Gamela (Gamella, Acobu, Barbados), a.k.a. Curinsi or Acobu, is an unclassified and extinct language of the municipality of Viana in the state of Maranhão of Northeastern Brazil. It was originally spoken along the Itapecuru River, Turiaçu River, and Pindaré River, with ethnic descendants reported to be living in Cabo and Vianna in Maranhão State.[2] The Gamela today speak Xavante and Portuguese. The last full-blooded Gamela died around the 1910s, and by 1930 only one old woman still remembered something of the language.[3] 19 words of the language are recorded in Nimuendajú (1937:68).[4]
Kaufman (1994) said that 'only Greenberg dares to classify this language', due to the lack of data on it.
Other varieties
Below are other extinct varieties, all of which have no data, that may have been related to Gamela.[2]
- Arañí - once spoken between the Parnaíba River and Itapecuru River
- Puti (Poti) - once spoken at the mouth of the Poti River
- Anapurú - once spoken on the right bank of the Parnaíba River
- Uruati - extinct language from the mouth of the Munim River, Maranhão
- Cururi - extinct language of the neighbors of the Uruati tribe
- Guanare - once spoken between the Itapecuru River and Parnaíba River
- Coroatá - once spoken on the Itapecuru River, Maranhão
- Guaxina - once spoken at the mouth of the Itapecuru River
- Curinsi - an extinct dialect of the Gamela once spoken near Vianna
- Tacarijú - once spoken on the Longá River in the state of Piauí
Vocabulary
Gamella words recorded by Nimuendajú (1937:68) from his informant Maria Cafuza in Viana, Maranhão:[3]
gloss Gamella fire tatá (< Tupi) penis purú vulva sebú Negro katú-brohó White? Indian? katú-koyaká brother-in-law múisi pot kokeáto gourd bowl kutubé club tamarána (< Tupi) knife kasapó jaguar yopopó monkey kokói (< Timbira) horse pohoné cattle azutí domestic fowl kureːká tree kyoipé tobacco anéno pepper birizu thick tomabéto
References
- ↑ "Gamela - Povos Indígenas no Brasil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2025-06-23.
- 1 2 Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- 1 2 Nimuendajú, Curt (1937). "The Gamella Indians". Primitive Man. 10 (3/4): 58–71. doi:10.2307/3316456. ISSN 0887-3925.
- ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Gamela of Viana". Glottolog 4.3.
Bibliography
- Kaufman, Terrence (1994). "The native languages of South America". In Mosley, C.; Asher, R. E. (eds.). Atlas of the world's languages. London: Routledge. pp. 46–76.