Kariri languages

Karirí
Karirian, Kipeá-Dzubukuá
Native toBrazil
Regionbetween Bahia and Maranhão
Ethnicity4,000 Kiriri people (2020)[1]
Extinctca. 1970
Revival1989 (Dzubukuá)[2]
One of the world's primary language families[3]
Early form
Proto-Kariri
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3kzw (Dzubukuá only)
Glottologkari1254  Kariri
Distribution of Kariri and Macro-Jê languages

The Karirí languages, generally considered dialects of a single language,[4][5][6] are a group of languages formerly spoken by the Kiriri people of Brazil. It was spoken until the middle of the 20th century; the 4,000 ethnic Kiriri are now monolingual Portuguese speakers, though a few know common phrases and names of medicinal plants. A revival of the Dzubukuá variety has been ongoing since 1989.[2]

History

After the Dutch were expelled from Northeast Brazil in the 17th century, Portuguese settlers rapidly colonized the region, forcing Kariri speakers to become widely dispersed due to forced migrations and resettlement. Hence, Kariri languages became scattered across Paraíba, Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia, and other states.[7]

Classification

Kariri has been included in the Macro-Jê family. However, the resemblances may be superficial,[8] and the most recent classification of Macro-Jê excludes Kariri.[3] Ribeiro established through morphological analysis that Kariri is likely to be related to the Jê languages. This is now disputed.[9]

Languages

The four known Kariri languages or dialects are:

There are a short grammatical description[10] and a catechism[11] in Kipeá, a catechism in Dzubukuá,[12] and word lists for Kamurú and Sabujá.[13] Modern grammatical descriptions are available for Kipeá[14] and Dzubukuá.[5]

Mason (1950) lists:[15]

The original language of the Tumbalalá, now extinct, is effectively unattested and unclassified, but words for Tumbalalá ritual objects used in their traditional toré religion appear to be of Kariri origin, namely pujá, kwaqui, and cataioba.[16]

Other languages called Kariri

See also: List of unclassified languages of South America § Northeast Brazil

The names Kariri and Kiriri were applied to many peoples over a wide area in the east of Brazil, in the lower and middle São Francisco River area and further north. Most of their now-extinct languages are too poorly known to classify, but what is recorded does not suggest that they were all members of the Kariri family. Examples are:

Language contact

Ramirez et al. (2015) notes that Kariri languages display some lexical similarities with Cariban languages. Similarities with Katembri (also known as Kariri of Mirandela) or possibly Kaimbé may be due to either a Kariri superstratum or substratum in Katembri.[7]

Syntax

Unlike most Macro-Jê languages which are SOV, Karirí languages are verb-initial (VSO) and make use of prepositions.[20]

Vocabulary

Loanwords

Eastern Macro-Jê loanwords in Kariri languages:[21]

gloss Kipeá Dzubukuá other languages
beans ghinhé guenhie giñá (Kotoxó)
hammock pité pitta pita (Coroado)
Black person gorá engorá (Krenák)
swamp, marsh pôhô pohok (Maxakalí)
cow, cattle cradzó cradzo krazo ‘tapir’ (Masakará)

Tupinambá loanwords in Kariri languages:[21]

gloss Kipeá Dzubukuá Tupinambá other Eastern Macro-Jê languages
needle awí abi Maxakalí ãmix
banana bacobá pacova Coroado bacóba
White person caraí carai caraíba Iatê klai, Krenák krai
box cramemú caramẽmuã
domestic pig curé curê Krenák kurek
pumpkin erumú jurumũ, jeremũ Purí šurumúm ‘potato’
bread miapé miapé
beads myghý muihi mboýra
oil nhendí nianddi nhandy
bench pycá apycába
chicken, hen sabucá dapuca (güyra)ssapucáia
Black person tapanhú tapwinhiu tapyyiúna Coroado tabañiú, Makoni tapagnon, Malalí tapagnon
Black person tapyýia Iatê tupia
hoe tasí itassýra Maxakalí taxunna
money tayú tayu itajúba Maxakalí tayũmak
God tupã tupam tupã Maxakalí topa, Krenák kupan, Coroado tupan
priest waré padzuare abaré Maxakalí ãmãnex, Macuni amattèih, Coroado uáre, Masakará ampari
mirror waruá guaruguá
sugarcane mill wirapararã ybyrapararánga

