The
Tapajós (also called Suyá and Trans-Xingu
) languages are a close-knit
group of the
Northern Jê languages
The Northern Jê or Core Jê languages ( Portuguese: ''Jê Setentrionais'') are a branch of the Jê languages constituted by the Timbira dialect continuum (which includes Canela, Krahô, Pykobjê, Krikati, Parkatêjê, and Kỳikatêjê) a ...
, which comprises
Kĩsêdjê and
Tapayúna (Kajkwakhrattxi). It is closely related to
Mẽbêngôkre; together, they make up the
Trans-Araguaia branch of
Northern Jê
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a r ...
. Although both Tapajós languages are now spoken in the
Xingu River basin rather than on the
Tapajós, this is known to be a consequence of two independent eastbound demic movements. The
Kĩsêdjê arrived in their current location around the
Suiá-miçu River in the second half of the 19th century from the west; their migration route included the headwaters of the
Manitsauá-miçu River, the
Arraias River, and the
Ronuro River
The Ronuro River is a river of Mato Grosso state in western Brazil, a tributary of the Xingu River.
The river drains the Rio Ronuro Ecological Station, a strictly protected conservation unit created in 1998. It also flows through the Xingu Indig ...
(all of them are left tributaries of the
Xingu). In contrast, the Tapayúna stayed in the Tapajós basin (in the
Arinos
Arinos is a municipality in northern Minas Gerais state in Brazil. Arinos is located east of the Federal District on the Urucuia River, a major tributary of the São Francisco. The city is 333 km from Brasília.
The municipality belongs t ...
region) until late 1960s, where they were decimated by the local rubber tappers and ranchers; the 41 survivors were transferred to the
Xingu Indigenous Park
The Xingu Indigenous Park (, pronounced ) is an indigenous territory of Brazil, first created in 1961 as a national park in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Its official purposes are to protect the environment and the several tribes of Xingu in ...
in 1969.
Phonology
Onsets
The Tapajós languages do not employ the
feature oicefor establishing contrasts between phonemes, as its ancestor
Proto-Northern Jê did. At some point in the history of the Tapajós languages, Proto-Northern Jê voiceless stops became
aspirated (with a subsequent change ''*pʰ'' > ''*h(ʷ)''), and Proto-Northern Jê voiced stops were devoiced.
In addition, the
palatal stops were
dentalized, whereas the original
dentialveolar consonants acquired considerable retraction.
The following table summarizes the defining innovations of the Tapajós group.
The following onsets can be reconstructed for Proto-Tapajós (the allophones which occur before nasal and oral nuclei respectively are separated by slashes).
References
Jê languages
Languages of Brazil
{{Macro-Jê-lang-stub