Katukína-Kanamarí language
Katukina-Kanamari is a Katukinan language spoken by about 650 individuals in Amazonas, Brazil. It is considered endangered.
The two principal varieties, Kanamari and Katukina, are mutually intelligible, and have both been confused with neighboring languages with the same or similar names.
Synonyms and dialect names include ''Tshom-djapa, Tsohon-djapa, Wiri-dyapá, Pidá-dyapá, Kutiá-dyapá, Tucun-diapa, Bendiapa, Parawa.''
Etymology
The term Katukina is derived from the Proto-Purus term *ka-tukanɨ, meaning 'speaker of an indigenous language'. As a result, it is used to refer to a few different unrelated languages belonging to separate language families, including Panoan and Arawakan:- Katukina
- Katukína
- Catuquinarú
Phonology
Consonants
An alveolar lateral consonant /l/ may be realized as a retroflex lateral. A velar nasal sound is often heard when following after nasal vowels. A glottal stop can be heard before word-initial vowels. A word-final /k/ may also sound unreleased.Vowels
/i/ and /u/ may be realized as approximant sounds and, when preceding another vowel.Grammar
The syntax of Kanamarí is characterized by ergative–absolutive alignment. The absolutive argument is unmarked for case, and usually appears following the verb phrase.If the absolutive argument is a pronoun, it is represented by its free-standing form.
The ergative argument is marked for genitive case. If the agent is a pronoun, it is represented by a genitive prefix. If the agent is a full noun, it is linked to the verb with the case marker na, which phonologically attaches to the verb: