A DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA

MENNOKROEKER
SUMMERINSTITUTEOF LINGUISTICS

1. Introduction. The Nambikuara nation is located in West Central

Brazil, with villages scattered along the eastern tributariesof the Guapore
River and the western tributariesof the JuruenaRiver. Alternate spellings
for the tribal name are Nhambiquara,Nambiquara,and Nambikwara.
The people live on Federal Reservations which cover an estimated area
of 50,000 square kilometers in the state of Mato Grosso, accessible from
the Pan-American highway (BR 174/364) between the cities of Pontes e
Lacerda and Vilhena (state of Rondonia).
Documents give 1770 as the first expedition to discover the Nambikuara,
although actual contact occurred in 1907 with the exploration and con-
struction of the telegraph line through their region by the Brazilian Army
Official, Marechal Candido Rondon. According to Marechal Rondon's esti-
mates at that time, there was a population of 10,000. Diseases brought into
their region devastated the population in the 1930s and 1940s. Recorded
accounts of a measles epidemic tell of entire villages where there were not
enough survivors to bury the dead (Bernice text given to M. Kroeker, 1963).
Remnants of various bands grouped together, and the estimated population
was 500 in the 1960s. Recent census information gives a population figure
of around900.
The nation is composed of a number of bands, each being known by its
own name. However, all speak a dialectic variant of the same language,
which is mutually intelligible with all the other variants. Many bands have
already become extinct. Those still in existence include the Guapore River
Valley bands: ha3hdilte2su2,a31anlte2su2,wai2ki3su2,wa3su3su2,and ka3-
ti3tau31hu2.Along the tributariesof the JuruenaRiver on the Parecis Plateau
are the following bands: ne3su2, si3wxai3su2,ki3thdu31hu2, sax3wen3te2su2,
ha31o2te2su2, and wa3ka3li3te2su2.
Genetically, the language is unclassified. However, it has been very
loosely classified by McQuown and Greenberg in the Ge-Pano-Caribphy-
lum (Tax 1960). It is a polysynthetic language. Much of the information is
conveyed by suffixes to the verb stem and, to a lesser degree, by suffixes to
the noun stem.
Portuguese,the national language of Brazil, is spoken to a certain degree
by some of the young men in most villages. Most villages are still basically
[IJAL, vol. 67, no. 1, January2001, pp. 1-87]
? 2001 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.
0020-7071/2001/6701 -0001$02.00

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 2 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

monolingual. However, with the advance of civilization the rate of accultur-

ation has increased considerably. The people are slow to embrace changes
until those changes have been perceived to be beneficial to the culture. They
do not normally oppose nonindigenous elements as long as they do not
encroach upon their traditionalgeographic territory.
I began fieldwork in 1961 and have lived many years in Nambikuara
villages, speaking the language on a daily basis. Over 1,500 pages of re-
corded and transcribedtexts form the basis for this paper. Individuals from
the various bands who have contributed significantly to this study include
Donaldo Kithaulhu,Jaime Halotesu, Coronel Aristides Saxwentesu, Milton
Wakalitesu, Yahu Wasusu, and Americo Katitaulhu.
The practical orthographyis used in the examples below, except in the
section on phonology. Most symbols have their expected values, except that
j is a voiceless alveopalatal affricate and x represents the glottal stop. The
sequences Ih and nh are voiceless. Elsewhere h is a fricative. The symbols
1 and n have their normal values, with some modifications for the environ-
ment of n as given in the section on phonology. In Portuguese,the conven-
tion nh is a palatal n, but this is not true in Nambikuara.The tone marks are:
I 3
falling, 2 rising, and low level. A vowel with a tilde is nasalized and an
underlined vowel is laryngealized. Vowel diphthongs perform as single
vowels. (A list of abbreviationsused in this paper appearsin Appendix A.)

Syntax of the sentence or clause.

2. Word order. There are four syntactically distinct clause types: intran-
sitive, transitive, stative, and equative. The first two are verbal and the last
two are nonverbal.The verbal clause types are distinguished by the types of
verb stems and by the relationship of the verb to an object or lack thereof.
The nonverbal clause types are distinguished by the constituents that
make up the nonverbal fillers, by the relationship to nouns or pronouns in
the clause, and by the obligatory or optional occurrence of these nouns.
There are also restrictions as to the occurrence of person and tense/evi-
dential suffixes. These suffixes are described in more detail in section
19-Verbs.
2.1. Intransitive clause. The intransitive clause is distinguished from
all others by the obligatory absence of an object of the verb. The verb has
only one argument,the subject. The basic order is subject verb. Temporal,
locative, and manner words are optional.
(1) Wai3a31xa2 ih3-sa3tl-0-na2h3-la2.
dog fled-disappeared-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'The dog ran away'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 3

The formula, including optional constituents, is the following:

+/- temporal +/- locative + subject +/- manner + verb

(2) Hilna2su2 ha3lo2a2 u2lxi3 d3nxai3-na1-tu1-wa2.

today in the fields far away go-1sG-F-IMPF
'Today, I'm going to the distant fields'.
The order is obligatory on the clause level, but it can change on the dis-
course level (see 10.1).
It is seldom that all the optional constituents occur in the same clause.
The subject, which is not a separate word in this clause, is specified by
person markersin the verb suffix.
There is a small group of bivalent verbs which can be either active or
stative depending on the person and tense/evidential suffixes. Verb suffixes
will be described in detail in 19. In (3), the ISG refers to the subject and in
(4) 1SG refers to the object (patient).

(3) Au3xi2-te3l-al-wa2.
sleep-AUX.IMM-1SG-IMPF
'I'm going to sleep'.

(4) Au3xi2-sa3-nha2-wa2.
sleep-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I'm sleepy'.
2.2. Transitive clause. The transitive clause is distinguished from all
others by the obligatory presence of an object. The action is directed
toward the object as goal of the action. The basic order is subject object
verb. Locative, temporal, and manner words are optional. Once the sub-
ject and the object have been introduced,they are often referredto only by
person markersin the verb suffixes. The object word and the subject word
will reoccur only if there is a change in relationship or a change of parti-
cipants. Object persons will be marked with o. Subject persons will not be
marked.
The formula, including optional constituents, is the following:
+/- temporal +/- locative + subject +/- benefactive object + object
+/- manner + verb

(5) Sun2ta3tai3td2jahlla2 sa3nai3a2 su2-0-nu2he3-la2.

yesterday he armadillo kill-3SG-T/E.ID.P-PF

'Yesterday he killed an armadillo'.

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 4 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(6) Sxi2ha2 wa3sutltxi3 txo3-nal-tul-wa2.

house quickly build- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will quickly build a house'.
Certain verbs require a benefactive object in addition to the direct ob-
ject, such as the verb 'to give'. In other verbs, a benefactive suffix occurs in
the verb.
(7) Jo3du2-ah3la2 kax3yuh3xa2 u3hul-nxa2-0-tul-wa2.
John-man meat give-o.2SG-3SG-F-IMPF
'John will give you some meat'.
When the benefactive suffix occurs, there is also a referentpronounin the
person and tense/evidential suffixes of the verb. These suffixes are described
in 19. Nouns occurring as benefactive objects are restricted to persons, or
objects and animals impersonatingpeople.
Although there are three obligatory nominal constituents, they never all
occur in the same clause. Native speakers will break up such a clause into
two clauses, cycling the new informationto cut down the information load
in each clause.
(8) Kait1-jah3lo2na2su2 ko3be2ta3-ka31o3a2sol-ki2-0-na2he3-la2.
Manu-man blanket-CL.cloth took-BN-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
Jo3du2-ah3l-ai2na2a2-ko3be2ta3-ka31o3a2
John-man-DEM Pos3-blanket-cL.cloth
sol-ki2-0-na2h31-a2.
took-BN-3 SG-T/E.IO/P-PF

'Manu traded for John's blanket'.

2.3. Stative clause. The stative clause expresses a state in which the
experiencer of that state is the grammatical object of the clause and the
thing experienced functions grammaticallymore like a subject. The object
suffix is followed by the internal suffix. It indicates something within the
experiencer, such as a feeling, a sense of fear, joy, understanding,or desire
not experienced by others aroundhim. The imperfective aspect is the final
suffix of the verb in the present tense and perfective aspect in the past
tenses. The experiencer is mutually exclusive with the experience in free
word occurrence.
+/- EXP +/- EXPR + verb
The internal suffix occurs only with first person in individual verification,
observation orientation(see 19.1.12.2). In all other occurrences,the T/E will
have the usual forms. Note the difference in the suffixes between first and

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 5

third person. Because forms are identical in all but first person, only first
person will be marked as internal.
(9) Heh3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
hunger-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPRF
'I'm hungry'.

Heh3-0-na3la3.
hunger-3SG-T/E.IO.PRES-PF
'He's hungry'.
(10) Heh3-sa3-he2-la2.
hunger-o. 1SG-INTERN.REP-PF
'I was hungry (today)'.

Heh3--na2-a2.
hunger-3sG-T/E.REP-PF
'He was hungry (today)'.
(11) Heh3-sa2-hel-la2.
hunger-o. 1SG-INTERN.P-PF
'I was hungry (yesterday)'.

Heh3-0-na2he3-la2.
hunger-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He was hungry (yesterday)'.
In (12), the experiencer is expressed by the first-personobject suffix; the
experience is expressed by the verb 'desire', and the logical object of the
desire, 'gun', has a subject-like grammatical relation in that it is a noun
phrase in clause-initial position (as thirdperson it also has a zero realization
in the verb suffix system).
(12) Hu3kxa2 yxo2kwain3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
gun desire-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I want a gun'.
(13) Yu31a2 ten3--na3-la2
knife want-3sG-T/E.Io.PRES-PF
'He wants a knife'.
When the object needs to be expressed and the experience is already
present, the experiencer is expressed in a preceding clause and only implied
in the stative clause. We could change (12) to give more information.

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 6 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(14) Jo3au2-ah31a2 kax3yuh3xa2 ya3ni3lxi2-0-na3-la2.

John-man meat desire-3sG-T/E.Io.PRES-PF
'John is hungry for meat'.

Hu3kxa3 yxo2kwain3-0-na3-la2.
gun desire-3sG-T/E.Io.PRES-PF
'He wants a gun'.
An active verb can be made stative in two ways:
1. When desire is expressed the verb is nominalized, followed by a desi-
derative stative verb. This in turn is followed by the stative person and
internal suffixes.

verb stem + ti3(nominalizer) + stative verb + stative person and INTERN

suffixes
(15) Wa3kon3-ti3-ten3-sa3-nha2-wa2
work-NMZ-want-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I want to work'.

2. A verbal clause can be made stative by the addition of a status-changer

manner word. The active person and tense-experiential suffixes are re-
placed by stative person and internal suffixes. An example of an active
verbal clause is given in (16), a stative clause in (17).

(16) Wa3ko3n-al-tul-wa2.
work- SG-F-IMPF
'I will work'.
(17) U3-txi3 wa3kon3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
lazy-ADvz work-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I don't want to work' or 'I don't feel like working'.
Most stative clauses have stative verb stems that do not need status
changers.
(18) Heh3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
hunger-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I'm hungry' or 'I feel hungry'.
(19) Yuh31xi3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
fear-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I'm afraid'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 7

(20) Hxi2thah3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
tired-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I'm tired'.
2.4. Equative clause. The equative clause has one obligatory constitu-
ent, the predicate complement. It is either a nominal or an adjectival. There
may also be a subject that parallels subject in other clause types.
On a nonstructurallevel there are a number of differences between one
where the predicate complement is a nominal and one where the predicate
complement is an adjectival.
2.4.1. Nominal equative clause. The nominal equative clause has two
constituents, subject and predicate complement. Predicate complement
must occur but subject is often implied from context or by gesture, such as
pointing to an object. Subject is a noun or pronoun. Predicate complement
is a noun.
(21) Te2na2 txa2-hu3kx-ai2la-wa2.
that POS1-gun-EQUAT-IMPF
'That is my gun'.
(22) Wai3a3lx-ai21al-wa2.
dog-EQUAT-IMPF
'It's a dog'.
(23) Jahlla2 txa2-wi3n-ai2lal-wa2.
He POS1-father-EQUAT-IMPF
'He is my father'.
The predicate complement in (21), (22), and (23) can use the indefinite
noun suffix -su2 instead of the definite noun suffix -a2. In that case, the verb
suffix -na31a2is used instead of -ai21alwa2.Meaning remains the same. (See
16.1.7 for noun article suffixes.)
(24) Te2na2 txa2-hu3ki3-su2-na3-a2.
that POS 1 -gun-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'That is my gun'.
(25) Wai3a31xi3-su2-na3-1a2.
dOg-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'It's a dog'.
(26) Jahlla2 txa2-wl3nu2-su2-na3-la2.
He POS1-father-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'He is my father'.

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 8 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Subject can be a proper noun when the predicate complement is a kin-

ship term.
(27) Jo3du2-ah31a2 txa2-suk3kx-ai2lal-wa2.
John-man POS1-brother-in-law-EQUAT-IMPF
'John is my brother-in-law'.
2.4.2. Adjectival equative clause. The adjectival equative clause has
two obligatory constituents: subject, which is a noun, and predicate com-
plement, which is an adjective (see 20). Temporal and locative words can
occur but are rare.
The expansion possibilities are differentfrom the nominal equative clause.
(28) Un3-na-la2.
wild-EQUAT-PF
'It's wild'.
(29) He3-hen3-na3-la2
red-RDUP-EQUAT-PF
'It's red'.
The following distinctions occur between nominal equative and adjecti-
val equative clauses.
2.4.2.1. Optional words. Temporal and locative words can occur in an
adjectival equative clause but not in a nominal equative clause.
2.4.2.2. Interrogative suffix. Interrogativesuffixis differentfor each type.
(30) Txa2-wai3a3lxi3-su2-te2lalxa3 ?
POS 1-dog-INDEF-Q
'Is it my dog?' (nominal equative clause)
(31) Un3jil-wa2?
wild-Q-IMPF
'Is it wild?' (adjectival equative clause)
2.4.2.3. Internal expansion. Internalexpansion is differentfor each type.
The nominal equative clause may have a certainty emphasizer (CE) suffix.
(32) Txa2-wai3a3lxi3-khai3x-ai21al-wa2.
POS 1-dog-CE-EQUAT-IMPF
'It's really my dog' or 'It's my very own dog'.
(33) Wai3a3lxi3-su2-khai3x-ai2lal-wa2.
dog-INDEF-CE-EQUAT-IMPF
'It's really a dog'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 9

The adjectival equative clause may have a positive emphasizer (PE) not
found in the nominal equative clause (see 20).

(34) Kain2-na3-la2. normal

big-EQUAT-PF
'It's big'.
(35) Kdin2-khaixl-na3-la2. positve emphasizer
big-PE-EQUAT-PF
'It's very big'.
(36) Kdin2-ti3hel-nxa3-wa2. negative emphasizer
big-NE-NEG-INDEF
'It's not at all big'.

2.4.2.4. Difference of relationship. There is a difference of relation-

ship. The nominal equative clause has a relationship of equality whereas
the adjectival equative clause has an attributiverelationship.
For example, in the clause 'it's a dog', 'it' is the same as 'dog'; therefore,
'it'equals 'dog'.In the clause 'it'sbig', 'big'tells something about'it';therefore,
it attributessomething to 'big'. Hence there is an attributiverelationship.
The word orders cited above are the normal word orders. There are other
orders, due to left dislocation and fronting, which are on a higher level than
clause. These are described in 10.
To make any of the above verbal clauses subordinate, the person and
tense/evidential suffixes must be replaced with the appropriatesubordinate
clause suffixes. They must then be followed by the main clause which will
include the person and tense/evidential suffixes. The main clause is always
the last clause in the sentence (see 15 on subordinateclauses).

(37) Jo3du2-ah31a2 a3li3-0-na2he3-la2.

John-man leave-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'John left'.
(38) Jo3au2-ah3la2 a31i3-0-nu2la2 sax3we3na2 d3wihl-0-na2he3-la2.
John-man leave-3sG-DsQ forest enter-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'When John left, he went into the forest'.
A clause will often have only one constituent-the verb. Subject and object
will usually be indicated only by the person markersin the verb.

3. Parataxis. There may be multi-juxtaposed phrases in the same

clause. They can be of various types, as shown in the following examples.

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 10 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

3.1. Noun phrases. There is no apparentlimit to the number of noun

phrases that can be juxtaposed. The following sentence is taken from a
legend as told by a native speaker.
(39) Sax3we3na2 hu3kx-'eha2-tfh3na2, kdin2-th3na2,
forest vine-cL.vine-cL.string big-cL.string
sa2kl -tTh3na2, nxe2hxai2hxai2txi2 yxau3-sxd3
tall-CL.string crooked remain-IMSQ
wa3ku3wa3ku3txi2 yxau3-sxd3 ka3la3xi2-tTh3na2,
bumpy remain-IMSQ climbing-cL.string
te3hu t-ai2na2 ka31a3xi2-0-ta'hxai2hel-la2.
vine-DEM grow upward-3sG-T/E.IN.RP-PF
'The big, tall, crooked, and bumpy forest vine climbed upward (on
the trees)'.
(40) A2koxlkol-n_u3xa2 a2ta2la2-nui3ta2
dangerous-cL.dust strong-cL.dust
a2tih3na31a3-nu3-nu'ta2kxai31u2
u3hul-nyhul-0-talhxai2hel-la2.
poison-CL.dust-TF.RP give-RCP-3SG-T/E.IN.P-RP
'He gave him (his friend) the dangerous, strong, poison, tobacco
dust (ground leaves)'.
3.2. Adverbial phrases. The first example is one of a temporal adverb,
the second of a locative adverb.
(41) Nxe3hVlnultai2nan2tu3sa2ka2nxalhi2-nultai2ndn2tu3
at that time darkness-at the time when
txa2wdl-we3ta2 ka31u3la3ki2-sxd3 wenl-talhxai2hel-la2.
POS.1 +2-hair sprout-IMSQ grow-T/E.IN.P-PF
'At the time when darkness fell, our hair began to grow'.
(42) Nuika3na1 hu3ne3ka3n~u3-nulka3nalwd21hu2
there headwaters-there skin
ne3he2ki2-nal-la2.
hang-1 SG.T/E.IO.REP-PF
'I hung up the skin at the headwaters'.
The intonation pattern of any clause begins relatively high, gradually
descending until the end of the clause. In phrases, the repeatedelements of
the phrase returnto the same point in the intonationpatternfor the repeated
and elaborated part of the phrase. After each part there is a slight pause
before the next part is begun. The dislocation is always rightward.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 11

3.3. Discontinuous phrases. A phrase can be discontinuous. The first

part will be in its normal place in the clause, and the second part will
immediately follow the verb (see 23.1.4).
The function of a discontinuous phrase is to either break up an unwieldy
cluster of words, thereby cutting down on the amount of new information,
or to add information for clarification.
In (43) and (44) the phrases are for the purpose of clarification. Example
(45) is not acceptable because the cluster of pre-verb words is too great.
Hence, (46) is a solution for that problem.
(43) Jahlla2 wxd3-0-na2he3-la2, Jo3u2-ah31a2-sa3.
He came-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF John-man-DC.CLT
'He came, John that is'.
(44) Ka3txa2 tau3ka2sa2td3nhxa3ti3-nal-he3-la2,
tree cut down-lsG-T/E.IO.P-PF
sun2tax3ti3hllnai3ta2-sa3.
yesterday-DC.CLT
'I cut down the tree, yesterday that is'.
(45) *Ju312-yen3ndu3a2 kax3na3ha2t-ai3td2Jo3se2-ah3la2
Juina-village morning-T.P Joe-man
sxi2ha2 txon3-0-na2he3-la2.
house build-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'Yesterday morning, Joe built a house in the Juina village'.

(46) Ju312-yen3ndu3a2 kax3na3ha2t-ai3td2 sxi2ha2
Juina-village morning-T.P house
txon3-0-na2he3-la2, Jo3se2-ah3la2-sa3.
build-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF Joe-man-DC.CLT

'Yesterday morning he built a house in the Juina village, Joe that

is'.

