Itonama language: Difference between revisions
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'''Itonama''' is a [[moribund language|moribund]] [[language isolate]] spoken by the [[Itonama people]] in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern [[Bolivia]]. Greenberg’s (1987) classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama continues to be considered an isolate or unclassified language. |
'''Itonama''' is a [[moribund language|moribund]] [[language isolate]] spoken by the [[Itonama people]] in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern [[Bolivia]]. Greenberg’s (1987) classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama continues to be considered an isolate or unclassified language. |
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It was spoken on the [[Itonomas River]] and Lake<ref name="Loukotka">{{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír | |
It was spoken on the [[Itonomas River]] and Lake<ref name="Loukotka">{{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |author-link=Čestmír Loukotka |title=Classification of South American Indian languages |url=https://archive.org/details/classificationof0007louk |url-access=registration |publisher=UCLA Latin American Center |year=1968 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref> in [[Beni Department]]. |
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==Language contact== |
==Language contact== |
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Itonama is a [[polysynthetic]], head-marking, verb-initial language with an accusative alignment system along with an inverse subsystem in independent clauses, and straightforward accusative alignment in dependent clauses. |
Itonama is a [[polysynthetic]], head-marking, verb-initial language with an accusative alignment system along with an inverse subsystem in independent clauses, and straightforward accusative alignment in dependent clauses. |
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Nominal morphology lacks case declension and adpositions and so is simpler than verbal morphology (which has body-part and location incorporation, directionals, evidentials, verbal classifiers, among others).<ref>{{cite book |title= Who did what to whom in Magdalena |last= Crevels |first= M | |
Nominal morphology lacks case declension and adpositions and so is simpler than verbal morphology (which has body-part and location incorporation, directionals, evidentials, verbal classifiers, among others).<ref>{{cite book |title= Who did what to whom in Magdalena |last= Crevels |first= M |author-link= |year= |publisher= |location= |isbn= |page= |pages= 3 |url= }}</ref> |
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==Vocabulary== |
==Vocabulary== |
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[[Čestmír Loukotka|Loukotka]] (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Itonama.<ref name="Loukotka" |
[[Čestmír Loukotka|Loukotka]] (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Itonama.<ref name="Loukotka"/> |
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Revision as of 22:43, 22 November 2020
| Itonama | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Bolivia |
| Region | Beni Department |
| Ethnicity | 2,900 (2006)[1] |
Native speakers | 5 (2007)[1] |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ito |
| Glottolog | iton1250 |
| ELP | Itonama |
Itonama is a moribund language isolate spoken by the Itonama people in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern Bolivia. Greenberg’s (1987) classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama continues to be considered an isolate or unclassified language.
It was spoken on the Itonomas River and Lake[2] in Beni Department.
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Nambikwaran languages due to contact.[3]
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Low | a |
Diphthongs: /ai au/.
Consonants
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | Plain | p | t | tʲ | k | ʔ | |
| Ejective | tʼ | kʼ | |||||
| Voiced | b | d | |||||
| Affricate | Plain | tʃ | |||||
| Ejective | tʃʼ | ||||||
| Fricative | s | h | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Flap | ɾ | ||||||
| Semivowel | w | j | |||||
The postalveolar affricates /tʃ tʃʼ/ have alveolar allophones [ts tsʼ]. Variation occurs between speakers, and even within the speech of a single person.
The semivowel /w/ is realized as a bilabial fricative [β] when preceded and followed by identical vowels.
Morphology
Itonama is a polysynthetic, head-marking, verb-initial language with an accusative alignment system along with an inverse subsystem in independent clauses, and straightforward accusative alignment in dependent clauses.
Nominal morphology lacks case declension and adpositions and so is simpler than verbal morphology (which has body-part and location incorporation, directionals, evidentials, verbal classifiers, among others).[4]
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Itonama.[2]
gloss Itonama one chash-káni two chash-chupa tooth huomóte tongue páchosníla hand mapára woman ubíka water huanúhue fire ubári moon chakakáshka maize udáme jaguar ótgu house úku
See also
Further reading
- Camp, E. L.; Liccardi, M. R. (1967). Itonama, castellano e inglés. (Vocabularios Bolivianos, 6.) Riberalta: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
References
- ^ a b Itonama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
- ^ Crevels, M. Who did what to whom in Magdalena. p. 3.
- Crevels, Mily (2002). "Itonama o Sihnipadara, Lengua no clasificada de la Amazonía Boliviana" (PDF). Estudios de Lingüística (in Spanish). 16.
External links
- Sample of Itonama fragment
- Lenguas de Bolivia (online edition)
- Itonama (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)