed.). Berkeley: University of California: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Digital Resource.