4. Ellipsis. All nonverbal constituents, including the nominal subject

and object, can be omitted. In most cases they are omitted unless new infor-
mation is to be introducedwhich would involve one of the aforementioned
constituents. The nominal subject or object must have been made apparent
either through linguistic or nonlinguistic context. It need not have occurred
in the preceding clause. If the omitted constituent is a subject or object, the
person will be indicated by a verb suffix. Third person does not have an
overt suffix form and is indicated in the examples in this paper by 0 (see
19.1.6 and 19.1.8).

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 12 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(47) Bo21a3-nxa3ka2 in3txa2 3hul-0-nal-tul-wa2

ball-CL.sphere man give-o.3sG-l SG-F-IMPF
'I will give the ball to the man'.
The clause will more often be given as follows:
(48) Bo21a3-nxa3ka2 uhul-0-nal-tul-wa2.
ball-cL.sphere give-o.3sG- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will give him the ball'.
Verb phrases can never be omitted. There are no "dummy verbs." The
pro-verb nxe3- may be used to refer specifically to the last-mentioned inde-
pendent verb (see 19.3.5).
There is also one other kind of ellipsis. In informal conversation where
there are repeated changes between two speakers, even verb stems can be
omitted. In the following example someone states that John came. Someone
else states that everyone knows that he came. The second speaker gives
only the person and tense/evidential suffixes of the verb as his statement.In
formal speech, such as storytelling by the old men, this type of ellipsis is
not allowed.
(49) Jo3du2-ah31a2 wxd3-0-na2he3-la2.
John-man come-3SG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'John came yesterday'.

Tait tu3-wa2.
T/E.CO.P-IMPF

'He did, as we all know'.

5. Reflexives and reciprocals.

5.1. Reflexives. Reflexivity is expressed as a verb suffix. It follows
closely the end of the verb stem preceding modifiers and person markers.
(50) Hxi2-yo31i2-nhal-ha2kxai3yuh31xi3-0-na2he3-la2.
finger-cut-RFx-CAUs afraid-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'Because he cut his finger, he was afraid'.
The marker -nha1 is invariable for all persons and number. But it is
subject to modification by morphophonemicrules (see 25.7). Here is a case
of vowel elision:
(51) Hxi2-yo3li2-nh-a'-he3-la2.
Finger-cut-RFX-1 SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I cut my finger'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 13

(52) Hxi2-yo31i2-nh-0-ainl-na2he3-la2.
Finger-cut-RFX-3sG-3PL-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They cut their fingers'.
The scope of the reflexive is confined to a single clause, but it occurs in
both dependent (50) and independent (51) clauses. It is controlled by the
subject.
The possessive reflexives are not expressed in the same way. The clause
needs to be rephrasedin such instances.
(53) Jo3du2-ah31a2 a2-sxe3xa3-ka31xu3-khai3xa2
te3-n21la2
John-man Pos3-wife-woman-cE take-DsQ
Ma3naus2-thi3-na2ai3-yah3-0-na2he3-la2.
Manaus-town go-DU-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'John went to Manaus with his own wife'.
(54) Jo3du2-ah3la2 sa2kxai3lu2 Jo3se2-ah31a2 a2-sxe3xa2
John-man NSP Joe-man pos3-wife
te3-ni21a2 Ma3naus2-thl3-na2 ai3-yah3-0-na2he3-la2.
take-DSQ Manaus-town go-DU-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'John went to Manaus with Joe's wife'.
In English, the reflexive pronoun can be used to emphasize a noun: 'he
himself went'. The same meaning is expressed in Nambikuaraby means of
an emphasizer word after the noun in question, but it has no relationshipto
the reflexive pronoun system.
(55) Jahlla2 hi2sen3su2 ai3-0-na2he3-la2.
He EMPZ gO-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He himself went'.
5.2. Reciprocals. Reciprocals are very much like the reflexives except
that the form is -nhyuh' instead of -nha1. As is the case with the reflexives,
there are rules of vowel elision that come into play when the following
syllable begins with a vowel (see 25.7).
(56) 3yaul1u3-nha2-0-h3-la2.
teach-RFX-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He taught himself'.
(57) I3yauui3-nyhuh1-0-he3-la2.
teach-RCP-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They taught each other'.

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 14 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

When the third-personplural forms are used there is an approximationto a

nonagentive passive.
(58) yen3kxa2 solki2-nyhainl-0-thi3na2
things take-RCP.PL-3sG-house
'tradinghouse'

6. Passives. There are no passive constructions in the language. The

concepts must be transformedinto active constructions.

7. Mood/modality, voice/valency.

7.1. Mood/modality. Mood is either imperative or nonimperative. Im-

peratives are either command, warning, or hortatory.Nonimperatives are
declarative or interrogative.For a full description of imperatives and exam-
ples, see 12. For a full description of interrogatives, see 11. Declaratives
are treated in the basic description of verbs in 19.

7.2. Voice/valency. Voice can be active, stative, or equative. In a verb

construction of active voice, the grammatical subject is the actor and is
markedby an actor suffix. In a verb construction of stative voice, the sub-
ject is the experiencer of the action and is marked by an experiencer suf-
fix (see 2.3). In a verb construction of equative voice, no grammatical
subject is expressed in the suffix system. It appears elsewhere as a sepa-
rate word in the clause or is implied from context or nonverbal communi-
cation (see 2.4).
Intransitive verbs become transitive by the addition of the benefactive
suffix -ki2 to the verb stem.

(59) Wa3ko3n-al-tul-wa2. intransitive

work- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will work'.
(60) Wa3kon3-ki2-nal-tul-wa2. transitive
work-BN- 1 SG-F-IMPF
'I will work for him'.
Transitive verbs become intransitiveby the addition of a reflexive suffix
to the verb stem. For more details on reflexives, see 5.1.
(61) Kax3yuh3xa2 sf3na2 uh3-yo3li2-0-na2he3-la2.
game meat INSTR-CUt-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He cut up the meat'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 15

(62) Hxi2-yo3li2-nha2-0-he3-la2.
finger-cut-RFX-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He cut his finger'.

8. Comparatives and equatives. There is a three-way division in this

section between comparatives, equatives, and correlatives.
8.1. Comparatives. Comparatives can be expressed as some thing/
person 'always remaining bigger'.
(63) Kain2-txi3 yxau2-0-na3-la2.
Big-ADVZ remain-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'He remains big' or 'He is bigger'.
(64) Jo3se2-yah31a2 kain2-0-na3-la2. Yxdnltal Jo3du2-ah3la2
Joe-man big-3SG-EQUAT-PF CTR John-man
kdin2-txi3 yxau2-0-na3-la2.
big-ADVZ remain-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'Joe is big. But John is bigger'.
Comparativescan be expressed as some thing/person 'alreadybeing big'.
Both sets of examples convey the thought that Joe's 'bigness' does not come
up to John's 'bigness'.
(65) A21a2 kain2-0-na3-la2
Already big-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'He's already big' or 'He is bigger'.
(66) Jo3se2-yah31a2 kain2-0-na3-la2. Yxdnlta1 Jo3au2-ah31a2
Joe-man big-3SG-EQUAT-PF CTR John-man
a~2a2 kdin2--na3-la2.
already big-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'Joe is big. But John is bigger'.
8.2. Equatives. Equatives can be expressed as one thing being like
another.
(67) Jo3se2-ah3la2 sa2kxai3lu2 Jo3do2-ah31a2 kdin2-kxa2
Joe-man NSP John-man big-NMZ
yadnxe2 yxau2-0-na3-la2.
like that remains-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'Joe's bigness is like John's bigness' or 'Joe is as big as John'.
Equatives can express equality.

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 16 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(68) Jo3se2-ah3la2 Jo3au2-ah31a2 a2-kdin2-ju3ta2

Joe-man John-man POS3-big-STAT
a3nhau3ko3-0-td3-la2.
equal-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'Joe is as big as John' or 'Joe's and John's "bigness" are the same
(equal)'.
8.3. Correlatives. The correlative comparison is expressed as one thing
being like something else.
(69) Jahlla2 wil-ki3-kxa2-ydlnxe2 wil-kai3-jxahllxi3he-la2.
He well-do-NMz-like that well-do-WIMP.2PL-PF
'Do well as he does'.

9. Coordination. Clauses are coordinated by replacing the tense/

evidential and aspect suffixes of the verb word with the appropriatecon-
junctive ending: -ha2kxai3 ADD, -ta1 CTR,or -ta3nxa2 CHOIC.There may be
multi-juxtaposedclauses coordinatedin a single sentence (see 72).
Coordinatingclauses with ADD or CHOIC can have multiple clauses, but
CTR can only have two clauses due to obvious semantic restrictions.

(70) In3txi3-ndu3xa2 wa3ko3n-ailn-0-ha2kxai3 txultxi3-ndu3xa2

Man-group work-3PL-3sG-ADD woman-group
d31a2 hduln-ailn-0-ha2kxai3 ain'l--na2he3-la2.
pequi gather-3PL-3SG-ADD 3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The men worked and the women gathered pequi fruit'.
(71) In3txi3-ndu3xa2ai3n-ain'-O-tal kax3yuh3xa2
Man-group hunt-3PL-3sG-CTR game
a3n-ai'n-0-xa3-he3-la2.
kill-3PL-3SG-NEG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The men went hunting, but killed nothing'.
(72) In3txi3-ndu3xa2 wa3kon3-ta3nxa2 kax3yuh3xa2
Man-group work-CHoIc game
ai3-ta3nxa2 ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
hunt-CHOIC 3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The men either worked or hunted for game'.
Constituentswithin a clause can also be coordinated.Nominal and adver-
bial phrases are coordinated by using the indefinite nominal suffix -su2.
When a nominal phrase occurs singly, i.e., not coordinated, the definite

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 17

nominal suffix -a2 will occur (see 16.2.2, example 205). The last syllable of
the phrase is slightly lengthened before proceeding to the following phrase.
Coordination may also be expressed by attaching the suffix -ha2kxai3to
the stem of a noun or adverb. The suffix -ha2kxai3has other syntactic func-
tions which are treated in 15.1.3.3.
(73) Wxd3-ain1-0-te2-su2 sxa3-ain1-0-te2-su2
come-3PL-3SG-NMZ-INDEF reSt-3PL-3SG-NMZ-INDEF

wa3ko3n-ain1-0-te2-su2 d3yxo2ha3kxa1
work-3PL-3sG-NMZ-INDEF all
yai3n-ainl--na2he3-la2.
eat-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The ones who came, the ones who rested, and the ones who
worked, all ate'.
(74) Wxa3-ain'l--te2-su2-ha2kxai3 sxa3-ain1-0-te2-su2-ha2kxai3
come-3PL-3SG-NMZ-INDEF-ADD rest-3PL-3SG-NMZ-INDEF-ADD

wa3ko3n-ain1-0-te2-su2-ha2kxai3d3yxo2ha3hxal
work-3PL-3SG-NMZ-INDEF-ADD all
yai3n-ainl--na2he3-la2.
eat-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The ones who came, the ones who rested, and the ones who
worked all ate'.
The above phrases can be transformed into a choice relationship by ex-
changing the suffix -te2su2ha2kxai3ADDfor the suffix -te21a3ta3nxa2
CHOIC.
(75) Wxa3-ain1-0-te2la3-ta3nxa2sxa3-ain1-0-te2la3-ta3nxa2
come-3PL-3SG-NMZ-CHOIC rest-3PL-3SG-NMZ-CHOIC
wa3ko3n-ainl--te21a3-ta3nxa2 yai3n-ainl-0-tul-wa2.
work-3PL-3SG-NMZ-CHOIC eat-3PL-3SG-F-IMPF

'The ones who came, or the ones who rested, or the ones who
worked, will eat'.
Verb phrases are coordinated by replacing the person, tense/evidential,
and aspect suffixes with the suffix -i2 'sequential'.The person, tense/eviden-
tial, and aspect suffixes will occur only at the end of the clause.
(76) In3txi3-ndu3xa2wa3ko3n-i2 kax3yuh3xa2 a3n-i2
Man-group work-sQT game hunt-sQT
sxi2ha2 txo3n-i2 ainl-W-tul-wa2.
house build-sQT 3PL-3SG-F-IMPF
'The men will work, hunt game, and build a house'.

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 18 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Comitatives are expressed by employing the suffix -ki2 'benefactive' and

the suffix -nyhuh1'reciprocal',or by using the verb a3si3te3ki2-'to accom-
pany'. The latter form does not need -nyhuh1'reciprocal'because it is in-
herent in the meaning of the verb stem.
(77) Wa3kon3-ki2-nyhuh'-0-na3-la2.
work-BN-RCP-3SG-T/E.IO.PRES-PF
'He is working for/with him'.
(78) Jo3du2-ah31a2 a3si3te3ki2-0-na2he3-la2.
John-man accompany-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'John went with him'.
There are no apparent restrictions on mixing complex nominalized con-
structions with simple nouns in coordinatedconstructions.
(79) Jo3du2-ah3lo2-su2-ha2kxai3yo3na2 wxd3-jahllo2-su2-ha2kxai3
John-man-INDEF-ADD behind come-man-INDEF-ADD
nu3-ka3yaul-jah10o2-su2-ha2kxai3
yxo2ha3kxal
arm-crooked-man-INDEF-ADD all
txa2-nu3ka3txi3-s-ainlna3-la2.
POS 1 -group-INDEF-3PL-T/E.IO.PRES-PF

'John, the one coming later, and the one with the crooked arm are
all from my group'.
There is no ambiguity about the possibility that John might be the one
coming later, thus referringto two people ratherthan three in this sentence.
If that were the intent, there would be a definite article suffix on the noun
'John'.
(80) Jo3do2-ah31-a2 yo3na2 wxd3-jahllo2-su2 te2-su2-ha2kxai3
John-man-DEF behind come-man-INDEF that-INDEF-ADD
nu3-ka3ydul-jah1lo2-su2-ha2kxai3
arm-crooked-man-INDEF-ADD
txa2-nu3ka3txi3-s-ainl-na3-la2.
POS 1 -group-INDEF-3PL-T/E.IO.PRES-PF
'John the one coming later, and the one with the crooked arm are
both from my group'.
Coordination seems to be possible with all types of verbs and nouns. No
restrictions have been noted.

10. Pragmatic strategies and discourse characteristics. Discourse

structureis built on the basic structureof the clause and the sentence. These

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 19

details will not be repeatedhere unless they are pertinentto any given point
in the discussion.
10.1. Topic. Topic can be limited to only one clause or it can cover a
series of clauses. The two most common ways of indicating topic are front-
ing and left dislocation.
10.1.1. Fronting. A nominal clause constituent is topicalized when it is
fronted, that is, when it is moved out of its normal word order in the
clause to first position in the clause. The normal word order is T/LSV or
T/LSOV, depending on whether the clause is intransitive or transitive.
When fronting occurs, either S or O is taken out of its normal order and
placed preceding the T/L.
(81) Ai3na2 Ju312n-yau3a2 sail-te31-hxd3
Fish Juina-river catch-Aux.IMM-IMSQ
aun3t-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
leave-3PL-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They went to the Juina River to fish'.

Since 'fish' (O) precedes 'Juina River' (L), the topic of this clause and
following clauses will be 'fish'.This topic will continue until a new topic is
introduced. The new topic will, in most cases, be indicated by another
clause with a fronted constituent, a left dislocated constituent, or by a
change of location or time.
In many cases, the fronted constituent will be preceded by one of the fol-
lowing conjunctions: -kxai2ndn2tu3'high probability', -kxa2ha3ta3nxdn2tu3
'concessional', or yxanlta1 'adversative'.
In the following example, the people are going on a trip. Then the focus
changes to the speaker and his plans. The trip has been mentioned before.
Now only the pro-verb is used, elided with the third-person plural, i.e.,
Nx-ainl-.

(82) Nx-ain1-kxa2ha3ta3nxan2tu3txai2li2 yon3nan2tu3

PRV-3PL-CONC I behind
sxa3-nal-tul-wa2.
stay-i SG-F-IMPF
'Even though they go away, I will remain behind'.
In the following example, the speaker has been talking about what the
rest of the villagers are doing. Now he will switch from the rest of the peo-
ple to himself. In this case he does not use the aforementionedconjunctions.
Instead, he uses the 'attention-switch'conjunction nxa2haltel. The first-per-
son pronoun free form precedes the temporal phrase, thus indicating that
the topic has now changed from the villagers to the speaker himself.

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 20 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(83) Nxe3-nxa2haltel txai2na2 sa2kxai3lu2 daka3nxa3ha2ta3a2

PRV-AS I NSP tomorrow morning

i3yulli2nxa3ta3lxa1waih3nxd3nxai3tdn2ta3
early leaves
wd2ndu2-solxi2-na-tul-wa2.
break-bring-1SG-F-IMPF
'Then, tomorrow morning, early, I will get leaves (for my house
roof )'.
In the next example, the object of an SOV clause has been fronted to
change it into an OSV clause.
(84) We3sa3-nulta2kxai3lu2 we3sa2nWlta2 a2-wT3nu2su2 te2kxai3lu2
child-TF.RP child Pos3-father ACTSP
te3-sxd3 ai3-0-talhxai2hel-la2.
take-IMsQ gO-3SG-T/E.IN.RP-PF
'The child's father led the child'.
The fronting of 'child' makes him the topic of the next section.
There is also a modified form of fronting in which the word at the begin-
ning of the clause does not make sense in that clause but fits into the topic
of next clause. It starts a new topic section consisting of two clauses.
(85) Nxe3-kxai2ndn2tu3 hi3a2 Yax3wa31a3ne3ki3a2
PRV-HPROB poles Fox headwaters

d3yxau3-ya3sain'-na2he3-la2.Ya3sai1n-ha2kxai3
stay-1 +3-T/E.IO.P-PF 1 +3-ADD

hi3a2 T3hax3-ja3sah'lxi3he'l-il. Nx-ai'-nal-he2-la2.

poles make bridge-WHRT-DS.CLT PRV-3PL-1SG-T/E.IO.REP-PF
'Thus, concerning the poles, we were staying at the Fox
headwaters, and I said to them, "Let's make a bridge with these
poles"'.
10.1.2. Left dislocation. A nominal constituent may be added at the be-
ginning of the clause. It must have a close lexical relation to a nominal al-
ready in the clause, and that one will be the topic of the clauses following.
It is usually preceded by one of three conjunctions:jut1ta3la3na'ha2kxai3
'major topic change', nalha2kxai3 'similarly', or hd2wxdn3txa3'later'. This
is a different set of conjunctions from the ones that normally introduce
fronted clauses.
The left dislocated constituent usually ends with the suffix -tu3 'incom-
plete', implying that there is more informationto come on this topic. In the

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 21

following example, the left dislocated constituent has a whole-to-part rela-

tionship with its in-clause counterpart.
(86) Jutlta3la3 nalha2kxai3 hai3syx-u3tai2ndn2tu3
major topic change field-work
wa31in3-su3ai2nan2tu3d3nf3nx2-nha2khi3 nxe3-ki3-jau3su2
manioc-shoots plant-PNs.fore PRV-1+2-THOT
to3-ki3-tai ti2ti3. Yxdn'tal su3-ka3na3ku2
repeat- +2-T/E.CO.P CTR shoots-a few
f3hxa3-ki3-taiti2ti3.
planted-1 +2-T/E.CO.P
'Concerning the work in the field, we thought we wouldn't get the
shoots planted. But we have planted a few as everyone knows'.
10.1.3. Other markers. There are other ways of changing topics. When
only two topics are being discussed in a given section of discourse, it is
enough to employ only the attention switch conjunction nxa2haltel. It
could be considered the default form. In the following example, the cattle
destroyed the food in the fields. Then the topic switches to the reaction of
the people. Note that the second sentence begins with attention switch as a
conjunction. Then follows a clause with attention switch as a verb suffix.
These two occurrences of attention switch refer to the same switch, not to
two different switches.
(87) Ponlsu2 wak2ki3su2 te2kxai3lu2 a31i3-nu~2la2
cattle cows ACTSP come-DSQ
su2la3kx-ain2-O-talhxai2hel-la2.Nxe3-nxa2haltel yain3txa2
destroy-3PL-3SG-T/E.IN.RP-P F PRV-AS food

d3kho3kx-ainl-0-nxa2haltel a2nui2-ai2na2 hi2sen3kxai31u2

spoiled-3PL-3SG-AS people-DEM EMPZ
ponl-nulta2kxai3lu2 an3-nu'21a2d3ki2-nhyain'l--talhxai2hel-la2.
cattle-TF.RP kill-DSQ discard-3PL-3SG-T/E.IN.RP-PF
'The cattle came and destroyed their fields. Then the people killed
the cattle and threw away (the meat)'.
10.2. Emphasis. Emphasis is indicated at word level by use of the
demonstrativepronoun suffix -ai21i2.
(88) wai3a3lx-a2
dog-DEF
'the dog'