Portuguese loanwords in Kariri languages borrowed via Tupinambá and other intermediate sources:[21]

gloss Kipeá Dzubukuá Possible intermediate sources Portuguese other Macro-Jê languages
goat cabará cabara cabará (Tupinambá) cabra
horse cabarú cavarú (Tupinambá) cavalo Coroado kawarú, Cotoxó cavaró
cross crusá crudzá curussá (Tupinambá) cruz Iatê klusa
devil nhewó niẽwo niñavoo (Kapoxó) diabo
paper papera papel Iatê wapela, Coroado tapera

References

  1. ^ Moraes, Vanessa Coelho (2020-12-18). O que devemos aprender com a ciência do índio e o fortalecimento linguístico Kiriri: análise da articulação entre cosmopolítica, ritual, educação e epistemologia (Thesis).
  2. ^ a b Kariri-Xocó, Idiane; Kariri-Xocó, Nhenety; Nelson, Diane; Pitman, Thea (2020-12-29). "A retomada da língua Kariri-Xocó". Cadernos de Linguística. 1 (3): 01–13. doi:10.25189/2675-4916.2020.v1.n3.id254.
  3. ^ a b Nikulin, Andrey (2020). Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (PDF) (Ph.D. dissertation). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
  4. ^ "Glottolog 5.2 - Kariri". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2025-09-26.
  5. ^ a b Queiroz, José Márcio Correia de (2012). Um estudo gramatical da língua Dzubukuá, família Karirí [A grammatical study of the Dzubukuá language, Karirí family] (in Portuguese). João Pessoa: Universidade Federal da Paraíba. Archived from the original on 13 November 2024.
  6. ^ Adam, Lucien (1897). Matériaux pour servir à l'établissement d'une grammaire comparée des dialectes de la famille Kariri [Materials to serve for the establishment of a comparative grammar of the dialects of the Kariri family] (in French). Paris: Maisonneuve. Archived from the original on 21 May 2025.
  7. ^ a b Ramirez, Henri; Vegini, Valdir; França, Maria Cristina Victorino de (2015-09-26). "Koropó, puri, kamakã e outras línguas do Leste Brasileiro". LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas (in Portuguese). 15 (2): 223–277. doi:10.20396/liames.v15i2.8642302. ISSN 2177-7160.
  8. ^ Glottolog: Nuclear-Macro-Je
  9. ^ Campbell, Lyle (2024-06-25), "Indigenous Languages of South America", The Indigenous Languages of the Americas (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 182–279, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1, retrieved 2025-04-10{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  10. ^ Mamiani, Luis Vincencio (1699). Arte de grammatica da lingua brasilica da naçam Kiriri. Lisboa: Miguel Deslandes.
  11. ^ Mamiani, Luis Vincencio (1698). Catecismo da doutrina christãa na lingua brasilica da naçam Kiriri (PDF). Lisboa: Miguel Deslandes.
  12. ^ de Nantes, Bernardo (1709). Katecismo Indico da lingua Kariris (PDF). Lisboa: Valentim da Costa.
  13. ^ Martius, Karl Friedrich Philipp von (1863). Glossaria linguarum brasiliensium. Glossarios de diversas lingoas e dialectos, que fallao os Indios no imperio do Brazil. Wörtersammlung brasilianischer sprachen. New York Public Library. Erlangen, Druck von Junge & Sohn. pp. 216–219.
  14. ^ Azevedo, Gilda Maria Corrêa de (1965). Língua Kiriri: descrição do dialeto Kipeá [Kiriri language: description of the Kipeá dialect] (Thesis) (in Portuguese). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília. Archived from the original on 16 July 2025.
  15. ^ Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South America". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
  16. ^ Andrade, Ugo Maia (2018-03-26). "Tumbalalá - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2026-06-06.
  17. ^ Campbell, Lyle (2024-06-25), "Unclassified and Spurious Languages", The Indigenous Languages of the Americas (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 280–338, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0005, ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1, retrieved 2025-10-29{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  18. ^ Zamponi, Raoul (2026). Volume 3 Smaller Language Families. De Gruyter Mouton. ISBN 978-3-11-072372-4. PDF
  19. ^ Meader, Robert E. (1978). Indios do Nordeste: Levantamento sobre os remanescentes tribais do nordeste brasileiro (in Portuguese). Brasilia: SIL International. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
  20. ^ Ribeiro, Eduardo Rivail. On the inclusion of the Karirí family in the Macro-Jê stock: additional evidence. Paper presented at SSILA 2011 (Pittsburgh), January 7, 2011.
  21. ^ a b c Ribeiro, Eduardo Rivail (2010). "Tapuya connections: language contact in eastern Brazil". LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas. 9 (1): 61–76. doi:10.20396/liames.v9i1.1463. ISSN 2177-7160.

Further reading

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