Gamela (Gamella, Acobu, Barbados) Curinsi or Acobu, is an unclassified and presumably extinct language of the Maranhão region of

Northeastern Brazil The Northeast Region of Brazil ( pt, Região Nordeste do Brasil; ) is one of the five official and political regions of Brazil, regions of the country according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Of Brazil's twenty-six state ...

. It was originally spoken along the

Itapecuru River The Itapecuru River ( pt, Rio Itapecuru) is a river in the Maranhão state of northern Brazil. Course The Itapecuru originates in the southern part of the state, in the Serra do Itapecuru, which rises to , and flows northward to empty into Ba ...

Turiaçu River The Turiaçu River is a river of Maranhão state in northeastern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Maranhão List of rivers in Maranhão (Brazilian State). The list is arranged by drainage basin from east to west, with respective tributaries ...

, and

Pindaré River The Pindaré River is a river in Maranhão state of north-central Brazil. The Pindaré rises in the low hills which separate its basin from that of the Tocantins River to the south. In its lower reaches it is called the Pindaré-Mirim. It is a lef ...

, with ethnic descendants reported to be living in Cabo and Vianna in Maranhão State. Kaufman (1994) said that 'only

Greenberg Greenberg is a surname common in North America, with anglicized spelling of the German Grünberg (''green mountain'') or the Jewish Ashkenazi Yiddish Grinberg, an artificial surname.Beider, Alexander (1993). ''A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from ...

dares to classify this language', due to the lack of data on it. This is presumably the Gamela language of Viana for which 19 words are recorded in Nimuendajú (1937:68).

Other varieties

Below are other extinct varieties, many of which have no data, that may have been related to Gamela. *Arañí - once spoken between the Parnaíba River and

*Puti (Poti) - once spoken at the mouth of the

Poti River Poti River is a river in Brazil, a tributary of the Parnaíba River. The city of Teresina Teresina is the capital and most populous municipality in the Brazilian state of Piauí. Being located in north-central Piauí 366 km from the co ...

(unattested) *Anapurú - once spoken on the right bank of the Parnaíba River (unattested) *Uruati - extinct language from the mouth of the Munim River, Maranhão *Cururi - extinct language of the neighbors of the Uruati tribe *Guanare - once spoken between the

and Parnaíba River (unattested) *Coroatá - once spoken on the

, Maranhão (unattested) *Guaxina - once spoken at the mouth of the

(unattested) *Curinsi - an extinct dialect of the Gamela once spoken near Vianna *Tacarijú - once spoken on the

Longá River The Longá River is a river of Piauí state in northeastern Brazil. See also *List of rivers of Piauí This list of rivers in the Brazilian State of Piauí is arranged by drainage basin, with respective tributaries indented under each larger str ...

in the state of

Piauí Piaui (, ) is one of the states of Brazil, located in the country's Northeast Region. The state has 1.6% of the Brazilian population and produces 0.7% of the Brazilian GDP. Piaui has the shortest coastline of any coastal Brazilian state at 66&n ...

(unattested)

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) gives three words in Gamela: *''kokeáto'' 'pot' *''kyoipé'' 'tree' *''anéno'' 'tobacco' ''Gamella of Viana'' words recorded by Nimuendajú (1937:68) from his informant Maria Cafuza in

Viana, Maranhão Viana is a municipality in the state of Maranhão in the Northeast region of Brazil. Languages The Gamela language was spoken in the municipality of Viana. Geography The municipality contains a small part of the Baixada Maranhense Environmental ...

:Nimuendajú, Curt. 1937
The Gamella Indians
''Primitive Man'' 10. 58-71. :

References

Bibliography

* {{South American languages Indigenous languages of Northeastern Brazil Maranhão Extinct languages of South America Unclassified languages of South America