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 22 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

wai3a3lx-ai2li2
dog-DEM
'that dog'
At the clause level, emphasis is marked by noun specifier sa2kxai31u2or
by actor specifier te2kxai3(lu2).Note that when the noun specifier is added,
-ai21i2DEM becomes -ai2na2,the nonfinal form of -ai21i2.
(89) Wai3a31x-ai2na2 sa2kxai3lu2 a31i3-0-na2he3-la2.
dog-DEM NSP leave-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The dog left'.
(90) Pon'su2 te2kxai31u2 d3kho3kx-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
cattle ACTSP spoiled-PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'It was the cattle that spoiled (the fields)'.
10.3 New-given information. Given information in nouns is marked
by anaphoric suffixes (see 14), and in verbs by collective verification suf-
fixes (see 19.1.12.2).
New informationis brought in by double mention of the participant(see
15.1.3.3) and in verbs by individual verification suffixes (see 19.1.12.2).
10.4. Definiteness (of referents). The article suffix indicating degree of
definiteness is discussed in 16.1.7.
10.5. Primary vs. secondary information. Primaryinformationcarries
the main line of the paragraph.Secondary informationbrings in other use-
ful informationthat is helpful to the understandingof the text but does not
furtherthe actual line of action. Some types of secondary information can
be personal experiences that illustrate what the primaryis talking about. In
the following myth, the children are told by the mother not to mess with
the mother's skin, which she had shed and hung on some bushes. Then the
narratorsays that our own children never understand.Following this state-
ment he goes back to the thematic line.
(91) A2hu73lye3na2hi3ne3ka2 yxo2he3ki2-tdu3 wd2lultai2na2
Stream branch hang-where skin
wxai3-yah3lxi3-txa3hell-il. Wxa2-ye3na2
mess with-2PL-PRH-DS.CLT POS2-eyes
12-jxahllxi3hell-i1. Nxe3-talhxai2he~-la2. Nxe3-yanlta
look-WIMP.2PL-DS.CLT PRV-T/E.IO.RP-PF PRV-CTR

txa2wdl-we3sa2 d3-ne3-wihl-ne3l-xa3-te3ti2tu3-wa2.
POS1+2-children UNSPCR-NI.head-enter-1 +2-NEG-T/E.CO.PRES-PF

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 23

Jal-nxe3-0-talhxai2hel-la2. Jdl-nxe3-nu21a2 we3ha3lxi3su2

Again-PRv-3sG-T/E.IN.RP-PF Again-PRv-DsQ children
te2kxai31u2 aun3ta2-kan3-s4-2-te3nahllxi'
ACTSP leave-descend-IMSQ-see-QOP
'I hung my skin on a branch. Look, but don't touch it. That's the
way it's always told. But our children are always slow learners.
That's the way it was with them. Now, returningto the story.
The children went down to look. . '.
One can also return to the thematic line by taking the last verb of the
primaryinformation,or a verb that will be a link to continue the story, nom-
inalize the verb with -kxa2and add -txa2 'returnreferentmarker'to the end.
Phonologically these two morphemes become -kxan2txa2.The stage is now
set to continue with the primaryinformation. In the following example, the
narratoris telling what was going on in the village several months ago. He
has been talking about the people living together with a group of visiting
Indians. Then word came of the death of a chief in a distant village. Not
knowing whether or not it was true, they were fearful. This last statementis
secondary information since his primaryinformationis about the narrator's
activities. At this point he wants to get back to the activities of his people,
so he employs -kxan2txa2'returnreferent marker'to return to the primary
information.
(92) .... yxau3-ya3sainl-0-na2he3-la2.
.... live-1+2-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF (individual verification-the
listener was not there)
'I with them lived there'.
(Now comes the section about the death in the distant village-
collective verification, both the speaker and the listener know
this: . . . tailti1tu3wa2; see 19.1.12.2.)
Jd1-nx-ain'l--kxan2txa2 hllnai3kxai3lu2 tilai21i2
Again-PRV-3PL-3sG-RR at that time here
a3yxau3-ya3sainl-0-toh3-na2he3-la2.
lived-1 +2-3sG-again-T/E.Io.P-PF (individual verification)
'Returningto the main topic, they lived here again, and I with
them'.

11. Interrogatives. An interrogative sentence is marked by a question

suffix immediately following the person markers. It replaces the tense/
evidential suffixes of the positive statement (see 19.1.12.2). Some forms are

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 24 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

used in more than one suffix system. There is no change in the basic into-
nation pattern.
The word order is based on the positive statement form of the various
clause types (see 2).
11.1. Polar (i.e., yes-no) questions.
11.1.1. Nonverbal clauses. In nonverbal clauses, the equative uses
-te2lalxa3.
?
(93) Wai3a31xi3su2-te2lalxa3
dog-Q
'Is it a dog?'
The stative andthe descriptivehave a choice of either -jilwa2or -hd1.There
seems to be no difference in meaning. The former is more commonly used.
(94) Heh3-nxa2-jil-wa2?
hunger-o.2sG-Q-IMPF
'Are you hungry?'
(95) Heh3-nxa2-hal?
hunger-o.2sG-Q
'Are you hungry?'
11.1.2. Verbal clauses. In verbal clauses, the inflectional question
suffixes replace the tense/evidential suffixes which occur in noninterroga-
tive sentences (see 19.1.12.2).
11.1.2.1. Individual verification, observation orientation.
(96) Present Solx-ainl-ji-wa2?
take-3PL-3sG-Q.IO.PRES-IMPF
'Are they taking it?'
Recent So'x-ain'-0-thi2-la2?
take-3PL-3SG-Q.IO.REP-PF
'Did they take it (today)?'
Past Solx-ainl --thail-la2 ?
take-3PL-3sG-Q.IO.P-PF
'Did they take it (yesterday)?'
11.1.2.2. Individual verification, deduction orientation.
(97) Present Wxa3-ain'l--yu21hi2-la2?
come-3PL-3SG-Q.ID.PRES-PF
'Is there evidence that they are coming?'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 25

Recent ?
Wxa3-ain1-0-nu2lhi2-la2
come-3PL-3SG-Q.ID.REP-PF
'Is there evidence that they came today?'
Past Wxa3-ainl--nu2lhail-la2 ?
come-3PL-3sG-Q.ID.P-PF
'Is there evidence that they came yesterday?'
11.1.2.3. Individual verification, customary orientation.
(98) Present Txu3lxa2 wxa2xuh3--te2ju2lhail-la2?
Agouti dig-3SG-Q.IC-PF
'Does the agouti dig holes in the ground?'
11.1.2.4. Individual verification, deduction orientation.
(99) Past Txu31xa2 ai3-0-tan2tai2?
Agouti gO-3SG-Q.ID
'Did the agouti go by (as evidenced by a hole he had
dug)?'
11.1.2.5. Individual verification, narration orientation.
(100) Remote Ka3na2hah31-ai2na2
eh3xa2 txo2-0-talhxai2yu21hai1-la2?
woodpecker-DEM ax sharp-3sG-Q.IN.RP-PF
'Was the woodpecker's ax sharp (as told by the old ones)?'
11.1.2.6. Collective verification, observation orientation.
(101) Present Wa3kon3-0-te2lalxd3?
work-3SG-Q.CO.PRES
'Is he working?'
Recent ?
Wa3kon3-0-teta2na2
work-3SG-Q.CO.REP
'Was he working today?'
Past Wa3kon3--te3ta2h3na2 ?
work-3sG-Q.co.P
'Was he working yesterday?'
11.1.2.7. Collective verification, deduction orientation. Note that all
the collective verification questions, except observation orientation present
tense, end in na2. This is true for both men and women addressees.
(102) Recent Wa3kon3-0-te2sinju2na2
?
work-3SG-Q.CD.REP
'Was he working today?'

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 26 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Past Wa3kon3-0-te3tu21hailna2
?
work-3SG-Q.CD.P
'Was he working yesterday?'
11.1.2.8. Collective verification, narration orientation.
(103) Recent Wa3kon3-0-talte2se2na2?
work-3SG-Q.CN.REP
'Was he working today?'
Past Wa3kon3-0-talte2slna2?
work-3SG-Q.CN.P
'Was he working yesterday?'
Remote Wa3kon3-0-ta1hxai2te2s1ena?
Work-3SG-Q.CN.RP
'Was he working in the distant past?'
In replying to the verbal clause questions just given, the speaker will al-
ways begin with the negative response phrase (which has nothing to do
with whether the response really is negative or not) and then immediately
go on to answer the question.
(104) Wa3kon3-0-thi21a2? Nxe2nxa3wa2. Wa3kon3--na2-la2.
work-3sG-Q.IO.REP-PF Not at all. work-3sG-T/E.Io.REP-PF
'Did he work today? He worked today'.
(105) Eh3xa2 solkx-ainl-0-thailla2? Nx~2nxa3wa2. Eh3xa2
ax get-3PL-3sG-Q.Io.P-PF Not at all. ax
tah2-wxi2a2 solkx-ain1-0-na2hel-la2.
new-NI.tooth get-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'Did they get an ax? They got a new ax'.
11.2. Question word (WH) questions. For WH questions, a question
word is inserted at the beginning of the clause. (See 17.7 for a list of ques-
tion words and phrases.) The question suffixes described in 11.1 also occur
with WHquestions.
A question clitic -ta3 is attached to the end of most WHphrases. It re-
places the definite article suffix of the noun. Note the difference in the WH
word in (109) and (110).
When the question consists of only one word, the question clitic occurs
immediately before the question suffix. The clitic will then have n at the end
(see examples 106-108; also see 23.1.1).

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 27

11.2.1. Who, what. The who/what question word has two variants
depending on whether the answer will be human, Ihl, or nonhuman, Ydl.
The questions in the following two examples are the same except that one
refers to a human and the other to a nonhuman.Therefore, 'dog' and 'arrow'
both use the 'what' form.
(106) Human ?
hl -te2-tan3-te21axa3 In3txi3-su2-na3-a2.
WHH-NMZ-Q.CLT-Q.CO.PRES man-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'Who is it? It's a man'.
(107) Nonhuman Ydl-te2-tan3-te2lalxd3? Wai3a3lxi3su2-na3 la2.
WHH-NMZ-Q.CLT-Q.CO.PRES dog-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'What is it? It's a dog'.
(108) Nonhuman Ydl-te2-tan3-te21alxd3? Haut3ti3-su2-na3-la2.
WHH-NMZ-Q.CLT-Q.CO.PRES arrow-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'What is it? It's an arrow'.
When a noun response is expected: (1) there will be a shape classifier
suffix, as in (111) and (112) (see also 16.1.3) or (2) there will be the nomi-
nalizer -te2, as in (106)-(110) and (113) (see also 16.2.2).
When a verbal response is expected, the verb will be included in the
question, following the WHword. The response must be the entire clause.
The response 'John',as used in English, is not permitted.
(109) hl'-te2-ta3 33xi2-0-lhail-la2? Jo3au2-ah3la2
WHH-NMZ-Q.CLT come home-3sG-Q.IO.P-PF John-man
i3xi2-0-tai'ti2tu3-wa2.
come home-3sG-T/E.co.P-IMPF
'Who came home yesterday? John came home yesterday'.
When the WHquestion is a phrase, i.e., 'whose cloth' in (110), the ques-
tion clitic is suffixed to the last word in the phrase.
11.2.2. Whose.
(110) Ihl-te2a2 wd2la2-ka3lo-ta3 solkx-0-inl-thail-la2?
WHH-NMZ cloth-CL.cloth-Q.CLT take-o.3SG-2SG-Q.IO.P-PF
Ma3ri2-a3kax3l-ai2na2wd2la2-ka3lo2-a2
Mary-woman-DEM cloth-CL.cloth-DEF
so'ki2-0-na'-he3-la2.
take-o.3 SG-1SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'Whose cloth did you take yesterday? I took Mary's cloth
yesterday'.

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11.2.3. Which.
(II 1) 1~hH-tCL-ta3 wxa2-ha3ti3la3-te2la1xd3?7en-a2
WHH-CL-Q.CLT Pos2-basket-Q CL-DEF
txa2-ha3ti3la2-na3-la2.
Pos I-basket-EQUAT-PF
'Which is your basket? That one is my basket'.
(112) Ih'-thn1'-ta3 wxa2-sxi2lha3-te2la1xd3?
WHH-CL-Q.CLT Pos2-house-Q
'Which is your house?'
(See 16.1.3 for list of classifiers.)
11.2.4. Whom.
(113) 1h1-te2la3-ta3 ai3hiiV-ain'-0-te3l-a'-ji1-wa2?
WHH-NMZ-Q.CLT give-3PL-o.3sG-AUX.IMM-ISG-Q-IMPF
'To whom do you want me to give it?'
11.2.5. Where. When asking questions of where, when, how, how
many, why, and what purpose, only the 'human'form lhl is used.
(114) Ihl-nW'la3-ta3 wxa2-ha3ti2a2 yxau3-te2la'xd3?
WHH-place-Q.CLT Pos2-basket set-Q
'Where is your basket?'
11.2.6. When.
(115) Ih'-nxe3h!Vna2 j3xi2-te3l-in1-ji'-wa2?
WHH-time come home-AUx.IMM-2sG-Q-IMPF
'When are you coming home?'
11.2.7. How.
(116) 1h1-nxet3sxd3 wxd3-ain-te3-0-ji'-wa2?
WHH-manner come-3PL-AUx.IMM-3SG-Q-IMPF
'How are they coming?'
11.2.8. How many.
(117) lI'-nxe2 in3ti3-ta3 ai3-ain'-0-thi2-1a2?
WHH-number man-Q.CLT go-3PL-3sG-Q.Io.REP-PF
'How many men went today?'
11.2.9. Why.
(118) Ih'-nxe3ha2kxai3 wxd3-ain'-0-thi2-la2?
WHH-CAUS come-3PL-3sG-Q.IO.REP-PF
'Why did they come today?' (What caused them to come?)

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 29

11.2.10. What purpose.

?
(119) Ihl-nxe3kxa2yan3ti3-ta3 wxd3-ain1-O-thi2-la2
WHH-PRCAUT-Q.CLT come-3PL-3SG-Q.IO.REP-PF
'For what purpose did they come?' (In order to avoid what?)
Two other questions relating to time are used. They seem to be an adap-
tation necessitated by the introduction of watches and calendars into the
Nambikuaraculture.
11.2.11. What day.
(120) lhl-nxe3-ki3-te2lalx3 ?
WHH-manner-1 +2-Q
'What day is today?'
11.2.12. What month.
(121) Ihl-ti3xa2 ai3-ki3-te2lalxd3?
WHH-place go-i +2-Q
'What month are we in?' or, by inference, 'To what place in the
moon cycle has the moon gone?'
Any constituent may be questioned. The statement in its entirety may be
questioned following the guidelines given previously (see 96-103 above).
When any given constituent is questioned, one must follow the guidelines
set forth in (106)-(121).
There are no exact equivalents of 'yes' and 'no'.The free form Hd3xd2can
be used to indicate basic agreement with the speaker, but this cannot be
used as an affirmationto a specific question. An affirmativeresponse can be
either of the following two examples.
(122) Wain3-na3-la2.
right-EQUAT-PF
'That'sright'.
(123) Wil-na3-la2.
gOod-EQUAT-PF

'That's good'.
The negative phrase mentioned earlier (see 11.1, example 104) can be used
as a negative response.
(124) Nxe2-nxa3-wa2.
PRV-NEG-IMPF

'Not at all' or 'No, it isn't'.

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The clause can be repeated as a declarative response when a negative is in-

serted. In such instances, nothing preceding the verb need be repeated, un-
less the lack of it would result in some ambiguity in meaning.
(125) Jo3au2-ah3la2 wxa3-0-lhail-la2? Wxa2-nxa3-0-h3-la2.
John-man come-3sG-Q.IO.P-PF come-NEG-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'Did John come? He didn't come'.

12. Imperatives. The imperative sentences have a complex system of

suffixes which vary with each type of imperative. These replace the person,
tense/evidential suffixes, and, in some cases, the aspect suffixes of the in-
dicative verb forms. Ten types of imperative suffixes are distinguished in
this language. The first six are positive types and have the person markers
embedded in the suffix. The last four are negative types and have person
markers that precede the imperative suffix. A great deal of elision takes
place. The morphophonemic rules on which these changes are based are
found in 25.7 below.
Person and number combinations differ from speaker to addressee. For
the speaker, they are either singular or plural. For the addressee, they are
singular, dual, or plural.
The forms given are the suffixes that follow the verb stem. The three
columns are singular, dual, and plural addressees, respectively. The rows
are singular and plural speakers.
12.1. Permissive imperative: 'you may...'. This is used when the
speaker says he will do something, and the addressee says he may do it.
-txu'la2 -jxalhulla2 -jxahllxu'la2
-txa2sl'nulla2 -jxa'lslnulla2 -jxahllxi3stlnulla2
(126) I3xi2-slnl-te31-al-wa2
come home-PL-AUX.IMM- 1SG-IMPF

I3xi2-jxal-sVln-ul-la2.
(txa2 +ya3=jxal)
come home-IMP.2DU-1PL-PIMP-PF
'We want to come home'. 'You two may come home'.
12.2. Weak imperative: 'do it sometime...'. A weak imperative does
not need to be executed with urgency.
-txa2he3la2 -jxalhella2 -jxahllxi3hl la2
-txa2s'lnhe3la2 -jxal'sinhe31a2 -jxahllxi3slVnhe3la2
(See 19.3.4.2 for a variant in this group.)

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 31

(127) f3Xi2-jxa'-si'n-hj3-la2.
come home-(IMP.2DU)- IPL-WIMP-PF
'You two may come home sometime'.
12.3. Strong imperative: 'do it immediately.. .'. A strong imperative
must be executed immediately.
-tu3wxa2 -jah1wxa2 -jah1lxi3wxa2
-ta2si'lxa2 -ja1si'lxa2 -jah'lxi3sijlxa2
(128) 13xi2-ja3-si'lxa2.
(ta2+ya3-ja1)
come home-sIMP.2Du-SIMP
'You two come home immediately!'
12.4. Weak hortative: 'let's do it sometime...'. A weak hortative
does not have to be done right away.
-ya3sa3hj11a2 -ya3sa'h'11a2 -ya3sah1Xi3hj11a2
-ya3sa2sVnh,p31a2-ya3sa1s!'nhj3la2 -ya3sah'lxi3s!Vnhj31a2
(129) I3-ya3-sa'-sVn-hj3-la2.
(sa2+ya3=sa1)
go home-wHRT- 1SG.2DU-WHRT-PF

'Let's go home sometime!'

12.5. Strong hortatory: 'let's do it immediately.. .'. A strong horta-
tive must be done right away.
-ya3sa3wa2 -ya3sah'wxa2 -ya3sah'lxi3wxa2
-ya3sa2si1lxa2 -ya3sa'si1lxa2 -ya3sah1ljxi3si'lxa2
(130) P3-ya3-sa'-sillxa2.
(sa2+ya3=sa1)
go home-sHRT- 1SG.2DU-SHRT
'Let's both go home immediately!'
12.6. Warning imperative: 'you would be advised to...'. This is a
warning but it does not indicate urgency.
-txa2sa3ka1 -jxa'sa3ka' -jxah1lxi3sa3ka1
-txa2s!n'sa3ka1 -jxa'sin'sa3ka' -jxah lxi3sihn1sa3ka'
(131) Ka3wd3lxa2 sa2sai'-jxa1-sin'-sa3ka'.
(txa2+ya3=jxa1)
river get OUt-WRN.2DU-1PL-WRN
'You two are advised to get out of the river'.

