Nomatsiguenga (Matsigenka) is an

Arawakan language Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branch ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

. It is close enough to

Machiguenga The Machiguenga (also Matsigenka, Matsigenga) are an indigenous people who live in the high jungle, or''montaña'', area on the eastern slopes of the Andes and in the Amazon Basin jungle regions of southeastern Peru. Their population in 2020 amou ...

to sometimes be considered dialects of a single language, especially given that both are spoken by the

Machiguenga people The Machiguenga (also Matsigenka, Matsigenga) are an indigenous people who live in the high jungle, or''montaña'', area on the eastern slopes of the Andes and in the Amazon Basin jungle regions of southeastern Peru. Their population in 2020 amo ...

. Most speakers are monolingual.

Phonology

According to Lawrence, Nomatsiguenga has the following consonant and vowel phonemes.

Grammar

Nomatsiguenga is one of the few languages in the world that has two different

causative In linguistics, a causative (abbreviated ) is a valency-increasing operationPayne, Thomas E. (1997). Describing morphosyntax: A guide for field linguists'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 173–186. that indicates that a subject either ...

mechanisms to denote whether the causer was involved in the activity with the causee or not. The prefix ''ogi-'' is used to express the idea that the causer was ''not'' involved in the activity, while the suffix ''-hag'' is used when the causer ''is'' involved.Wise, M.R. (1986). "Grammatical characteristics of PreAndine Arawaken languages of Peru." pg. 567–642. In Derbyshire, D. C. & Pullum, G. K., eds. (1986). ''Handbook of Amazonian languages, Vol. 1. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Cited in Dixon, R.M.W. (2000). "A Typology of Causatives: Form, Syntax, and Meaning". In Dixon, R.M.W. & Aikhenvald, Alexendra Y. Changing Valency: Case Studies in Transitivity. Cambridge University Press.

References

Languages of Peru Campa languages {{Arawakan-lang-stub