Enawene Nawe (Enawené-Nawé, Enawenê-Nawê, Eneuene-Mare), also known as Salumã, is an Arawakan language of Brazil spoken by about 570 people living in the Juruena River basin area, and more specifically along the Iquê river in the state of Mato Grosso.

Quick Facts Region, Ethnicity ...
Enawene Nawe
Salumã
RegionMato Grosso, Brazil
EthnicityEnawene Nawe people
Native speakers
570 (2014)[1]
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3unk
Glottologenaw1238
ELPEnawené-Nawé
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Classification

Aikhenvald (1999) classifies Enawene Nawe as a South Arawak language together with Terena, Lapachu and Moxo.[1] However, more recent works by both Fabre (2005) and Brandão & Facundes (2007) consider the language to form a subgroup with Paresi in the Paresi–Xingu branch of Arawakan languages.[1]

More information Person, Paresi ...
Comparison of personal pronouns between Paresi and Enawene Nawe[2]
PersonParesiEnawene Nawe
1SGnatyonato
2SGhitsohixo
3SGezeere
1PLwitsowixo
2PLxitsodexo
3PLezenaeerenaha
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More information Number, Paresi ...
Comparison of numbers[1][3]
NumberParesiEnawene Nawe
onehatitaxoxola
twohinamainitini
threehanamakoytala
fourzalakakoanoxi
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More information Word, Paresi ...
Comparison of other vocabulary[1][3]
WordParesiEnawene Nawe
to fallezoaedoa
itchmare, maliwera
drinkera, terawesera
cornkozetokorito
eyezotseedose
househati, hanahakolo
vultureolohoolohõ
nightmakamikya
stonetsehalisairi
unclekokokokore
sourkatyalakatala
basketkohotohe
bathekoahanakohã
arrivekaokatakwa
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Phonology

Consonants

Enawene Nawe is described by Zorthêa (2006) as having 15 contrastive consonants.[3]

More information Labial, Alveolar ...
Consonant inventory
Labial Alveolar Post-alv./
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless kw t t ky k k
voiced d d
Nasal m m n n ɲ ñ
Flap ɾ r
Fricative s s ʃ x h h
Approximant w w l l j y
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Among these, the following allophonic variations are reported:[3][4]

More information Type, Examples ...
Consonant variations
Type Examples
w varies between [w] and [b] in word-initial position before the front vowels /e/ and /i/
  • wesera "to drink": [weseɾa~beseɾa]
  • wera "itch": [weɾa~beɾa]
m varies between [m] and [w]
  • datamare "(mythical character)": [datamaɾe~datawaɾe]
  • Alame "(proper noun)": [alame~alawe]
d varies between [d], [s], [ɾ] and [l]
  • datowa "tomorrow": [datowa~latowa]
  • derohi "ritual step": [deɾohi~leɾohi]
  • edoa "to fall": [edoa~eɾoa]
r varies between [ɾ] and [l]
  • Kawari "(proper noun)": [kawaɾi~kawali]
  • korito "corn": [koɾito~kolito]
k varies between [k] and [g] between vowels nawenekota "I think": [nawenekota~nawenegota]
ky varies between [] and [] between vowels
t varies between [t] and [d] between vowels
  • atana "thunder": [atana~adana]
  • meta "tickle": [meta~meda]
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Vowels

Enawene Nawe is described by Zorthêa (2006) as having 4 oral vowels and 4 nasal vowels.[3]

More information Front, Back ...
Oral
Front Back
Near-Close i i o~u o
Mid e~ɪ e
Open a a
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More information Front, Back ...
Nasal
Front Back
Near-Close ĩ ĩ õ~ũ õ
Mid ~ĩ
Open ʌ̃ ã
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Grammar

Pronouns

More information Person, Singular ...
Independent personal pronouns[2]
Person Singular Plural
1st nato wixo
2nd hixo dexo
3rd ere erenaha
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Numerals

The first eleven numbers in Enawene Nawe are as follows:[3]

More information Number ...
NumberEnawene Nawe
1xoxola
2initini
3koytala
4noxi
5monarese,

eswe

6lolokwate
7lolate
8hoxiro
9mamalakari
10ketera
11darayti
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Zorthêa (2006) notes that all numbers except initini (2) and monarese (5) can be preceded and followed by affixes.[3]

Affixes

Enawene Nawe makes use of a variety of suffixes and prefixes to derive different meanings from root words.

Gender suffixes

Zorthêa (2006) describes Enawene Nawe as having two suffixes to explicitly mark gender: -lo for the feminine gender and -re for the masculine.[3] De Almeida (2015), however, notes four suffixes: -nero and -lo mark the feminine gender, while -nere and -li mark the masculine.[4]

Examples from de Almeida (2015):[4]

  • Towalinero "a Towali woman"
  • Towalinere "a Towali man"
  • Iyakaloti "a female spirit"
  • Iyakaliti "a male spirit"

Place suffix

The suffix -kwa is used to mark places and is commonly found in village names. For example, the name of the Enawene Nawe village Matokodakwa is ultimately derived from matokoda, meaning "container for transporting liquids", and -kwa "place".[4]

References

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