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12.7. Prohibition: 'don't. ..'. This is a prohibitionbut not stated as be-

ing urgent.
-txa3hJ1la2 -ya3txa3h"'la2 -yah3lxi3txa3h"'la2
-sFn1txa3h1l1a2 -ya3sn I'txa3hJ1la2 -yah3lxi3sn1htxa3h"'la2
(132) J3xi2-ya3-s1n1-txa3hj1-la2.
come home-2DU-1PL-PRH-PF
'Don't you two come home!'
12.8. Cessation imperative: 'stop immediately...'. This demands im-
mediate cessation of the activity.
-ta3lxa2 -ya3ta3lxa2 -yah3lXi3ta3lxa2
-sin'ta31xa2 -ya3sn1hta3lxa2 -yah3lxij3Sn1ta3lxa2
(133) Ho3Xi2-ya3-sin1-ta3lxa2.
bathe-2DU- IPL-CIMP
'You two stop bathing immediately!'
12.9. Weak hortative of cessation: 'let's stop sometime...'. A weak
hortative of cessation does not require immediate response.
-ya3sa2txa3hj1la2 -ya3sa'txa3hJ1la2
-ya3sa2sin1tXa3h~'la2 -ya3sa1srn1txa3hjl1a2
-ya3sah1lxi3txa3hj1la2
-ya3sah'lxi3sTiYtxa3h"'la2
(134) Ho3Xi2-ya3-sa2-siYn-txa3h1'-la2.
bathe-wHRTC-1SG.2DU-1PL-WHRTC-PF
'Let's stop bathing sometime'.

12.10. Strong hortative of cessation: 'let's stop immediately.. .'. A

strong hortative of cessation requires an immediate response.
-ya3sa2ta3lxa2 -ya3sa1ta31xa2 -ya3sa1sin'ta3lxa2
-ya3sa2sTn1ta3lxa2 -ya3sa1Sin1ta3lxa2 -ya3sahlXji3s7n1ta3lxa2
(135) Ho3xi2-ya3-sa1-sI1I-ta3lxa2.
(sa2+ya3=sa1)
bathe-sHRTC-1SG.2DU-1PL-SHRTC
'Let's stop bathing immediately!'

13. Negation. Sentence negation is expressed by a verbal suffix. Its

position is between the person and tense markers. There are two forms of
the negative: first person, -nxa3, and non-first person, -xa3. When other

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 33

than first person is combined with first person, as in the first inclusive, the
non-first-personform is used.
In the first-person form of (136), the person marker and the negative
are combined into one syllable. (For elision rules, see 25.7 on morphopho-
nemics.) In (138), the first-personinclusive form is followed by the third-
person negative. When a negative is present, two changes occur in verbs of
stem class 2. (For a description of verb stem classes, see 19.3.4.) When the
negative immediately follows the verb stem, with no other suffixes between,
the tone on the final syllable of the stem is perturbedto tone 2 and there will
be a final n added to the stem. (The tone system is described in 25.3.)
(136) Kdi3-nxa3-taittu3-wa2.
steal-i SG.NEG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF

'I didn't steal it'.

(137) Kai3-xa3-taitltu3-wa2.
steal-3sG.NEG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'He didn't steal it'.
(138) Kai3-ki3s-xa3-taittu3-wa2.
steal- +2-NEG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF

'We (incl.) didn't steal it'.

In the third-personsingular negative (139), the stem final n will become
the initial consonant of the following syllable according to morphophone-
mic rules (see 25.7, rule 16). The tone number must then be moved to pre-
cede the n.
In (139), the verb belongs to verb stem class 1, which does not perturb
tone nor add n to the end of the verb stem (see 19.3.4).
In (139)-(144), all examples are T/E.IO.PRES.IMPF/PF.This is omitted from
the glosses in order to show the contrasts between first- and third-person
negative more clearly.
(139) Pnxin3-nal-wa2. 3nxun3--na3-la2.
smell-ISG smell-3sG
'I smell it'. 'He smells it'.

3nxtun3-nxa3-wa2. I3nxu3n-xa3-wa2.
smell-1 SG.NEG smell-3SG.NEG
'I don't smell it'. 'He doesn't smell it'.
The verbs in (140)-(142) belong to verb stem class 2, which both per-
turbs tone and adds n (see 19.3.4.2).

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 34 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(140) Ka3la3 nal-wa2. Ka3la2-0-na3-la2

go up-lSG go up-3SG
'I go up'. 'He goes up'.

Ka3lan2-nxa3-wa2. Ka3la2n-O-xa3-wa2.
go up-1SG.NEG go up-3SG.NEG
'I don't go up'. 'He doesn't goes up'.
(141) nad2-na-wa2. I3nd2-0-na3la2.
drink- SG drink-3sG
'I drink'. 'He drinks'.
P3ndn2-nxa3-wa2. I3na2n-O-xa3-wa2.
drink- 1SG.NEG drink-3sG.NEG
'I don't drink'. 'He doesn't drink'.
(142) Sol-nal-wa2. So2-0-na3-a2.
take-lsG take-3sG
'I take it'. 'He takes it'.

Son2-nxa3-wa2. So2n-O-xa3-wa2.
take- 1SG.NEG take-3SG.NEG
'I don't take it'. 'He doesn't take it'.
In transitive sentences, the negative clitic -la3 is attachedto the object, as
in (144). The negative clitic in effect replaces the ART suffix (see 23.1.2).
The verb of that sentence must include the sentence negative between the
person and T/E suffixes.
(143) Hu3kx-a2 yi3n-al-wa2
boW-DEF own-1 SG-IMPF
'I have a bow'.
(144) Hu3ki3-la2 yin2-nxa3-wa2.
boW-N.CLT own-1 SG.NEG-IMPF
'I don't have a bow'.
In nominalizations,the sentence negative is inserted before the nominalizer.
(145) Hu3kx-a2 so1kx-ain'-0-kxe3su2.
boW-DEF take-3PL-3SG-NMZ
'The matter of their taking the bow.. '.
(146) Hu3ki-la3 so'kx-ai'n-0-xa3-kxe3su2.
boW-N.CLT take-3PL-3SG-NEG-NMZ

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 35

'The matter of their not taking the bow. . '.

Descriptives, equationals, and adjectives are negated like verbs.
(147) Kain2-na3-la2. positive
big-EQUAT-PF
'It's big'.
(148) Kdi2n-xa3-wa2. negative
big-neg.EQUAT-IMPF
'It's not big'.
It is normal for the negative to occur in the clause over which its scope
extends. However, if the subordinateclauses are closely connected to the
main clause, the verb in the subordinateclause does not need to have a neg-
ative. Object nouns will be negated. (For the change in the negative clitic,
see 25.7, rules 3 and 12).
(149) Hu3kxenl-ta3 hu3kih3-nu2la2 kax3yuh3-la3 an3-sxd3
gun-N.CLT shoot-DSQ game-N.CLT kill-IMSQ
'2-te2-txd3-wa2.
eat-IC-NEG-IMPF

'I didn't have a gun to kill and eat game'.

14. Anaphora. Various means are used to refer to something previously

mentioned:
1. Shape classifiers in nouns are attached to most nouns. In later men-
tion of the same noun, only the shape classifier need be used (see
16.1.3).
2. The 'man' and 'woman' classifiers occur as noun suffixes with proper
names. Often only the classifiers are used after the first occurrence.
3. Noun suffixes indicate that the person/animal/objecthas already been
mentioned (see 16.1.6).
4. Person markersoccur in the verb suffix system (see 19.1.6, 19.1.8).
5. Reflexive and reciprocal morphemes are used in conjunction with the
person markersin the verb suffixes (see 5).
6. Pro-verbs can replace the verb in some instances (see 19.3.5).
7. In coordinate verb constructions, the person and tense/evidential suf-
fixes are replaced with the cataphoricmarker-i2 (see 9, example 76).
When the subordinate and the main clauses have the same person and
tense markers, they are omitted in the subordinate clauses, except where
necessary to avoid ambiguity.The markerswill be found in the main clause
which follows the final subordinateclause in the same sentence. There can

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 36 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

be more than one subordinate clause following this pattern in the same
sentence.
(150) An3-sxa3 i2-nuf2a2 T3x-ain'l--na2he3-la2.
kill-and eat-DSQ come home-3PL-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'Having killed and eaten, they came home'.

Between sentences, there are a number of possible anaphoric forms.
Nouns are not repeatedafter their first occurrencein the section unless there
would be an ambiguity if not overtly marked.Person markersare partof ev-
ery independent verb suffix irrespective of the occurrence of the free form
nouns.
(151) In3txi3-ndu3xa2 [3x-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
men-group come home-3PL-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF
Px-ainl--n~t21a2 wa3ko3n-ain'l--na2he3-la2.
Come home-3PL-3sG-DSQ work-3PL-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'The men came home. Having come home, they worked'.
It is importantto rememberthat the third-personsingular is the unmarked
form. The pro-forms for 'man', -jahlla2, and 'woman', -talka3lxa2, will be
used instead of any proper names that have already been mentioned. Vari-
ants of these forms are part of the list of noun classifiers in 16.1.3. All
nouns, including proper names, can be repeated if the anaphoric referent
suffix is present.
(152) Jo3dau2-ah31a2 wxd3-0-na2he3-la2. A2-nxe3-jahlla2...
John-man come-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF Again-PRv-man...
'John came. He. ..'
Pro-verbs may be used if there is no change in the action.
(153) Jo3du2-ah31a2 kwhiltxa2 d3nan3-0-na2he3-la2. Nxe3-ka3tu3
John-man deer kill-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF PRV-NSQ
a2-hu3kxa2 u~3kax3t-0-d2he3la2
POS3-gun oil-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'John killed a deer. After that he oiled his gun'.
Other anaphoricreferent suffixes are -kxan2ta2'returningto the main topic
'noun already
that was previously discussed' (see 10.5) and -nu1ta2kxai3lu2
given earlier in the text' (see 10.1.3, example 87).

15. Subordinate clauses. Subordinateclauses always precede the main

clause. They are nonfinite in that tense and aspect suffixes are always
missing.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 37

(154) Wa3ko3n-ainl-O-na2he3-la2 main clause

work-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They worked yesterday'.

(155) Wa3ko3n-ain1-0-kxai2nan2tu3 subordinate clause
Work-3PL-3SG-HPROB
'If they worked'
Some subordinateclauses do not always mark for person.
(156) Wau2ka3lo3a2 te3-sxa3 wxd3-nal-tul-wa2.
hoe take-IMsQ come- 1SG-F-IMPF

'Picking up and bringing the hoe, I will come'.

The above example is ambivalent in that the subordinate clause does not
take person markers when it is in a close relationship with the main verb.
When it does mark person, there is a short pause after the dependent clause
ending -sxd3, after which the intonation patterncontinues normally.
(157) Wau2ka3lo3a2 te3-ainl-0-sxa3 wxa3-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
hoe take-3PL-3sG-IMSQ come-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'Picking up and bringing the hoe, they came'.
15.1. Categories. There are three main categories of subordinate
clauses based on their different grammaticalfunctions: adverbial, comple-
ment (those that function as subject or object of a main clause), and rela-
tive (noun modifier).

(158) Kax3yuh3xa2 12-nal-ka3tu3 du3xi2-nal-he3-la2.

meat eat- SG-SEQ sleep-i SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'After I ate the meat, I slept'.

(159) Ix-ainl-0-ju3ta2 ko3nx-ain'-nxa3-hel-la2.

come home-3PL-3SG-STAT know-3PL-1SG.NEG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I didn't know about their coming home'.
(160) Wa31i3nxa2 uih3wxet3-sxa3 sa2ta3-ain'-0-na2he3-la2.
manioc grate-IMSQ set aside-3PL-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF

'Grating the manioc, they set it aside'.

15.1.1. Adverbial. Adverbial can be further subdivided into adversa-
tive, sequential, and logical.
15.1.1.1. Adversative. Adversative consists of the suffixes -nxa2haltel
'attention switch', -tal 'contrast',and -to3tal 'contra-expectation'.

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 38 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

15.1.1.2. Sequential. Sequential consists of the suffixes -ka3tu3'normal

sequence', -te2ka3kal'expected climactic sequence', -te2i3 'contra-expected
climactic sequence', and-ti3kxai31u2'concomitant'.
15.1.1.3. Logical. Logical consists of the suffixes -kxai2nan2tu3'high
probability', -ke31a3te2kxai3 'low probability', -kxa2ha3ta3nxan2tu3'conces-
sional', and -kxa2yan3txi3su2 'precautionary'.
15.1.2. Complement. Complement consists of suffixes that function as
subject or object of a main clause. They are -jut3su2 'static', -jau3su2
'thought',and -kxe3su2'global'.
15.1.3. Relative. Relative consists of suffixes that function as noun
modifiers. It is subdivided into nonpersonal, climactic, and dynamic.
15.1.3.1. Nonpersonal. Nonpersonal consists of -sxa3 'immediate se-
quence' and -nu2la2 'delayed sequence'. -sxd3 can have the function of a
present participle. Nonpersonal suffixes are action focused and usually not
markedfor person.
15.1.3.2. Climactic. Climactic consists of the suffixes -te3nal 'immedi-
ate response' and -na3na1 'delayed response'. These are always marked for
person. In delayed response, the word hd2wxdn3txa3'later'will often follow
the subordinateclause ending.
15.1.3.3. Dynamic. Dynamic consists of the suffixes -ha2kxai3'causal'
and -kxa2yu3su2'additional'. These forms also function as connectives
between clauses when the pro-verb nxe3- 'thus'is prefixed.
There is a limited use of the infinitive for certain expressions. In (161),
the auxiliary of imminence is used to express what would be an infinitive in
English. In (162), a static complement is used for the same purpose (see
also 19.1.10).
(161) Ai3-te3l-al-wa2.
gO-AUX.IMM- 1SG.T/E.IO.PRES-IMPF
'I want to go'.
(162) Ai3-0-ju3ta3-nu3-a2 ten3-sa3-nha2-wa2
gO-3SG-STAT-TF.F-IMPF want-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I want him to go'.
Subordinate clauses can be strung together without observable restric-
tions. However, if there is a change of subject, the new subject must be
expressed overtly.
A new participantis brought in by a double mention. In the following
example, the spirit-women have just drunk all the manioc juice that the
man'sestrangedwife had made. Now the mother of the man is introducedin
the middle of the sentence. She is introducedas (1) the mother and (2) the
young man's mother. Then the old woman's thoughts are quoted.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 39

(163) Nxe3-sxd3 a3-nu21a2 yxau3t-anljau3kxai3la1

PRV-IMSQ finish-DSQ remain-THOT
a2-hd3ka3nu2su2 sax3ne31a3ku3-nultai2na2 a2-hd3ka3nu2su2
Pos3-mother young man-TF.RP pos3-mother
te2kxai3lal a2-1endnljau3kxai3la' (------------)
ACTSP POS3-QOP.THOT quote of thoughts
a3ka3lxu3-nulta2 d3-1endnljau3kxai3
women-TF.RP Pos3-thoughts
-la2.
i3ka31i3nha2-O-ta'hxai2hel
happy-3sG-T/E.IN.RP-PF
'When they finished (drinking the manioc juice), the man's
mother thought to herself: "(here follows a quote of her
thoughts)." Thus she thought contentedly'.
15.2. Indirect discourse. Indirect discourse is grammatically possible
but rarely used. The normal preference is direct discourse; or there will be
a transform on the main verb to the evidential suffixes in the narration
orientation (see 19.1.12.2). In the first example, the suffix -ju3ta2'static' is
used on the nominalization. In the second, -jen3 is used to refer to a 'place'.
In the following three examples, the gloss 'future'refers to something fu-
ture to the time when the words were spoken.
(164) Ai3-na'-ju3ta3-nu3a2 e3kil-nxa2-hal-he3-la2.
go-1 SG-STAT-future tell-o.2SG-1 SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I said I would go'.
(165) Ai3-nal-jen3-nu3a2 ?3ye3kil-nxa2-hal-taitltu3-wa2.
go- SG-place-future tell-o.2G- 1SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'I told you where I was going'.
(166) Ai3-nnl -ju3ta3-nu3a2 kwa3na3-nxa2-0-tait'tu3-wa2.
go-2sG-STAT-future tell-o.2G- 1 SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'He told you to go'.
15.3. Direct quotation. Direct quotation is not really a part of the sub-
ordinate clause system. It consists of clauses, main or subordinate,that are
embedded in a quotative main clause sequence.
Direct quotations have three parts: quote opener, quotation, and quote
closer. Quote closers do not always occur.
15.3.1. Quote opener. Quote openers always occur. However, certain
connectives are used in some instances when there is a dialogue between
two persons. In such cases, nxe3ha2kxai3'logical sequence' or nxa2haltel

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 40 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

'attention switch' may be used. The normal pattern for a quote opener is a
variant of the following: e3te3nahllxil 'he spoke like this'.
15.3.2. Quote. The quote is markedby a direct speech clitic -i1 suffixed
to each main clause after the aspect suffix. There is vowel elision so that
the final suffix changes from -wa2il to -wi' or -la2i' to -lil, etc. (see mor-
phophonemics in 25.7, rule 10).
(167) Jo3au2-ah3la2 e3ki2-sa3-0-te3nahllxil: Ka3nxa3ha2ta2
John-man say-o. 1SG-3SG-QP tomorrow
wxd3-nal-tul-wil. Nxe3-sa3-0-na2he3-la2.
come-1SG-F-DS.CLT PRV-O.1SG-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'John said to me: "I'll come tomorrow."He said to me'.
15.3.3. Quote closer. Quote closers usually identify the participantsin
the dialogue with appropriateperson markers.
(168) Nxe3-s-ain'-0-na2he3-la2.
PRV-O.1SG-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They said to me'.

The direct quotation equivalents of indirect quotation examples (164) and
(166) are as follows:
(169) Nxe3-nal-te3nahllxil: Ai3-nal-tul-wil. Nxe3-na1-he3-la2.
PRV-1 SG-QOP go-1 SG-F-DS.CLT PRV- 1SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'I said: "I will go." Thus I said'.

(170) Nxe3-0-nxa2-te3nahllxil: Wxai2na2 ai3-se1-lil
PRV-3SG-0.2SG-QOP You gO-WIMP-DS.CLT
Nxe3-0-nxa2-taitltu3-wa2.
PRV-3SG-0.2SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF

'Thus he said to you: "You go." Thus he said to you'.

(For the WIMPsuffix in this example, see 19.3.4.2.)
15.4. Pensive quotation. A pensive quotation is a variant of the direct
quotation.It is a quotationof someone's thoughts, usually the speaker's,but
it can be someone else's. The originator of the thoughts is identified in the
pensive quote closer.
There are two parts: the pensive quote and the pensive quote closer.
15.4.1. Pensive quote. The pensive quote is identical to the normal
declarative statement up to the aspect suffix. At that point, three changes
must occur:
1. In the aspect suffix, all pensive quotes assume the form used for a
feminine addressee irrespective of the gender of the addressee.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 41

2. The vowel of the aspect suffix becomes nasalized.

3. The tone 2 of the aspect suffix changes to tone l.
-wa2 becomes -xa~
-la2 becomes -na1
15.4.2. Pensive quote closer. A pensive quote closer is made up of the
separate word-suffix. It contains only the person and tense/evidential suf-
fixes of a stative independent clause.
(171) Wxa3-0-na2he3-la2. statement
COme-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He came'.

Wxd3-0-na2he3-nd1. Nal-hel-la2. pensive

come-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PNS 1 SG-INTERN.P-PF

'I thought he had come'.

(172) Wxa3-te3-0-jil-wa2? question
come-AUX.IMM-3SG-Q.IO.PRES-IMPF
'Will he come?'

Wxd3-te3-0-jil-xd1. Nal-nha2-wa2. pensive

come-AUX.IMM-3SG-Q-PNS 1 SG-INTERN-IMPF

'I think he wants to come'.

(173) Wa3kon3-0-tu'-wa2. statement
work-3SG-F-IMPF

'He will work'.

Wa3kon3-0-tul-xd1. Ainl-0-na2he3-la2. pensive
work-3SG-F-PNS 3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They thought he would work'.

