Tarairiú language

Tarairiú ( Caratiú) is an extinct and very poorly known language of eastern Brazil. The Tarairiu nation was divided into several tribes: the Janduí, Kanindé, Paiaku (Pajacú, Bajacú), Jenipapo, Jenipabuçu, Javó, Kamaçu, Tukuriju, Ariu, and "Xukuru" / Xacó.

It was once spoken between the Assú River and Apodi River in Rio Grande do Norte.

Extinct varieties

Below is a list of extinct Tarairiú language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.

*Xoró - once spoken on the Apodi River, state of Rio Grande do Norte.
*Janduí - once spoken between the Apodi River and Açú River, Rio Grande do Norte.
*Payacu - once spoken in Rio Grande do Norte in the Serra do Coité, Serra de São Bento and Serra Calabouço between the Jaguaribe River and Apodi River.
*Panatí - once spoken in the state of Paraíba in the Serra Panatí and near Villaflor.
*Miñari - once spoken in the valley of the Apodi River, Rio Grande do Norte.
*Panahi - language of the neighbors of the Miñari tribe, Rio Grande do Norte.
*Canindé - once spoken at the sources of the Choró River, state of Ceará.
*Genipapo - Portuguese name of an extinct language on the Choró River.
*Camamu - once spoken on the Acaraú River, Ceará.
*Itañá / Baturité - once spoken in the Serra de Baturité, Ceará.
*Candodú - language of a neighboring tribe of the Jucá, Quixetó and Caratiú.
*Caratiú - once spoken at the sources of the Poti River and in the valley of the Triá River, Ceará.
*Camasú - once spoken in Ceará state at the sources of the Acaratí-guasú River
*Acriú - once spoken on the left bank of the Acaraná River, Ceará.
*Anasé - spoken in Ceará, on the right bank of the Acaraú River.

Classification

The language is attested only through a few word lists. A few words resemble those of neighboring Kariri (and other Macro-Je) and Xukuru languages, but not enough to support a genealogical connection. Kaufman (1994) reports that "not even Greenberg dares classify this language".

Vocabulary

Some of the recorded words:

Resemblances with Macro-Jê languages are in ''kebra'' 'stone' (Proto-Je *kɛn), ''kreká'' 'head' (*krã), ''koreké'' 'hand' (*-ĩkra), and ''poyá'' 'foot' (*par). Resemblances with Xukuru are ''kiro-'' 'fire' (Xukuru ''kiyo''), ''kringó'' 'eat' (''kringgo'' 'feed'), ''sok'' 'house' (''šekh'').

Loukotka (1968) gives three words in Tarairiú:

*''agh'' 'sun'
*''kén'' 'stone'
*''ake'' 'tobacco'

For a more extensive vocabulary list of Tarairiú by de Souza (2009),de Souza Santos, Juvandi. 2009.
Cariri e Tarairiú?: culturas tapuais nos sertões da Paraíba
'. Doutorado em História. Porto Alegre: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul. see the corresponding Portuguese article.

Lexical comparison

An alternative list of Tarairiú words compared with " Jê" dialects and Cariri, compiled by the Paraíba historian José Elias Barbosa Borges, is given in Medeiros (1999):Medeiros Filho, Olavo de. 1999
Os Tarairiús, extintos tapuias do Nordeste
In: Almeida, Luiz Sávio de; Galindo, Marcos; Silva, Edson. ''Índios do Nordeste: temas e problemas'', p. 241-57. Maceió: EDUFAL.
PDF

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References

* Juvandi de Souza Santos (2009):
Cariri e tarairiú? Culturas tapuias nos sertoẽs da Paraíba
' (Tesis doctoral), Porto Alegre, Pontificia Universidade Católica Do Rio Grande do Sul.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarairiu language
Extinct languages of South America
Unclassified languages of South America
Indigenous languages of Northeastern Brazil