The
Goyaz Jê languages (also Northern Jê–Panará
) are a branch of the
Jê languages
The Jê languages (also spelled Gê, Jean, Ye, Gean), or Jê–Kaingang languages, are spoken by the Jê, a group of indigenous peoples in Brazil.
Genetic relations
The Jê family forms the core of the Macro-Jê family. Kaufman (1990) finds t ...
constituted by the
Northern Jê languages and
Panará (and its predecessor
Southern Kayapó).
Together with the
Akuwẽ (Central Jê) languages, they form the
Cerrado
The ''Cerrado'' (, ) is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, Minas Gerais, and the Federal District. The core areas of the Cerrado biome are t ...
branch of the Jê family.
Phonology
Onsets
The consonantal inventory of Proto-Goyaz Jê is almost identical to that of
Proto-Northern Jê, differing from it in that it had no contrast between ''*ĵ'' and ''*j'' and lacked the phoneme */w/. Proto-Goyaz Jê did have the sounds ''*ĵ'' and ''*j'', but they occurred in a
complementary distribution
In linguistics, complementary distribution, as distinct from contrastive distribution and free variation, is the relationship between two different elements of the same kind in which one element is found in one set of environments and the other ele ...
at that stage (in stressed and unstressed syllables, respectively). In Proto-Northern Jê, words with */w/ and */j/ (in stressed syllables) have been introduced from unknown sources (possibly via borrowings), as in ''*wet'' ‘lizard’, ''*wewe'' ‘butterfly’, or ''*jət'' ‘sweet potato’.
In Proto-Goyaz Jê, underlying nasals acquired an oral phrase preceding an oral nucleus (this is preserved in all contemporary languages with the exception of
Mẽbêngôkre, which no longer has the postoralized allophones of the underlying nasal stops).
The following table shows the usual reflexes of the Proto-Goyaz Jê onsets in Proto-Northern Jê and in Panará.
Innovations
There are phonological and lexical innovations which identify Goyaz Jê as a valid group.
Fortition of */w j/
In the Goyaz Jê languages,
Proto-Cerrado ''*w'' is mostly reflected as a stop (
Panará/
Timbira
Timbira refers to a number of related ethnolinguistic groups of Timbira-speaking Gê peoples native to Northern and Northeastern Brazil. Among those peoples grouped under the name are the Apanyekrá, Apinajé, Kanela, Gavião (Jê), Krahô ...
/
Apinajé/
Kĩsêdjê ''p'',
Mẽbêngôkre ''b''; only
Tapayúna has ''w''). This has been attributed to the sound change
Proto-Cerrado ''*w'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*b''.
Examples:
* Proto-Cerrado ''*wĩ'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*bĩ'' ‘to kill ''(singular)''’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*waj’'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*ba'' ‘I ''(nominative)''’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*wê'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*bê'' ‘''ablative'' and ''malefactive''’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*jawê'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*jabê'' ‘trustworthy’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*wêkê'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*bêkê'' ‘partridge’.
The fortition of
Proto-Cerrado ''*j'' in stressed syllables has also been proposed as a defining innovation of Proto-Goyaz Jê.
Nasalization of */a u y/
The oral vowels */a u y/ of
Proto-Cerrado were nasalized preceding the nasal coda ''*-m’'' in Proto-Goyaz Jê:
* Proto-Cerrado ''*kumtym’'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*kũmtỹm'' ‘capybara’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*tum’'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*tũm'' ‘old’, etc.
Lowering of */y/ after velars
The vowel ''*y'' of
Proto-Cerrado was lowered to ''*ə'' after velar onsets.
* Proto-Cerrado ''*kyj’'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*kə'' ‘skin, bark, cover’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*ky'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*kə'' ‘to sing ''(of birds)'', to whistle’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*ky'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*kə'' ‘to cut ''(plural)''’;
* Proto-Cerrado ''*ŋgy'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*ŋgə'' ‘men's house’.
Other changes
Other changes include:
* loss of the Proto-Cerrado codas ''*-m'', ''*-n'', ''*-j’'';
* Proto-Cerrado ''*-pr(’)'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*-r(’)'';
* Proto-Cerrado ''*-d'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*-r'';
* Proto-Cerrado ''*ja'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*jê ~ *î'';
* Proto-Cerrado ''*wa'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*wa ~ *û'' (but ''*wə̂'' in closed syllables);
* Proto-Cerrado ''*pᵊ-'' > Proto-Goyaz Jê ''*py-''/''*pu-'' (as per labial harmony).
References
{{Macro-Jê languages
Jê languages
Languages of Brazil