15.4.3. Other pensives that require closers. There are other pensive
suffixes in this category. The following ones differ in that they do not have
tense/evidential markers:-nxa2hxah3ni2'contraryto thought',-txa2ndn3khi3
'foreboding',-tu~lxu3'intention frustrated',-te2lalku2'indecisive'.
(174) Kwhilta2 a3n-ainl-0-nxa2hxah3ni2 nal-he~-la2.
deer kill-3PL-3SG-PNS.contf 1SG-EQUAT.P-PF
'I thought they would kill a deer (but they didn't)'.
(175) Wai3a3lxa2 a3n-ainl-0-txa2nan3khi3 nal-hel-la2.
dog kill-3PL-3SG-PNS.fore 1SG-INTERN.P-PF
'I was afraid they had killed a dog'.

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 42 INTERNATIONAL
JOURNALOF AMERICANLINGUISTICS

(176) Kwhilta2 a3n-ainl-0-t~lxu3 ainl-0-na2he3-la2.

deer kill-3PL-3SG-PNS.frus 3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They intended to kill a deer (but they didn't)'.
(177) Kwhilta2 a3n-ainl'--te21alku2 ainml--na2h3-la2.
deer kill-3PL-3SG-PNS.indec 3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They didn't know if they had killed a deer or not'.
15.4.4. Other pensives without closers. There are some pensive suf-
fixes which do not requirepensive quote closers: -wi3'urgentplea',-ki1'strong
desire', -sa3kuxl 'angry frustration'.
(178) Wxa2-sxi2h-ai2li2 txa2-yen3kx-a2 ut3hal-al-tul-wi3.
Pos2-house-DEM Pos 1-things-DEF put-1SG-F-PNS.Up
'I beg you to let me put my things in your house'.
(179) Yu3lx-ai21i2 solki2-nal-tul-kl1.
knife-DEM take- 1SG-F-PNS.sd
'I really want to buy that knife'.
(180) Yen3kx-a2 sola3-ki2s-ainl-0-sa3kixl.
things-DEF take-BN-o. lsG-3PL-3SG-PNS.af

'They took my things from me and I'm angry about it'.

Syntax of phrase types.

16. Nouns.
16.1. Overview. Noun morphology is much less complicated than verb
morphology. The full representationof the noun word, which includes the
stem and its affixes, is as follows:
+/- POS + N +/- CL +/- GR +/- CE +/- TF +/- DEM +/- N.CLT+/- ART
16.1.1. Possessive prefix. Possessive prefixes are optional in some
cases and obligatory in others. There is a fixed order for the possessor and
possessed item. The possessed is always markedby a possessor prefix.
(181) a2-hxi2kx-a2
POs3-hand-DEF
'his hand'
(182) in3txa2 a2hxi2kx-a2
man POS3-hand-DEF
'the man's hand'
Only four forms occur. Dual and plural forms do not occur in this set.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 43

txa2- first person

wxa2- second person
a2- third person
txa2wal- first + second person
Possession of speaker: txa2-
(183) Txa2-hu3ki3-su2-na3-la2.
POS 1 -bow-INDEF-EQUAT-PF

'It's my bow'.
Possession of addressee: wxa2-
(184) Wxa2-hu3ki3su2-na3-la2.
POS2-boW-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'It's your bow'.
Possession of someone who is neither speaker nor addressee: a2-
(185) A2-hu3ki3-su2-na3-a2.
POS3-bow-INDEF-EQUAT-PF
'It's his bow'.
Possession of both speaker and addressee: txa2wa1-
(186) Txa2wa~-hu3ki3-su2-na3-la2.
POS1 +2-boW-INDEF-EQUAT-PF

'It's our (inc.) bow'.

Certain nouns are inalienably possessed, such as body parts. Others are
optionally possessed at the speaker's discretion, such as 'house' or 'arrow'.
Other suffixes occur on possessed nouns but have no bearing on the posses-
sive prefixes. These are described later in this section.
16.1.2. Noun stems. Noun stems form the nucleus of the noun word.
Other stems can be nominalized to form the nucleus (see 16.2).
Case markings are not distinguished morphologically. There is no differ-
ence between subject and object forms, or between transitive and intransi-
tive subjects. In nonverbal clauses, minor differences occur because the
equative and descriptive endings are attached to the nouns. Word order is
the principle distinguishing feature (see 2). However, when a nonverbal
clause or a transitive clause is negative, a negative clitic is suffixed to the
object (see 23.1.2).
16.1.3. Classifier suffix. Classifiers occur on many nouns to indicate
some aspect of the shape of the noun from the Namabikuara point of view.
The list is given below. The last three in the list function differently. -ah31o2
and -a3ka3lxi3 are used only with proper names. -te2 is used with an un-
specified person or thing.

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 44 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

-en1 hollow cavity

-kat3 long, solid, and cylindrical
-ki3 small and round, small fruit
-nux3 powder, dust, or granules
-nxdnx3 leaf, paper
-thox3 ashes
-yen3 circular, flat (also for village area, or face)
-ehl string, vine
-ka3lo3 cloth (also for the wing of an airplane)
-yau3 liquid
-ndu3 open area
-ndux3 egg-shaped
-thin3 village, houses
-nxax3 closed receptacle, fruit, sphere
-tih3no2 trail, string
-ah3lo2 man
-a3ka3lxi3 woman
-te2 person or thing not specified
Classifiers will always be followed by the article.
(187) Hi3sa3-kat3-ta2 tau3-al-h3-la2.
tree-cL.long-DEF cut down-1 SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I cut down the tree'.
(188) hi3sa3-kat3-su2
tree-CL.long-INDEF
'a tree'
Classifiers function as nominalizers, as in the following example taken
from the myth, "The Anteater'sBox."
(189) kax3nah3t-enl-su2
night-CL.hollow-INDEF
'night box'
Classifiers function as deverbal nominalizers.
(190) so1x-ain1-0-n_3x-a2
get-3PL-3sG-CL.powder-DEF
'the powder that they got'
16.1.4. Group suffix. Noun plural is indicated by -naux3'group'.
(191) in3-jxah31-a2
man-CL.man-DEF
'the man'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 45

in3-jxah3102-ndu3x-a2
man-CL.man-GR-DEF
'the men'
(192) txa2-hu3kx-a2
POS1-boW-DEF

'my bow'
txa2-hu3ki3-nau3x-a2
POS1-bow-GR-DEF

'my bows'
16.1.5. Certainty emphasizer suffix. Certaintyemphasizerasserts some-
thing about the inherentquality of the noun.
(193) txa2-hu3kx-a2
POS1-bow-DEF

'my bow'
txa2-hu3ki3-khai3x-a2
POS 1-bow-CE-DEF

'my real bow'

(194) Wai3a31xi3-su2-khai3x-ai21al-wa2.
dog-INDEF-CE-EQUAT-IMPF
'It's really a dog'.
(195) Txa2-wai3a3lxi3-khai3x-ai2lal-wa2.
POS 1-dog-CE-EQUAT-IMPF
'It's really my dog'.
16.1.6. Time frame suffix. Nouns may indicate to what point in time
one is referringwith regardto that particularnoun. This is a point of refer-
ence that both speaker and hearer know about. It is, therefore, given infor-
mation. Suffixes indicate:
Remote-predates the speaker'slife
Past-any time in the past during the speaker's lifetime but before today
Recent-any past time today
Present-now in progress (unmarked)
Future-any time not yet begun
Future will always be new information to both speaker and hearer. Al-
though these time categories parallel the tense system of the verb, they do
not always refer to the same point in time as the verb.

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 46 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(196) wxa2-hu3kx-ai3ta3li2
POS2-bow-TF.P

'your bow (that you had in the past)'

(197) hu3ki3-nulta2kxai3lu2
bow-remote
hu3kx-ai3ta3li2
bow-past
hu3kx-in3ti3
bow-recent
hu3kx-a2
bow-present
hu3ki3-nu~3a2
bow-future
16.1.7. Article suffix. The article suffix indicates a degree of definite-
ness, or indefiniteness, in the mind of the speaker.
(198) hu3ki3-su2
boW-INDEF

'a bow'

(199) hu3kx-a2
boW-DEF
(hu3ki3+a2=hu3kxa2;see 25.7, rule 10)
'the bow'
16.1.8. Demonstrative suffix. The demonstrative suffix specifies a cer-
tain object and takes the place of the article suffix (see 10.2).
(200) hu3kx-a2
boW-DEF

'the bow'
hu3kx-ai2li2
boW-DEM
'that bow'
(201) yen3kx-ai2li2
thing-DEM
'that thing'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 47

(202) yen3kx-ai2na2 sa2kxai31u2

thing-DEM NSP
'that very thing'
16.2. Nominalizations. There are action, agentive, and adverbial nomi-
nalizations. Similar to the structure of subordinate clauses, neither tense
nor aspect occur. They are part of the main clause, but if they are too long
or too complex, a pronoun or a pro-verb may be used in the main clause.
16.2.1. Action nominalizations.
(203) wxa3-na1-ju3ta2 intransitive
come- 1SG-NMZ

'my coming'
(204) ai3kxa2 hxi2sol-na1-ju3ta2 transitive
bird catch-i SG-NMZ
'my catching a bird'
16.2.2. Agentive nominalizations.
(205) wxd3-ainl-0-te2a2 intransitive
come-3PL-3SG-NMZ
'the ones coming'
(206) hai3sxa2 tau3-0-te2a2 transitive
field cut-3SG-NMZ
'the one cutting the field'
16.2.3. Adverbial nominalizations.
(207) wxd3-ainl-0-t~u3a2
come-3PL-3sG-ADVZ.when
'when they come'
(208) ai3-ain-0-je3na2
go-3PL-3SG-ADVZ.where
'where they go'
16.3. Modifiers. Multiple modifiers occur in noun phrases. The shape
classifier is omitted from the noun and placed on the last modifier, as illus-
trated in the following examples. A connector -ta2 is suffixed to the first
modifier, indicating that the phrase is not completed.
(209) wd21a2 wi3-win3-ta2 he3-hen3-ka3lo3-a2
cloth blue-RDUP-PCN red-RDUP-CL.cloth-DEF
'the blue and red cloth'

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 48 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(210) in3txa2 kdin2-ta2 Un3-jahll-a2

man big-PCN wild-man-DEF
'the big wild man'
The basic structureof the noun phrase parallels the structureof the rela-
tive clauses. The relative clauses will contain verbal stems whereas noun
modifiers will contain adjectival stems.
16.3.1. Adjectives. In adjectives, the modifier will have a descriptive
stem followed by a classifier suffix which relates back to the head of the
phrase.
(211) in3txa2 kain2-jahll-a2 (1o2+a2=la2)
man big-CL.man-DEF
'the big man'
(212) wai3a31xa3 un3-te2-a2
dog wild-CL.person-DEF
'the wild dog'
(213) hu3kxa2 tf3-kat3t-a2
bow old-CL.long-DEF
'the old gun'
16.3.2. Relative clauses. Relative clauses are expressed in the same
way regardless of the location in the sentence. Headless relative clauses do
not occur if previous context is included. Sometimes the head is overtly
mentioned, and sometimes it is a reference made by means of a gesture to
someone/something not spoken (see 9, examples 73-75, 79, and 80).
Main clause S:
(214) In3txa2 d2wait3-tj3-jahll-a2 kdi3ki2-ne3-0-na2he3-la2.
man leave- 1+2-CL.man-DEF steal- +2-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'The man who left us stole it from us'.

Main clause 0:
(215) In3txa2 yen3kxa2 kdi3ki2-ne3-jahll-a2 s2-al he3-la2.
man thing steal- +2-CL.man-DEF see- 1SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I saw the man who stole it from us'.
Relative clause S:
(216) In3txa2 kdi3ki2-ne3-jah1l-a2 wa31xi2-0-na2h3-la2.
man steal- 1+ 2-CL.man-DEF return-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The man who stole from us returned'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 49

Relative clause 0:
(217) In3txa2 wah3nxe3kx-0-inljahll-a2 2-0-a1-he3-la2.
man wait for-3SG-2SG-CL.man-DEFsee-o.3sG-lSG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I saw the man you were waiting for'.
16.3.3. Numerals. Numerals follow the noun they modify. There are
only three numerals:one, two, and many. To express three, two and one are
used. The numeral four is two and two, etc. (see also 16.3.4).
ka3na3kil 'one'
hallil 'two'
hallil ka3na3kil 'three'
hallil halli1 'four'
kax3la2-na3la2 'many'
many-thereare
When the numerals are part of a noun phrase, the appropriateshape clas-
sifier must be used as a noun suffix.
In the following examples, a noun is given first, followed by an example
containing a numeral. When numbers are part of a noun phrase, the clas-
sifier is sometimes omitted from the noun but never from the numeral.
(218) hu3kx-a2
boW-DEF
'the bow'

hu3kx-a2 kat3-halli1
bow-DEF CL.long-NU.two
'two bows'
(219) hu3kxa3-ki3-a2
bow-CL.small-DEF
'shot (for guns)'

hu3kxa3-ki3a2 ki3-halli1
bow-CL.small-DEF CL.small-NU.two
'two pellets of shot'
(220) wd2la2-ka3103-a2
cloth-CL.cloth-DEF
'the cloth'
wa21a2 ka3lo3-ka3na3ki1
cloth CL.cloth-Nu.one
'one cloth'

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 50 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

16.3.4. Quantifiers. Quantifiersare derived from the numerals given in

the preceding section. Either ka3na3ku2or halla2 means 'a few'. The last
syllable of the numerals one and two changes to convey the meaning 'a
few'. (See list of numerals in 16.3.3.)
(221) Wd21a2 ka31o3-halla2 ten3-sa3-nha2-wa2
dress CL.cloth-a few want- sG-INTERN-IMPF
'I want several dresses'.
(222) Ka3ya3-ki3-a2 ka3na3ku2 u3hufi-sel-la2
corn-cL.small-DEF a few give-WIMP-PF
'Give me a few kernels of corn'.
(See 19.3.4.2 for the imperative variant in this example.)
In the imperative form, the recipient is implied by the imperative suffix
(see 12).
16.4. Co-occurrence restrictions. Time frame, demonstrative,and arti-
cle are mutually exclusive. Only one of these suffixes can occur for any
given noun.

17. Pronouns.
17.1. Personal pronouns. Personal pronouns occur most frequently as
bound forms or person marker suffixes on the verb. Subject and object
nouns are given only when a new participantis introduced, or when there
would be too much confusion if the noun were omitted. Free pronoun
forms are rare for the same reason. The bound forms, however, are never
omitted. Free forms occur only as singular forms. When plural free forms
are needed, the "group"suffix must be used (see 16.1.4).
txai21i2 'I'
wxdi2na2 'you'
te2na2 'he'/'she'
-ndu3xa2 'group'
To make explicit the gender of the pronoun for the third person, one
must use the classifier jahlla2 for masculine and talka3lxa2 for feminine.
te2na2does not indicate gender. It is used when gender is either not known
or not important.It is necessary to specify person and number, and subject
or object, when choosing the bound person markers.(For a complete list of
person suffixes, see 19.1.6 and 19.1.8.)
17.2. Possessive pronouns. Possessive pronoun prefixes occur on the
nouns they possess. Only person is indicated. Number is not marked (also
see 16.1.1).

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 51

txa2- 1 person
wxa2- 2 person
a2- 3 person
twa2wa1- 1+2 person
(223) txa2-sxi2ha2
POS1-house
'my house'
17.3. Indefinite pronouns. Indefinite pronouns occur as free forms.
The following two forms occur:
(224) r21i3te2a2 'anyone'
(225) ldthun3te2a2 'someone'
17.4. Demonstrative pronouns. Demonstrative pronouns are indicated
by a noun suffix -ai2li2 (see also 10.2).
(226) sxi2h-a2
house-DEF
'the house'
(227) sxi2h-ai2li2
house-DEM
'that house'
17.5. Reflexive pronouns. Reflexive pronouns have only one form,
-nha1 (see also 5.1).
(228) Hxi2yo3-li2-nh-a'-h3-la2.
Finger-cut-RFX-1 SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I cut my finger'.
17.6. Reciprocal pronouns. Reciprocal pronouns have only one form,
-nyhuhl (see also 5.2).
(229) I3yaulu3-nyhuhl-0-he3-la2.
teach-RCP-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They taught each other.'

17.7. Interrogative pronouns. Interrogativepronouns occur at the be-
ginning of an interrogativesentence. (A more complete list is given in 11.2.)
Ihlte2a2 'who' (human)
Yadte2a2 'what' (nonhuman)
Ih1nulla3ta3 'where'
Ihlnxe3hhlna2 'when'

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 52 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Ihlnxet3sxa3 'how'
Ihlnxe3ha2kxai3 'why'
Ihlnxe3kxa2ydn3ti3ta3 'what purpose'
18. Adpositional phrase structure. Adpositional phrases do not exist.
There is a certain mixing of noun classifiers and specific verb stems that
brings out the meaning of adpositional phrases.
(230) Sxi2-h0ln-a2 bo21a2-nxax3k-a2 sxa2-na3-la2.
house-CL.hollow-DEF ball-CL.closed-DEF lie-T/E.IO.PRES-PF
'The ball is in the house'.
(231) Hai3sxa3-ndu3-a2 in3jx-ah31-a2 yxo2ha3ti3li3-0-na2he3la2.
field-cL.open-DEF man-CL.man-DEF cross-3SG.T/E.IO.P-PF
'The man went through the field'.
19. Verbs.
19.1. Overview. Morphology of the verb is the most complex part of
this language. There are a certain number of derivational prefixes and
suffixes, and a much larger number of inflectional suffixes on the verb
stem. The diagrammatical formula, given below, includes all categories
that occur in the verb. The instrumentalprefix and the first two suffixes are
derivational affixes.
+/- INSTL + Verb stem +/- cs +/- BN
The following is a continuation of the above with the inflectional suffixes:
+/- ADV1 +/- o.person +/- ADV2 +/- s.person +/- NEG +/- AUX +/-
S1.SG + T/E + ASP +/- DS.CLT

Person suffixes are composite forms. There is a separateslot for object and
subject persons. Subject 1SG is separatefrom the rest of the subject persons.
These two composite forms are illustratedwith lists of person markersper-
tinent to the section being discussed (see 19.1.6, 19.1.8, and 19.1.11).
19.1.1. Instrumental prefix. There are five Instrumentalprefixes, with
the focus on agent.
Implement as agent acting on the goal: uh3-
(232) u3h-au2-te31-a-wa2.
INSTR-break-AUX.IMM-1 SG-IMPF
'I'll break (sever) it (with a knife as instrument)'.
Human hand as agent acting on the goal: wxa2-
(233) Wxa2-ndu2-te31-a-wa2.
HAND-break-AUX.IMM- 1 SG-IMPF
'I'll break it (with hand)'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 53

Unspecified agent acting on the goal: sa2-

(234) Sa2-nau2-te31-a1-wa2.
1SG-IMPF
UNSPG-break-AUX.IMM-
'I'll break it (with unspecified agent)'.
Unspecified agent acting on itself: d3-
(235) A3-ka31a3-het1-te31-a-wa2.
UNSPCR-NI.
shoulder-hang-AUX.IMM- 1SG-IMPF
'I'll make it hang on my shoulder (reflexive agent)'.
Unspecified agent acting in continuum:i3-
(236) 13-wa3kon3-te3l-al-wa2.
UNSPCC-work-AUX.IMM- 1 SG-IMPF
'I want to cause work to go on continuously'.
(237) 13-wait3-te3l-a-wa2.
UNSPCC-straighten-AUX.IMM- 1SG-IMPF
'I'll make it be straight'.
19.1.2. Verb stem. Stative stems occur in stative verbs (see 2.3).
The occurrence of the instrumental prefix is contingent on the Nam-
bikuara belief about the origin of the personal state. If it is considered
purely natural,without agent, the instrumentalis omitted. If, however, it is
considered to have been caused either from within or without oneself, the
instrumentalmust be used.
(238) T3-hxi2-wai3ot3-sa3-0-hl-la2.
UNSPCC-NI.finger-hurt-o.1SG-3SG-INTERN.P-PF
'He hurt my finger'.
Intransitive stems occur in intransitive verbs and transitive stems occur
in transitive verbs.
(239) Wai3a31xa2 a3nih3-0-na2hW3-la2.
dog run-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'The dog ran'.
(240) Kwhiltxa2 d3nan3-0-na2hW-la2.
deer shoot-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'He shot a deer'.
19.1.3. Change of state suffix. The change of state suffix -ki3 occurs
only with verbalized adjectival stems.
(241) Wai3wain3-0-na3-la2.
straight-RDUP-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'It is straight'.(It is in a straightened position.)

