The Karirí languages, generally considered dialects of a single language, were 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.

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.

Languages

The four known Kariri languages are: There are short grammatical descriptions of Kipeá and Dzubukuá, and word lists for Kamurú and Sabujá. Ribeiro established through morphological analysis that Kariri is likely to be related to the Jê languages. Mason (1950) lists:

Varieties

Below is a full list of Kiriri languages and dialects listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties. Tumbalalá, now extinct, is an unattested and unclassified language, but words for Tumbalalá ritual objects used in their traditional toré religion appear to be of Kariri origin, namely pujá, kwaqui, and cataioba.

Other languages called Kariri

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: Other nearby language isolates and language families: The Maxakalían, Krenák (Botocudo, Aimoré), and Purían families, which are probable Macro-Jê languages, are spoken further to the south in Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais states.

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 Kaimbé) may be due to either a Kariri superstratum or substratum in Katembri.

Syntax

Unlike most Macro-Jê languages which are SOV, Karirí languages are verb-initial and make use of prepositions.

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Kariri languages. ! gloss !! Quipea !! Dzubucua !! Sapuya !! Kamurú ! ear ! tooth ! tongue ! hand ! water ! stone ! sun ! moon ! star ! tree ! tobacco ! pot Kiriri word list recorded by Wilbur Pickering in 1961 from João Manoel Domingo of Mirandela, Banzaê, Bahia: ! Portuguese gloss (original) !! English gloss (translated) !! Kiriri

Loanwords

Eastern Macro-Jê loanwords in Kariri languages: ! gloss !! Kipeá !! Dzubukuá !! other languages Tupinambá loanwords in Kariri languages: ! gloss !! Kipeá !! Dzubukuá !! Tupinambá !! other Eastern Macro-Jê languages Portuguese loanwords in Kariri languages borrowed via Tupinambá and other intermediate sources: ! gloss !! Kipeá !! Dzubukuá !! Possible intermediate sources !! Portuguese !! other Macro-Jê languages