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 54 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

In (242), tone is perturbedfrom 3 to 2 before the third-personsingular verb

suffix in some verb stem classes (see 19.3.4.2).
(242) I3-wain3-ki2-3-na3-la2
UNSPCC-Straight-CS-3SG-EQUAT-PF
'It is straightened'.(It is caused to be in a straightened position.)

(243) I3-wain3-ki3te31-a'-wa2.
UNSPCC-straight-CS-AUX.IMM-1 SG-IMPF
'I want to straighten it'. (I want to cause it to be in a straightened
position.)
19.1.4. Benefactive suffix. There is only one form: -ki2. Its function is
to point out a benefactor of the action. Co-occurrence with the benefactive
suffix is a pronoun recipient in the suffix of the verb word, which acts as a
person referentof the benefactive suffix of the stem. Notice that the tone on
-ki2 has changed from 2 to l. When -ki2 is followed by the second-person
form, the tone 2 is perturbedto form -ki1.

(244) Sa2-sol-nal-tul-wa2.
UNSPG-take-1 SG-F-IMPF

'I will take it'.

(245) Sa2-sol-kil-nxa2-hal-tul-wa2.
UNSPG-take-BN-2SG-1 SG-F-IMPF
'I will take it from you'.

(246) Sa2-so'-ki2-nal-tu'-wa2.
UNSPG-take-BN- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will take it from him'.
19.1.5. Adverbl suffix. The adverbl suffix occurs immediately after
the last of the derivational suffixes. It has a close relationshipwith the verb
stem. A partial list of adverbl suffixes is as follows:
-khaix' 'positive emphasizer'
-ti3hex' 'negative emphasizer'
-ye2 'look as if it might'
-sa2te3 'continuous'
-xai3 'consecutive'
-sa2thet3 'intermittent'
(247) Sxih2-ye3n-a2 yxau2-sa2te3-ain'l--tul-wa2.
house-cL.circle-DEF live-ADv 1.cont-PL-3SG-F-IMPF
'He will live in the village permanently'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 55

(248) Yain3tx-a2 ui3hiul-xai3-nx2-t-ainl-O-tul-wa2.

food-DEF give-ADV .Cons-O.2SG-2PL-3PL-3SG-F-IMPF
'They will give you food (one after the other in turn)'.
19.1.6. Object person suffix. Person markersuffix refers anaphorically
to the real person/object that is either alluded to or given overtly in the sub-
ject/object of the clause. (For free form personal pronouns, see 17.1.)
Persons are first, second, and third. First person is divided into inclusive
(combination of first person and second person) and exclusive (second per-
son excluded). Third-person plural is divided into inclusive (combination
of first person and third person) and exclusive (no first person involve-
ment). Third-personinclusive is further divided to show whether the first
person involved is singular or plural.
Person suffixes differ for subject and object. They must agree with free
form counterparts.More than two sets of person markers cannot occur in
any given clause. If more than two are required,the clause must be restated
in the form of multiple clauses in order not to exceed the maximum of two
sets of person markersper clause.
Singular object persons are marked with o. Subject persons are not
marked. Singular forms occur only in the first person and second person.
Third person is unmarked.(See 249, 253, and 257 below for posited loca-
tion of third person.)
(249) -sa3 o. SG
-nxa2 0.2SG
-0 O.3SG
(250) U3h'u-sa3-0-tul-wa2.
give-o. 1SG-3SG-F-IMPF
'He will give to me'.
(251) 03hul-nxa2-0-tul-wa2.
give-o.2SG-3SG-F-IMPF
'He will give to you'.
(252) U3hiu-0-nal-tul-wa2.
give-3SG-S. 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will give to him'.
Dual forms follow the singular forms. Second-person dual is the same as
the second-person plural.
(253) Dual form Combined Breakdown English gloss
-yah3 -syah3 O.1SG+DU 'US'
-ti3 -nx2ti3 0.2SG+DU 'you'
-yah3 -Oyah3 0.3SG+DU 'them'

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 56 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(254) U3hti'-syah3-0-tu'-wa2.
give-O. 1SG.DU-3SG-F-IMPF
'He will give it to us (two)'.

(255) C3hU"l-nX2-tj3-0-tU1-wa2
give-o.2SG-2PL-3SG-F-IMPF
'He will give it to you (two or more)'.
(256) CAW-B-ya-ha'-tul-wa
give-o.3sG.DU- 1SG-F-IMPF

'I will give it to them (two)'.

Plural forms follow the singularforms. In the combination of first person
and third person, dual comes first, then singular, followed by plural.
(257) Plural form Combined Breakdown English gloss
s-sa2sfn1 O.SG+IPL 'us' (excl.)
-ne3 -ne3 1+2 'us' (incl.)
-ya3sain' -Oya3sain' o.3SG+DU+ 'us' (me + them)
O.1SG+3PL
-ya3sain'sinY -Oya3sain'sn1' o.3SG+DU+ 'us' (us + them)
O.1SG+3PL+ IPL
-ti3 -nx2ti3 o.2SG+2PL 'you' (PL)
-ain1 -Oain' o.3SG+3PL 'them'

(258) U3hiV'-0-sa2-sin'-tu'-wa2.
give-3sG-O. 1SG-1 PL-F-IMPF
'He will give to us (plural)'.
(259) U3hii'-0-ne3-tu'-wa2.
give-3sG-O. 1 +2-F-IMPF
'He will give to us (you and us)'.
(260) UA3hti'--ya3-s-ain'-tu'-wa2
give-3SG-DU-O. I SG-3PL-F-IMPF
'He will give to us (me and them)'.
(261) U3hMV'-0-
ya3-s-ain'-s1n1-tu'-wa2.
give-3sG-DU-o. 1SG-3PL- 1PL-F-IMPF
'He will give to us (us + them)'.

(262) U3hiV-0-nX2-ti3-tU1-wa2.
give-3sG-o.2sG-2PL-F-IMPF
'He will give to you (plural)'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 57

(263) U3huJ-0-ainl-tul-wa2.
give-3SG-3PL-F-IMPF
'He will give to them'.
In imperatives, there are two sets of person markers: speaker and ad-
dressee. Number is singular or plural for the speaker and singular, dual, or
plural for the addressee (see 12).
19.1.7. Adverb2 suffix. There is a small list of adverb2 suffixes:
-nun3 'also'
-toh3 'again'
-sdn2 'first' (before something else)
(264) U3huil-nx2-ti3-san2-sln-al-tul-wa2.
give-o.2sG-2PL-ADV2.frnt- 1PL-1SG-F-IMPF
'We will give to you first'.
(265) U3hu1-0-ain'-to3h-al-tul-wa2.
give-o.3SG-3PL-ADv2.rpt- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will give to them again'.
19.1.8. Subject person suffix. The following forms are the singular
forms. Third person is unmarked.The location of the third-personsingular
zero form is posited by comparison with the first- and second-person se-
quences in both singular and plural constructions (see 266, 270, and 274
below).
(266) -al S.1SG
-in1 S.2SG
-0 S.3SG
(267) Txai2li2 hu3kx-a2 solxi2-nal-tul-wa2.
I bow-DEF get- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will get the bow'.
(268) Wxai2na2 hu3kx-a2 solx-inl-tul-wa2.
you bow-DEF get-2SG-F-IMPF

'You will get the bow'.

(269) Jo3au2-ah31a2 hu3kx-a2 solxi2-0-tu1-wa2.
John-cL.man bow-DEF get-3sG-F-IMPF

'John will get the bow'.

The dual markeris -yah3. Duals and plurals always precede subject sin-
gular forms.

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 58 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(270) Dual form Combined Breakdown English gloss

-yah3 -ya3ha1 1DU 'we'
-yah3 -ya3hinl 2DU 'you'
-yah3 -yah3(0) 3DU 'they'
(271) A3li3-ya3h-al-tul-wa2
leave-DU-1 SG-F-IMPF

'We (two) will leave'.

(272) A3li3-ya3h-inl-tul-wa2.
leave-DU-2SG-F-IMPF
'You (two) will leave'.
(273) A31i3-ya3h-0-tu1-wa2.
leave-DU-3SG-F-IMPF

'They (two) will leave'.

Plural markersvary with the person, as indicated below. Second-person
plural follows second-person dual. Both must be present for plural in the
second person but not for plural in first or third person. Note that there are
two combinations for 'we' with third-person involvement, depending on
whether first person is singular or plural. These two forms are the same in
Nambikuarafor both subject and object, even though in English the differ-
ence would be 'we' and 'us'. Comparelines three and four in example (274)
with lines three and four in (257). Note that the ISG is object. Hence the
literal translationof lines three and four is, respectively, 'me with they' and
'us with they'.
(274) Plural form Combined Breakdown English gloss
-sin1 -s1 na1 1PL+ISG 'we (exc.)'
-ki3 -ki3 1+2 'we (incl.)'
-ya3sain' ya3sainl' DU+O.1SG+ 'we (me+they)'
3PL+3SG
-ya3sainlslnl -ya3sain'lsnl-0 DU+O.1SG+ 'we (us+they)'
3PL+ 1PL+3SG
-Ixi3 -yah3lxin1 DU+2PL+2SG 'you (PL)'
-ainI -ainl-O 3PL+3SG 'they'
(275) A3li3-sTn-al-tul-wa2.
leave-1 PL-1SG-F-IMPF
'We will leave'.
(276) A3li3-ki3-tu-wa2.
leave- 1 + 2-F-IMPF
'We (and you) will leave'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 59

(277) A31i3-ya3-s-ain1-0-tu1-wa2.
leave-DU-o. 1 SG-3PL-3SG-F-IMPF

'We (I and they) will leave'.

(278) A3li3-ya3-s-ainl-sinl-O-tul-wa2.
leave-Du-o. 1SG-3PL-1 PL-3SG-F-IMPF
'We (us and they) will leave'.
(279) A31i3-yah3-lx-inl-tu'-wa2.
leave-DU-2PL-2SG-F-IMPF

'You all will leave'.

(280) A31i3-ainl-O-tul-wa2.
leave-3PL-3SG-F-IMPF

'They will leave'.

(281) 03hl-nx2-ti3-sTln-al-tu-wa2.
give-o.2SG-2PL- 1PL-1SG-F-IMPF
'We will give to you (plural)'.
(282) U3hal-ainl-O-yah3-lx-inl-tul-wa2.
give-3PL-0.3SG-DU-2PL-2SG-F-IMPF
'You (plural) will give to them'.
When someone is spokesperson for a group in conveying information,
the first-personplural form -sin1 must be included. This person is not part
of the "action"but is identified with those who have the informationthat is
being conveyed. In (283), the person is conveying the information as part
of a group who knew the others had worked, although the spokesperson's
group had not. In (284), the person is conveying the information as part of
the group that knew "something"was big. The person is neither subject nor
predicate complement of the equative clause (see 2.4).
(283) wa3lx-ainl-0-sinl-na2h3-la2.
return-3PL-3SG- 1PL-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They returned'.(As spokesperson for my group, I'm reporting

that they returned.)
(284) kdin2-sTnl-na3-la2.
big-1 PL-EQUAT-PF
'It'sbig'. (I'm speaking for everyone in this group when I say that
it's big.)
19.1.9. Negative suffix. The negative suffix negates the action of the
verb stem. It is described in detail in 13 above.

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(285) Wxa3-ailn-0-xa3-taitltu3-wa2.
come-3PL-3SG-NEG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF

'They didn't come (as we all know)'.

(286) Hu3kx-a2 u~3hiul-sa3-0-xa3-taitltu3-wa2.
bow-DEF give-o. 1SG-3SG-NEG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'He didn't give me the bow (as we all know)'.
19.1.10. Auxiliary verb suffix. An auxiliary verb occurs after the stem
of the main verb. The main verb will not have person and tense/evidential
suffixes. They will occur after the auxiliary verb with the same person and
tense as the main verb. When the person/tense is different, the construction
changes and the clause must be rephrased. The main verb must be ex-
pressed as a free word. The verb suffixes will be attached to the auxiliary
verb (see 291 and 292).
There are three auxiliary verbs.
-lxun1 'desire' occurs with transitive and intransitive verb stems with
stative verb suffixes (see 2.3). The formula is as follows:
+ main verb + SG.object + AUX.DSR +/- PL + INTERN+ ASP

(287) wa3kon3-sa2-lxunl-nha2-wa2.
work-o. 1SG-AUX.DSR-INTERN-IMPF
'I desire to work'.
(288) Ai3-sa2-lxun1-sin1-nha2-wa2.
go-O. 1 SG-AUX.DSR-PL-INTERN-IMPF
'We desire to go'.
-tel3 'imminent action' occurs with transitive and intransitive verb stems
and suffixes. The formula is as follows:
+ main verb +/- PL + AUX.IMM + SG.subject + ASP

(289) wa3kon3-s!nl-te31-al-wa2.
WOrk-PL-AUX.IMM- 1 SG-IMPF

'We want to work'.

(290) Kwhi'ta2 i3na3n-ainl-te3-na3-la2.
deer kill-PL-AUX.IMM-PRES-PF

'They want to kill a deer'.

-ten3 'want' must be used for different subject auxiliary verbs. The main
verb will be a separate word preceding the auxiliary verb. The auxiliary
verb will have stative verb suffixes. The formula changes to the following:

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 61

+ main verb + person + COMP.static

+ AUX.ten3 + O.SG +/- PL + INTERN
+ ASP
(291) Sxi2ha2 to3n-ainl-0-ju3ta2 ten-sa-3nha2-wa2.
house 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
build-3PL-3SG-CoMP.static AUX.WNT-O.
'I want them to build the house'.
(292) Ai3-na'-ju3ta2 te3n-0-ain1-na2h3-la2.
go-1 SG-COMP.STAT AUX.WNT-3SG-3PL-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They wanted me to go'.
19.1.11. Singular subject person suffix. When there is an auxiliary
verb, the singular subject person suffixes occur after it.
(293) Hi2nuin-0-ainl-sinl-te31-a1-wa2.
SG-IMPF
help-o.3SG-3PL- 1PL-AUX.IMM-1
'We want to help them'.
(294) Hi2nui1n-0-ainl-slln-al-taitltu3-wa2.
help-o.3SG-3PL- 1PL-1SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'We helped them'.
(295) Hi2nuT1n-O-ainl-te31-in-jil-wa2?
help-o.3SG-3PL-AUX.IMM-2SG-Q-IMPF
'Are you (singular) going to help them?'
(296) Hi2nuin-0-ain1-yah3lxi3-te31-in-jil-wa2?
help-o.3SG-3PL-2DU-2PL-AUX.IMM-2SG-Q-IMPF
'Are you (plural) going to help them?'
19.1.12. Tense/evidential suffix.
19.1.12.1. Tense. There are five tenses:
remote-further back in time than the lifetime of the speaker
past-normal past but not including today
recent-any past-time today
present-action going on now
future-action not yet started
Tense other than future (see below) is part of a composite form that in-
cludes evidentials. The future tense suffix -tu1 is not affected by orientation
or verification.
(297) Wa3ko3n-al-tul-wa2.
work-1SG-F-IMPF
'I will work'.
When the clause includes a negative, the future tense suffix is -lho3 with
the perfective aspect suffix (instead of -tu1 with the imperfective aspect

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 62 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

suffix). In all other tenses the suffix is the same for positive and negative
(see 25.7 for morphophonemicmodifications).
(298) Wa3kon3-nxa3-lho3-la2
work-NEG-FN-PF

'I will not work'.

19.1.12.2. Evidential suffix system. The evidential suffix consists of
what is normally the tense system, plus two features not normally found in
a language-verification and observation. Although these are two different
features of the suffix system, they are described in the same section because
the forms of the suffixes are so intertwined.
(1) Verification tells us who can verify the statements of the event.
INDIVIDUAL VERIFICATION indicates that the event was witnessed
by the speaker only. COLLECTIVE VERIFICATIONindicates that the
event was witnessed by the speaker and the addressee(s).
(2) Orientation tells us the source of the information given by the
speaker. OBSERVATION
ORIENTATION
indicates that an activity was
seen by the speaker and then related to the addressee(s). DEDUCTION
ORIENTATIONindicates that an activity was not witnessed by the
speaker,but some other action or event caused the speakerto deduce
that what he is relating to the addressee(s) must have occurred.
CUSTOMARY ORIENTATION indicates that an activity always occurs in
a certain manner, such as animal habits. NARRATION ORIENTATION
indicates that an activity of which the speaker heard he is now
retelling to the addressee(s).
Both (1) and (2) vary with the tense in which they occur. Neither occurs
with the future tense. The following examples illustrate all existing singu-
lar forms. Plural forms also exist (see 11.1.2, Interrogative).Examples in-
clude all persons where forms differ.
INDIVIDUAL VERIFICATION, OBSERVATION ORIENTATION-I'm telling you
what I saw the actor doing.
(299) Wa3ko3n-a-he3-la2
work-1 SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I worked yesterday'.

Wa3kon3-0-na2-he3-la2.
WOrk-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He worked yesterday'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 63

(300) Wa3ko3n-a'-la2.
work- SG-T/E.IO.REP-PF
'I worked today'.

Wa3kon3-0-na2-la2.
work-3SG-T/E.IO.REP-PF
'He worked today'.
(301) Wa3ko3n-al-wa2.
work- 1SG-T/E.IO.PRES-IMPF
'I am working'.

Wa3kon3-0-na3-wa2.
work-3SG-T/E.IO.PRES-IMPF

'He is working'.
INDIVIDUAL VERIFICATION,DEDUCTION ORIENTATION-I'm telling you my
deduction of an action that must have occurredbecause of something that I
saw/see.
(302) Wa3kon3-0-nt2-he3la2
work-3SG-T/E.ID.P-PF

'He must have worked yesterday'.

(303) Wa3kon3-0-nin2su2l-a2.
work-3SG-T/E.ID.REP-PF

'He must have worked today'.

(304) Wa3kon3-0-n7n2ta2-wa2.
work-3SG-T/E.ID.PRES-IMPF

'He must be working'.

INDIVIDUAL VERIFICATION,CUSTOMARY ORIENTATION-The speaker knows
this to be true from what always happens that way.
(305) Ti3ka31-a2 kai31-a2 yain-0-te2ju2h3-la2.
anteater-DEF ant-DEF eat-3sG-T/E.IC.P-PF

'The anteater habitually eats ants'.

INDIVIDUAL VERIFICATION,NARRATION ORIENTATION-I was told that a cer-
tain action had occurred.
(306) Wa3kon3-0-tahxai2he'-la2.
work-3SG-T/E.IN.RP-PF
'I was told that he worked'.

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 64 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Wa3kon3-0-ta'he'-la2.
work-3SG-T/E.IN.P-PF
'I was told that he worked'.
Wa3kon30-ta'he2-la2.
work-3SG-T/E.IN.REP-PF
'I was told that he worked'.
COLLECTIVEVERIFICATION,OBSERVATIONORIENTATION-I report what both
I and the addressee saw. (The past and recent have optional shortened
forms.)
(307) Wa3ko3n-al-tailti2tu3-wa2.
work-1 SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'You and I saw that I worked'.
Wa3ko3n-a1-tait1tu3-wa2.
work-1 SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'You and I saw that I worked'.
Wa3ko3n-a-te'ni2tu3-wa2.
work- 1SG-T/E.CO.REP-IMPF

'You and I saw that I worked'.

Wa3ko3n-al-ten1tu3-wa2.
work-1 SG-T/E.CO.REP-IMPF

'You and I saw that I worked'.

Wa3ko3n-a-ti2tu3-wa2.
work-1 SG-T/E.CO.PRES-IMPF

'You and I see that I am working'.

COLLECTIVE VERIFICATION, DEDUCTION ORIENTATION-Both speaker and
addressee deduce that an action must have taken place.
(308) Wa3kon3-0-te3nait'ti2tu3-wa2.
work-3SG-T/E.CD.P-IMPF
'He worked'.
Wa3kon3- te3nulti2tu3-wa2.
work-3SG-T/E.CD.REP-IMPF
'He worked'.
Wa3kon3-0-tulti2tu3-wa2.
work-3 G-T/E.CD.PRES-IMPF
'He works'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 65

COLLECTIVE VERIFICATION, NARRATION ORIENTATION-Both speaker and

addressee were told that a certain action had taken place.
(309) Wa3kon3-0-tatex ti2tu3-wa2.
work-3SG-T/E.CN.P-IMPF
'We were told that he worked'.

Wa3kon3-0-ta'telti2tu3-wa2.
work-3SG-T/E.CN.REP-IMPF

'We were told that he worked'.

19.1.13. Aspect/gender suffix.
19.1.13.1. Aspect. There are two aspects: -la2 'perfective' and -wa2
'imperfective'.They are the final suffixes in the verb word. The perfective
aspect considers an event to be in some sense perfected, such as past tense,
negative future, and stative other than first-personpresent. Some dialects of
Nambikuarapronounce -la2 'perfective' as -ra2, irrespective of the preced-
ing vowel (see 25.1).
(310) Wil-na3-la2.
good-EQUAT-PF
'It's good'.
(311) Wil-na3-ra2.
good-EQUAT-PF
'It's good'.
The imperfective aspect considers an event to be in some way imper-
fected, such as present tense, all future positive forms, and stative first-
person forms. Note the tone perturbationon the stem (see 19.3.4.2).
(312) Wxa3-nal-wa2.
come- SG.T/E.IO.PRES-IMPF

'I'm coming'.
(313) Wxa3-nal-tul-wa2.
come- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will come'.
(314) Wxdn2-nxa3-lho3-la2.
come-1 SG.NEG-FN-PF
'I will not come'.
(315) Wxdn2-nxa3-wa2.
come- SG.NEG.PRES-IMPF
'I'm not coming'.

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 66 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(316) Wxa3-0-na2-h3-la2.
come-3sG.T/E.IO.P-PF

'He came'.
(317) Wxa2-0-na3-wa2.
come-3SG.T/E.IO.P-IMPF

'He's coming'.
(318) Wxa2-0-nxa3-wa2.
COme-3SG.NEG.PRES-IMPF

'He's not coming'.

(319) Heh3-sa3-nha2-wa2.
hunger-o. 1SG-INTERN-IMPF
'I'm hungry'.
(320) Heh3-0-na3-la2
hunger-3SG-PRES-PF
'He's hungry'.
19.1.13.2. Gender. Gender is not marked for the participants of the
action, but the gender of the addressee must be marked. It is indicated by
the consonant of the aspect marker suffix of the main verb. The default
form is the masculine form -wa2 or -la2. For a feminine addressee, the
forms are -xa2 or -na2, respectively.
(321) Wxd3naltulwa2. masculine addressee
Wxd3na'tulxa2. feminine addressee
'I will come'.
(318) Yxau2na31a2. masculine addressee
Yxau2na3na2. feminine addressee
'He is there'.
19.2. Co-occurrence restrictions. When future tense occurs, the tense/
evidential system does not occur.
19.3. Stem formation.
19.3.1. Noun incorporation. Body parts are incorporatedinto the verb.
Most frequently used body parts are the following:
ne3- 'head'
yxe2ta3- 'neck'
ha3la3- 'rib' (mid-section)
ka3la3- 'shoulder'
wxi2- 'tooth'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 67

nxa3- 'cheek'
yxo2- 'mouth'
nu2- 'arm'
hxi2- 'finger'
si3- 'bottom'
yu3- 'foot'
With stative verbs, the body part refers to the actual part of the body.
(323) Sun2tax3t-ai3t-a2 WXi2-3-sa3-hl-la2.
afternoon-T.P-DEF tooth-pain-o. 1SG-P-PF
'Yesterday afternoon, I had a toothache'.
With transitive and intransitive verbs, the body part is used figuratively to
indicate the specific location of the action.
(324) Pre2ka2ki3a2 ~3-ha31a3-kwalt-a1-h3-la2.
nail INSTR-NI.middle-bend-1 SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I bent the nail near the middle'.
(325) Pre2ka2ki3a2 ah3-yxe2ta3-kwat-a1-h3-la2.
nail INSTR-NI.neck-bend- 1SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I bent the nail near the neck'.
19.3.2. Serial verbs. Serial verbs are composed of two juxtaposed verb
stems. The second verb involves motion of some form such as 'take',
'leave', or 'give'. They are, in actuality, two verbs performing one function.
(326) Ka3yax3ta2 du2-so1-ainl-0-na2-hU3-la2.
corn break-take-3PL-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They picked corn'.
(327) Jo3au2-ah31a2 13hau3ko3t-u~h-a1-tu-wa2.
John-man prepare-give- SG-F-IMPF
'I will teach John'.
(328) T1h3na2 i21-_3-0-na2-h3-la2.
rope cut-leave-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'He severed the rope'.
(329) Ma2ka2-nxa3x-a2 i2l-ho1-0-na2he3-la2.
mango-CL.fruit-DEF cut-take-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'He picked the mango'.
Serial verbs occur in independent clauses (examples above) and dependent
clauses (examples below).

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 68 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(330) Ma2ka2-nxa3x-a2 i2l-hol-sxd3 '3xi2-nal-he3-la2.

mango-cL.fruit-DEF cut-take-IMSQ go home- SG-T/E.IO.P-IMPF
'I picked the mango and came home'.
19.3.3. Verbalizations. Adjectival stems become transitive verb stems
with the addition of the instrumentalprefix 13-.
(331) Pre2ka2-ki-a2 wai3-waix3tx-a3-la2.
nail-CL.small-DEF straight-RDUP-EQUAT-PF
'The nail is straight'.
(332) Pre2ka2-ki3-a2 i3-waix3t-altul-wa2.
nail-CL.small-DEF UNSPCC-straight- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I will straighten the nail'.
Noun stems are verbalized with the verbalizer -on3.
(333) Sxih2l-o3n-a'-h3-la2.
house-vz- 1SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'I lived there'.
Adverbs are verbalized by prefixing the instrumentalprefix.
(334) Wa3su3txi3 wxa3-0-na2he3-la2.
quickly come-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'He came quickly'.

(335) 3-wa3sut3-0-taittu3-wa2.
UNSPCC-quick-3SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'He hurried'.
19.3.4. Classification by degree of "openness" of the stem. There is a
furtherclassification of verb stems, both transitive and intransitive, that is
pertinent here. There are two stem classes based on the degree of "open-
ness" of the stem. For the sake of clarity, the normal interlinearglosses are
omitted and hyphens indicate the end of the verb stem.
19.3.4.1. Class 1 stems. Class 1 stems include all verbs whose stems
are closed by a final consonant, plus some that are open (i.e., no final con-
sonant). First-personsingular markeris -a1.
(336) I3yai3n-alwa2. 'I'm eating'.
I3yain3-silnalwa2. 'We are eating'.
I3yain -na3a2. 'He's eating'.

(337) A3ni3h-awa2. 'I'm running'.

A3nih3-sllnalwa2. 'We are running'.
A3nih3-na3la2. 'He's running'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 69

(338) Yo3-alwa2. 'I'm gathering'.

Yo3-sVlnalwa2. 'We are gathering'.
Yo3-na31a2. 'He's gathering'.
19.3.4.2. Class 2 stems. Class 2 stems include verbs whose stems are
open but whose first-personmarkeris always -na1 (not -a1, as all the others
are). In third-personsingular, the tone on the final syllable of the stem will
be perturbedto a tone 2.
(339) Ka3la3-nalwa2. 'I'm climbing'.
Ka3la3-slnalwa2. 'We are climbing'.
Ka3la2-na3la2. 'He's climbing'.
(340) Tau3-nalwa2. 'I'm chopping'.
Tau3-s'inalwa2. 'We are chopping'.
Tau2-na3la2. 'He's chopping'.
(341) Sol-nalwa2. 'I'm bringing'.
Sol-silnalwa2. 'We are bringing'.
So2-na31a2. 'He's bringing'.
Class 2 stems always add n to the stem before the negative form and
perturb the final stem tone to tone 2. The first- and third-person negative
will now be added to the two sets of examples given above. Negation is
described in 13 and syllabification rules are described in 25.7, rule 16. In
the following examples, the first set are Class 1 verb stems which do not
change; the second set are Class 2 verb stems which do change.
Class 1
(342) I3yain3-nxa3wa2 'I'm not eating'.
I3yai3-nxa3wa2. 'He's not eating'.
A3nih3-nxa3wa2. 'I'm not running'.
A3ni3-hxa3wa2. 'He's not running'.
Yo3-nxa3wa2. 'I'm not gathering'.
Yo3-xa3wa2. 'He's not gathering'.
Class 2
(343) Ka3lan2-nxa3wa2. 'I'm not climbing'.
Ka3la2-nxa3wa2. 'He's not climbing'.
Taun2-nxa3wa2. 'I'm not chopping'.
Tau2-nxa3wa2. 'He's not chopping'.
Son2-nxa3wa2. 'I'm not bringing'.
So2-nxa3wa2. 'He's not bringing'.
Class 2 verb stems have a different imperative form for the Weak Imper-
ative (WIMP) 1-1, i.e., one speaker and one addressee (for weak impera-
tives, see 12.2).

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 70 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Class 1
(344) 3yain3-txa2he3la2 'Eat!'
A3nih3txa2he3la2. 'Run!'
Yo3-txa2he3la2. 'Gather!'
Class 2
(345) Ka3la3-slla2. 'Climb!'
Tau3-slla2. 'Chop!'
So-sella2. 'Bring it!'
19.3.5. Pro-verb. The pro-verb nxe3- may be used to refer specifically
to the last-mentioned independent verb. It occurs in either dependent
clauses (346) or independent clauses (347), and with both transitive verbs
(348) and intransitive verbs (346 and 347).
(346) S~n2tax3t-ai3t-a2 wxa3-ain1-0-na2he3-la2. Nxe3-nu~21a2
afternoon-T.P-DEF come-3PL-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF PRV-DSQ
au3x-ain'-O-na2he3-la2.
sleep-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They came yesterday afternoon. After they came, they slept'.
(347) Suin2tax3t-ai3t-a2 wxd3-ainl-0-na2h3-la2. Hai3sa3-n~u3a2
afternoon-T.P-DEF come-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF field-cL.open
kdin2 ka3ya3n-ha2kxai3 nxe3-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
very wet-CAUS PRV-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'They came yesterday afternoon. Because the fields were very
wet, they came'.
(348) Sun2tax3t-ai3t-d2 wa3li3nxa2 wa2xu3h-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
afternoon-T.P-DEF manioc dig-3PL-3SG-T/E.Io.P-PF
Yain3txa2 yu3-ailn-0-xa3-ha2kxai3 nxe3-ain'l--na2h3-la2.
food have-3PL-3SG-NEG-CAUS PRV-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF

'They dug up manioc yesterday afternoon. Because they had no

food, they did that'.

20. Adjectives. Adjective phrases occur modifying the subject or object

of the clause. Modifiers occur after the head of the phrase, which is often
one of the classifiers listed in 16.1.3 above. Adjectives can also function as
predicates in adjectival equative clauses (see 1.5.2).
(349) Wd2la2 wail-wainl-ta2 ...
he3-hen3-ka31o3a2
cloth striped-RDUP-PCN red-RDUP-CL.cloth
'The striped red cloth . ..'
20.1. Adjective morphology.

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20.1.1. Overview. Adjective stems include such categories as color,

size, shape, attributes,and onomatopoeic forms. They occur in both adjec-
tival equative clauses and in nominalizations.
20.1.2. Stems and affixes.
+/- instrumental + stem (for stems in transitive and intransitive
clauses)
+ adjective + classifier (for stems modifying a noun)
20.1.2.1. The instrumental prefix. The instrumentalprefix has already
been discussed in 19.1.1.
20.1.2.2. The adjectival stem. Adjectival stems are divided into three
classes, based on possibilities for reduplication.
Class 1 adjectival stems are compound stems, composed of either one or
two syllables with reduplicationof the entire stem.
(350) He3-hen3-na3-la2
red-RDUP-EQUAT-PF
'It's red'.
(351) Wa3tau3-wa3tau3-na3-la2.
rOUnd-RDUP-EQUAT-PF
'It's round'.
Class 2 adjectival stems are complex, composed of two syllables with re-
duplication of the last syllable only.
(352) Wa3tdil-tdin1-na3-la2.
thin-RDUP-EQUAT-PF
'It's thin'.
(353) Wa3si3-sin3-na3-la2.
dry-RDUP-EQUAT-PF
'It's dry'.
The reduplicatedforms of class 1 and class 2 occur only when attributive
stems are without the instrumental prefix. When the instrumental prefix
occurs, the reduplicatedpart is lost and the roots become simple forms. In
most cases, the instrumentalprefix i3- is used. However, when attention is
focused on a specific agent, other forms are used, as described in 19.1.1.
(354) I-ka3yan3-te3l-a-wa2.
UNSPCC-Wet-AUX.IMM- 1 SG-IMPF
'I'll moisten it'.
(355) P-wa3tau3-ki2-te3l-al-wa2
UNSPCC-round-CS-AUX.IMM-1 SG-IMPF
'I'll make it round'.

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(356) Uh3-ta3loh3-na3la2.
INSTR-inside out-EQUAT-PF
'It is inside out'.
(357) Uh3-ta3lai3ki2-na3-la2.
INSTR-intermesh-cs-EQUAT-PF
'The fallen tree tops are intermeshed'.(field with newly felled trees)
(It's in an intermeshed condition, caused by an implement.)
Class 3 adjectival stems are simple, composed of either one or two sylla-
bles and no reduplication.
(358) Hn3 na3-la2
white-EQUAT-PF
'It's white'.
(359) A31u2-na3-la2.
long-EQUAT-PF
'It's long'.
(360) Ka3yan3-na3-la2
wet-EQUAT-PF
'It's wet'.
20.1.2.3. Forming transitive stems. Adjectival stems occur with the
instrumentalprefix to form transitive stems. When so formed, the referent
occurs optionally.
Caused attributivestem
(361) 13-ka3yaul-ka3yaul-ki2-na3-la2.
UNSPCC-crOoked-RDUP-CS-EQUAT-PF
'It was caused to be crooked'.
Caused transitive stem
(362) P-ka3yaul-ka3yaul-ki2-te3l-al-wa2.
UNSPCC-Crooked-RDUP-CS-AUX.IMM- 1 SG-IMPF
'I will cause it to be in a crooked state'.
There is ambiguity between a previously caused state and a present or a
future caused state with the third person. At all other times, the actor is
manifested in the word suffixes as previously described.
20.1.2.4. Forming attributives. Classifier suffix occurs with the adjec-
tive stem to form attributivesthat modify nouns.
(363) w121a2 he3-hen3-ka31o3-a2
cloth red-RDuP-CL.cloth-DEF
'red cloth'

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20.1.2.5. Forming equative clauses. In adjectival equative clauses, the

adjective occurs with the equative suffix.
(364) Kain2-na3-la2
big-EQUAT-PF
'It's big'.
20.1.3. Optional categories. There are two optional categories that
occur between the stem and the person markers,modifierl and modifier2.
20.1.3.1. Modifierl. Modifierl has two morphemes of process occur-
ring with adjectival stems.
(a) Static process makes an adjectival stem into an inherentprocess.
(365) Wil-na3-la2.
gOOd-EQUAT-PF
'It's good'.
(366) Wil-lhinl-na3-la2.
goOd-SP-EQUAT-PF
'He's a good (man)' or 'He's good'.
(b) Active process makes an adjectival stem into an ongoing process.
(367) Kain2-na3-la2
big-EQUAT-PF
'It's big'.
(366) Kai2n-on3-na3-la2.
big-AP-EQUAT-PF
'It's getting bigger'.
20.1.3.2. Modifier2. Modifier2has threeoptionalemphasizermorphemes.
(a) Negative emphasizer (NE) -ti3he1
(369) Wil-ti3he1-nxa3-wa2.
gOod-NE-NEG.EQUAT-IMPF
'It's not at all good'.
(b) Positive emphasizer (PE) -khaix1
(370) Wil-khaixl-na3-la2.
gOOd-PE-EQUAT-PF
'It's very good'.
(c) Veracity emphasizer (VE)
Opinion (oP) -te2s~31Xi2
(371) Wi1-te2si31xi2-na3-la2.
gOod-VE.OP-EQUAT-PF
'I think it's good'.

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 74 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

Apparent (APP) -yelnx2

(372) Will-yelnx2-na3-la2.
gOOd-VE.APP-EQUAT-PF
'It appears to be good'.
Similarity (SIM)-te2hun3
(373) Wil-te2hun3-na3-la2
good-SIM-EQUAT-PF
'It's similar to something good'.

21. Adverbs.
21.1. Overview. Adverbs are optional words that occur near the begin-
ning of the clause (see 2.1 and 2.2 for clause formulas).
21.2. Adverbial stems and affixes. Adverbial stems can be temporal,
locative, or manner.
A temporal stem uses the temporal suffix correspondingto the tense re-
ferred to. Present tense is unmarked0. This is followed by the article, as in
nouns.
(374) sun2tax3t-ai3t-d2
afternoon-T.P-DEF
'afternoon yesterday'

sun2tax3t-l3n-a2
afternoon-T.REP-DEF

'afternoon today already past'

sun2tax3t-O-a2
afternoon-T.PRES-DEF

'afternoon now'
A locative stem will use a locative suffix, ADVZ'place'.
(375) ho3x-ainl-0-je3n-a2
bathe-3PL-3SG-ADVZ-DEF
'their bathing place'
A manner stem uses an adverbializersuffix.
(376) Winl-txi3 ai3-ain1-0-na3-la2.
slow-ADVZ gO-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.PRES-PF
'They are going slowly'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 75

An adjectival, adverbial, or nominal stem will use -txi3 for the adverbial-
izer. This adverbializerdoes not have ARTon the end.
(377) Un3-txi3 he'-ki2-nyh-ain'-0-na3-la2.
fierce-ADVA fight-BN-RCP-3PL-3SG-T/E.IO.PRES-PF
'They fought each other fiercely'.
(378) Wa3su3-txi3 wxd3-ninl-tait1tu3-wa2.
fast-ADVZ come-2SG-T/E.CO.P-IMPF
'You came quickly'.
(379) Yxo2-hd3nxe3lxa3-txi3 e3kx-ain -0-ta'hxai2he' la2.
mouth-dangerous-ADvz speak-3PL-3SG-T/E.IN.RP-PF
'They spoke menacingly'.
21.3. Adverb phrase structure. Adverb phrases occur before the verb
to modify the main verb. They can be either verb-verb, verb-adverb, noun-
adverb, or adjective-verb. In all cases, the head precedes the modifier.
21.3.1. Verb-verb. In this case, neither verb is the main verb of the
clause. The two verbs form an adverbial phrase preceding the main verb.
The first verb is the head of the phrase.
(380) E3-ki3halki2 so2a3-ain1-0-na2h3-la2.
speak-lie bring-3PL-3sG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'Deceitfully, they brought him along'.
21.3.2. Verb-adverb.
(381) E3-wa3sut3-txi3 13wa2lu3xi2-0-ta'hxai2hel-la2.
speak-quick-ADVZ respond-3sG-T/E.IO.RP-PF
'He replied quickly'.
21.3.3. Noun-adverb.
(382) Yxo2-hd3nxe31a3-txi3 13wa2lui3x-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
mouth-dangerous-ADVZ respond-they-3SG-T/E.IO.P-PF
'He responded threatening'
21.3.4. Adjective-verb.
(383) Hu3kxa2 wil-wa3su3kx-ainl-0-na2he3-la2.
bow good-make-3PL-3sG-T/E.Io.P-PF
'They made the bow well'.

22. Connectives. Connectives occur between two main clauses. Any

subordinateclause suffix (see 15.1) can be used as a connective when pre-
ceded by the pro-verb (see 19.3.5).

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(384) Wxa3-ainl-0-tul-wa2. Nxe3-nu21a2 sxi2h-a2

come-3PL-3SG-F-IMPF PRV-DSQ house-DEF

to3n-ain'-0-tul-wa2.
build-3PL-3SG-F-IMPF

'They will come. When they do, they will build the house'.
(385) Wd2la2-ka31o3-a2 soki2-nal-h3-la2. Nxe3-yadnta
cloth-CL.cloth-DEF take- SG-T/E.IO.P-PF PRV-CTR
ka31o3-kdi2n-xa3-ha2kxai3ka31o3-a3x-a2
cloth-big-NEG-CAUS cloth-other-DEF
solki2-nut3n-al-tul-wa2
take-AD2.also- 1SG-F-IMPF
'I bought cloth. But because it wasn't big, I will buy other cloth
also'.

23. Particles.

23.1. Sentence clitics.

23.1.1. Question clitic. In interrogativesentences, a question clitic -ta3
is attached to the end of the sentence-initial WH phrase (see 11.2).
(386) Ihl-nulla3-ta3 ai3-te31-in1-ji'-wa2?
WHH-CL-Q.CLT gO-AUX.IMM-2SG-Q-IMPF
'Where do you want to go?'
23.1.2. Negative clitic. When a transitive sentence is negative, a nega-
tive clitic -la3 is attachedto the direct object and, in effect, replaces the ART
suffix (see 13).
(387) Hu3ki3-la3 yu3-ailn-0-xa3-wa2.
boW-N.CLT have-3PL-3SG-NEG-IMPF

'They have no bow'.

23.1.3. Direct speech clitic. At the end of every sentence in a direct
quotation, a direct speech clitic -i is attached after the aspect suffix. It will
continue throughoutthe quotationregardless of the length of the quote (see
15.3.2). Morphophonemicrules elide this suffix with the aspect suffix (see
25.7, rule 10).
(388) Wxa3-nal-tul-wa2-i1.Nxe3na2he3la2.
Wxd3naltulwil.Nxe3na2h31la2.
"'I will come." Thus he said'.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 77

23.1.4. Discontinuous phrase clitic. The discontinuous phrase clitic

-sa3 is attached to the final part of the phrase (see 3.3).
23.2. Speaker emotion particles. Speaker emotion particles open a
new quotation indicating the emotion of the speaker. They act as interjec-
tions and are followed by a period.
Ya3. 'doubt or surprise'
Heh3. 'uncertainty'
M3xm1. 'attention getter'
Kha3xe3. 'perturbed'
A3kwe2. 'pain'
Ha3yo2. 'agreement'
(389) Kha3xe3. 1hl-nxe3t-ahllon3ku2. Na-he-la2.
SE.PTL WH-CL-PNS.indecq 1 SG-INTERN.P-PF
"'Oh bother! How am I going to do that?" I thought'.

24. Ideophones. Ideophones fall into several categories.

24.1. Names of animals and objects. Some animals and objects take
their names from the sounds they make. These words follow the same rules
that govern the usage of nouns. The use of laryngealization, nasalization,
and tone fall within the parametersestablished in the practical orthography.
ka3la3ka3la3su2 'toad'
ka3la3ka3la2su2 'chicken'
wa3tut2su2 'frog'
wx_Isu2 'toad'
wxa3sxu2 'frog'
ki3kit3su2 'cicada'
ha2lu'jen1ki3su2 'tinamou' (pheasant)
tu3ka3lu2lhu2 'bird'
ta2kadta2ka1su2 'hawk'
kwilkwilki3su2 'hawk'
kxl su2 'hawk'
ka3tolsu2 'monkey'
wa3txu3ka3txu3ki3su2 'thunder'
24.2. Action verbs. The sound of the action is simulated in the pronun-
ciation of the stem.
T3toltol-td31a2 'knock on door or pound with hammer'
ka3lot3-t3la2 'drip of a faucet or rain on wet leaves'
wa3ti3lii3i3i3nx2-na31a2 'turning of a squeaky wheel'

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24.3. Isolated words. Isolated words approximatea specific sound:

ka31ai3 'knife cutting weeds'
tik1 'knife cutting into wood'
tai1tai1tai1tai1 'wild boar tusks clicking'
wai1 'bird soaring'
wa3yuh1 'bird flying by'
si3si3si3 'heart pumping blood'
thu2thU2thu2 'people conversing, chattering'
hi2hi2hi2 'women laughing'
u3pu2 'eggshell bursting'
wa31aun3 'falling into a hole'

25. Phonology. The following is a summary of the phonological sys-

tem. It should be noted that in 25.1-25.3, all examples are written in pho-
netic script. Everywhere else in this paper the phonemic alphabet is used.
All examples in 25 have stress markedwith an apostrophebefore the sylla-
ble. Other sections do not mark stress.

25.1. Consonants. There is an implosive alveolar stop. It is used

mostly by the old people and is rapidly becoming obsolete.
Orthographic Phonetic Example Definition
symbol symbol
d [c] ['cdu3ta3su2] 'mangaba fruit'
There are a series of stops. For the most part, they are voiceless but have
a tendency to be voiced when occurring intervocalically and after nasal
continuants.

p [p] ['pit3sU2] 'gourd'

t [t] ['tau3naltulwa2] 'I'll chop'
J [c] ['cahlla2] 'he'
k [k] [kA3'na2su2] 'woodpecker'
kw [kw] [kwa3'thi3rhu2] 'metal'
x [?] ['1i3i2na31a2] 'He's going home'
There are a series of fricatives.
f [P] [wa3'li3pa3rin2su2] 'wild manioc'
s [S] [a2'su3su2] 'bone'
h [h] ['hot3su2] 'monkey'
There are a series of oral and nasal continuants.
1 [1] [a2'lodn3su2] 'brother'
(after mid and back vowels)

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 79

I [r] [i3'rodn3na31a2] 'He's drowning'

(after front vowels)
m [m] [ma3'mau2su2] 'papaya'
(only in loanwords)
n [n] ['nan3na31a2] 'She is crying'
n [dn] ['wa3kodn3na31a2] 'He is working'
(after oral vowels)
n [m] ['yaum3su2] 'flower'
(after du nasal diphthong)
n [bm] ['aubm3taidnlna31a2] 'They are going'
(after au oral diphthong)
n [rJ] ['war3kodn3na31a2] 'left over'
(before velar stop and after nasal vowel)
n [gg] ['wa3kogr3k?i2na31a2] 'He worked for someone'
(before velar stop and after oral vowel)
There are two semivowels that function as consonants.
w [w] ['waidn3na31a2] 'That'sright'
y [y] [ya2'nalla2] 'jaguar'
There is a series of aspiratedconsonants: stops, nasal continuants, and the
semivowel w. When these consonantsare aspirated,they arealways voiceless.
ph [ph] ['phai2rhu2] 'toad'
th [th] ['thau31hu2] 'ball'
kh [kh] ['khidn3na31a2] 'itch'
kwh [kwh] ['kwhilti3su2] 'deer'
wh [wh] [wha3'tigrj3k?i2na31a2] 'throw stones'
There are a series of glottalized consonants. Stops and fricatives express
the glottalization after the consonant. Continuantsand semivowels express
glottalization before the consonant.
px [p?] [ya3'p?nl su2] 'taioba'
tx [t?] ['t?an2na31a2] 'tight fit'
kx [k?] ['?ne3k?an2ta2] 'returnto topic'
kwx [kw?] ['kw?3ki3su2] 'fan'
sx [s?] [s?e3's?e3ki3su2] 'scorpion'
hx [h?] ['h?adn3na31a2] 'all gone'
Ix [?1] ['we3ha3?li3su2] 'children'
nx [?n] [a2'?nu3ki3su2] 'cheek'
wx [?w] [a3'?we3te31alwa2] 'I want to sit down'
yx [?y] [a2'?yo2su2] 'mouth'

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25.2. Vowels. There are five vowels and two diphthongs.

I [i] ['tilna2] 'here'
e [el ['te2su2] 'that one'
a [a] [ha3'lo2su2] 'place'
a [A] [hA?3'ne2su2] 'firewood'
(this occurs in closed unstressed syllables)
0 [o]['hot3su2] 'monkey'
u [u]['hu3ki3su2] 'gun'
The vowel diphthongs are mid to front and mid to back.
ai [ai] ['hait3su2] 'field'
au [au] ['tau3naltulwa2] 'I will chop'
There are a series of nasal vowel counterpartsfor the same set as the oral
vowels. The o does not occur nasalized. In the practical orthography,they
are markedwith a tilde over the vowel.
a [a] ['wa3kodn3na31a2] 'left over'
e [e] ['te3altulwa2] 'I will bring'
[1] ['tllna31a2] 'It's lost'
[u] [yi3'yui3ki3su2] 'night crawler'
iu
ai [ai] [wa2tai 'tain na31a2] 'thin'
au [au] ['au2?li2sa3nha2wa2] 'bashful'
There are also a series of laryngealized vowel counterpartsfor the same set
as the oral vowels. In the practical orthography,they are markedby under-
lining the vowel.
a [a] 'a31h?u2] 'pequi fruit'
e [e] ['e3rh?u2] 'cashew'
i [[i] 'i3na3a2] 'catch fire'
o [o] ['on3na31a2] 'food burning'
u [u] ['l31ha3nha2wa2] 'I feel lazy'
ai [ai] ['ain3te3lalwa2] 'I'll think about it'
au [au] ['aun3na31a2] 'fester'
There are a series of vowels that are nasalized and laryngealized. They are
markedby a tilde over the vowel and by underlining the vowel.
a [a] ['a3?li2na31a2] 'different'
e [] ['t3rh?u2] 'housefly'
Z [i] ['j3altulwa2] 'I'll plant'
a [u] ['?un3na3la2] 'savage'
ai [ai] [kai3nu3?a2] 'ground (coffee)'
au [au] ['au3sa3nha2wa2] 'hungry for meat'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 81

25.3. Tone. Each syllable must be marked by one of three phonemic

tones.
Falling tone marked by a superscript 1
Rising tone marked by a superscript 2
Low level tone marked by a superscript 3
Tone contrasts are illustrated in the second syllable of the three examples
below.
(390) ['?wa3nalla2] 'I came' (recent past)
(391) ['?wan3na21a2] 'He came' (recent past)
(392) ['?wan2na31a2] 'He is coming' (present)
Tone is independent of laryngealization and nasalization.
(393) ['?wilsu2] 'toad'
(394) ['?wi3s?u2] 'yam'
(395) ['?wa3s?u2] 'toad'
(396) ['wilna31a2] 'It's good'
(397) ['on2na31a2] 'It's burning'
(398) ['on3na31a2] 'It's left over'
25.4. Stress. Stress is phonemic. The root always receives the primary
stress. It is not marked in the orthography because the cases are few in
which the native speaker does not know where the root ends and the suffix
system begins. In this section (25), stress is marked in the Nambikuara
examples with an apostrophe preceding the stressed syllable. In all other
sections, it is not marked. From this point onward, all examples are written
phonemically.
25.5. Length. Length is predictable on the basis of stress and syllable
composition. The stressed syllable is always longer. If the syllable is open,
the vowel is longer. If the syllable is closed, the final consonant is longer.
In this section (25.5), length is indicated by reduplication of the vowel or
consonant that is lengthened.
(399) A3'luu2-na3la2.
long-is
'It's long'.
(400) ka3'lunn3-na3la2
lost-is
'It's lost'.
A normally stressed syllable may be given extra length for emphasis. In
(401), n is a lengthened, unreleased nasal consonant. In (402) and (403), x

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 82 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

is a lengthened, unreleased glottal stop, for emphasis. The same effect can
be had by lengthening the vowel instead of the glottal stop, as in (404).
(401) 'Kainn2-na3la2.
big-is
'It's big'.
(402) 'Kain2-khaixxl-na31a2.
big-very-is
'It's very big'.
(403) 'Kain2-khaixxx-na3la2.
big-very, very-is
'It's very, very big'.
(404) 'Kain2-khaiiix'-na3la2.
big-very, very-is
'It's very, very big'.
Another way of indicating emphasis is to repeat the syllable with normal
stress and length.
(405) 'Kain2-khaix-khaix -khaixl-na3la2.
big-very-very-very-is
'It's very, very, very big'.
25.6. Syllable structure. The smallest unit for the syllable is V, with
the following expansion possibilities:
(C)(C)(C)V(V)(C)(C)
VV is possible only if the vowel diphthongs are considered as sepa-
rate characters, which makes for a more complicated description of the
phonology.
There is a CC syllable -nx2 second-person singular, when followed by
the second-person plural -ti3. The tone is carried in the nasal consonant.
(406) U3'hu-nx2-ti3-tu-wa2.
give-o.2SG-2PL-F-IMPF
'He will give to you (plural)'.
(407) A3'li3altulwa2 'I will leave'
(408) 'in3txi3su2 'man'
(409) 'Wxan3tenltu3wa2 'He came'
(410) Ka3'nahx2sxa3'yxau3na2he3la2 'He remained quiet'
(411) Hi2'nun'nyhuh'na2he3la2 'They helped each other'
(412) 'Tau3naltulwa2 'I will chop'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 83

(413) 'Aun3tainltulwa2 'They will leave'

25.7. Morphophonemics. The following set of orderedrules applies to
any Nambikuaralanguage text.
1. A morphemeending in /n/ or a stop adds /t/ before /s/ or /y/ in the fol-
lowing morpheme.
(414) wa2'lit'-su2 wa2'lit-tsu2 'rubber'
(415) wa3'lin3-su2 wa3'lin3-tsu2 'manioc'
(416) wa3'lin3-yau3su2 wa3'lin3-tyau3su2 'manioc juice'
(See rule 13 for the /ty/ change.)
2. In a morpheme-initial/nV/ preceded by a /t/, the nasality shifts to the
vowel. Voicing ceases by assimilation to the preceding consonant.
(417) Ka3'lot3-na3la2 Ka3lot3ta3la2 'It's dripping'
3. When /1/ and/1/occur across morphemeboundaries,they coalesce to /t/.
(418) sa3'wil3-la3 sa3>wi3ta3 'no parakeet'
(See rule 12 for furthermodification.)
4. Morpheme-final 1/ disappearsbefore a morpheme-initial/n/ or a stop.
(419) 'Will-na31a2 'Wilna31a2 'It's pretty'
5. Morpheme-final/t/ becomes /k/ before a morpheme-initial/k/. This in
effect makes the /k/ long.
(420) U3'het3-ki3tulwa2 U3'hek3ki3tulwa2 'We will place'
6. When a morpheme-final /1/ precedes a morpheme-initial /s/, the /s/
becomes /h/. This has the effect of making the /1/ voiceless.
(421) sa3'wil-3su2 sa3wil3hu2 'parakeet'
(See rule 16 regarding syllabification.)
7. Morphemes that end in /h/ before a morpheme-initial /xV/ add a
second /h/. This has the effect of making the /h/ long and ambisyllabic.
(422) U3'thuih3-xa3wa2 U3'thuh3hxa3wa2 'It's not burning'
8. When a morpheme-final/Cx/ precedes a morpheme-initial/s/, the /x/
metathesizes to follow the /s/.
(423) 'ehx3-su2 'eh3sxu2 'ax'
9. When a morpheme-final/nx/ or /lx/ precedes a /V/-initial morpheme,
or when a morpheme-final/n/ or /1/ occurs before a morpheme-initial/xV/,
the /x/ metathesizes to become first in the consonant cluster.
(424) wa3'linx3-a2 wa3'li3xna2 'manioc'
(425) a2'hilx3-a2 a2'hi3xla2 'liver'

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 84 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

(426) 'Will-xa3wa2 'Wilxla3wa2 'It's not pretty'

(426) 'Kdin2-xa3wa2 'Kdi2xna3wa2 'It's not big'
(See rule 16 regarding syllable division.)
10. When two vowels occur across morpheme boundaries in any post-
stressed syllable, the first vowel is deleted. This rule does not apply to
syllables preceding the stressed syllable.
(428) 'Wa3-lxi2ain'tu1wa2 'Wa3lxain1tu1wa2 'They will return'
(429) 'Ai3jxah'lxi3-u'la2 'Ai3jxahllxu1la2 'You may go'
(430) 'Wxd3na1tulwa2-i 'Wxd3naltulwil 'I'll come' (quote)
There is one exception to this rule where the first vowel is retained and the
second is deleted.
(431) U3'hulsa3-inltait'tu3wa2 3'hiulsanltaitltu3wa2 'You gave me'
11. When two vowels occur across morpheme boundaries within the
same word, and one of the morphemes but not the other is stressed, a tran-
sitional consonant /y/, /w/, or /n/ is added at the boundary. (After a front
vowel insert /y/, after a central vowel insert /n/, and after a back vowel in-
sert /w/.)
(432) 'E3te3lalwa2 'I will talk'
(433) P'y-e3te3lalwa2 'I will continue talking'
(434) 'nW2a2 'ni1wa2 'there'
(435) Sa2-'du2a1tu1wa2 Sa2'nau2altulwa2 'I will break'
12. When a syllable-final vowel in a stressed syllable is followed by a
syllable-initial /t/ in an unstressed syllable, the stressed syllable adds a final
/n/. In the first two examples, the /n/ is inserted because the criteria are
met; but in the last example, the /n/ is not inserted due to the stress on the
syllable starting with /t/ as well as the syllable starting with /n/. (This rule
concludes the morphophonemictransformationbegun in rule 3.)
(436) sa3'wi3-ta3 sa3'win3ta3 'parakeet'
(437) 'nalkxai2'na2-tu3 'nalkxai2'ndn2tu3 'if'
(438) 'Nal-'tulwa2 'Nal'tulwa2 'I will'
13. Whenever a /t/ is followed by /y/, they coalesce to become /j/.
(439) 'tet2-tyu2he3la2 'tet2ju2he3la2 'customary action'
(This rule concludes the morphophonemictransformationbegun by rule 1.)
14. Whenever a /tts/ cluster occurs as a result of applying rule 1, the syl-
lable division comes after the first /t/.
(440) wa2'litl-su2 wa2'lit'tsu2 'rubber'

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 85

15. Any single intervocalic consonant is the initial consonant of the sec-
ond syllable.
(441) 'Will-ainlna3la2 'Willainlna3la2 'They are good'
(442) 'Wa3kon3-alwa2 'Wa3ko3nalwa2 'I'm working'
(This rule allows the correct pronunciationfor the second syllable. Without
application of the rule here, the /kon/ would be pronounced /kodn/ and
would be incorrect.)
16. When two consonants occur intervocalically, and one of them is /x/
or /h/, the syllable break comes before the two consonants.
(443) sa3'wil3hu2 sa3'wi31hu2 'parakeet'
(444) U3'thuh3xa3wa2 3'thuh3hxa3wa2 'It's not burning'
(445) 'Kain2xa3la2 'Kdi2nxa3wa2 'Not big'
(This assumes that rule 7 has already been applied.)
17. When two consonants occur intervocalically, the syllable break
comes between the consonants. (This rule assumes that rule 7 and rule 16
have already been applied and thereforeclusters including /h/ or /x/ are not
affected by this rule.)
(446) 'Wa3kon3-ki3tulwa2 'Wa3kon3ki3tu1wa2 'We will work'

APPENDIX A
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 First person; 2 Second person; 3 Third person; 1+2 First and second
person; 1+3 First and third person.
ACTSPActor specifier; ADD Add; ADvl Adverbl; ADV2 Adverb2; ADVZ
Adverbializer; af Angry frustration; als Also; AP Active process; APP
Apparent; ART Article; AS Attention switch; ASP Aspect; AUX Auxiliary;
AUX.DSRDesire; AUX.IMMImminent; AUX.WNTWant.
BN Benefactive suffix.
CAUS Caused; CD Collective verification, Deduction orientation; CE
Certainty emphasizer; CHOIC Choice; CIMPCessation imperative; CLShape
classifier; CLT Clitic; CN Collective verification, Narration orientation;
co Collective verification, Observation orientation; COMP Complement;
CONCConcessional; cons Consecutive; cont Continuous; contf Contraryto
thought; cs Change of state suffix; CTRContrast.
DC.CLTDiscontinuous phrase clitic; DEF Definite; DEM Demonstrative;
DS.CLTDirect speech clitic; DSQ Delayed sequence; DU Dual.
EMPZ Emphasizer; EQUAT Equational; EXP Experience; EXPR
Experiencer.

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 86 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF AMERICAN LINGUISTICS

F Future tense; FN Future negative; fore Foreboding; frnt First; frus

Frustrated.
GR Group.
HANDHand; HPROBHigh probability.
ICIndividual verification, Customary orientation; ID Individual verifica-
tion, Deduction orientation;IMPFImperfective; IMSQ Immediate sequence;
IN Individual verification, Narration orientation; indec Indecisive; indecq
Indecision quoted; INDEF Indefinite; INSTL Instrumental prefix; INSTR Instru-
ment; INTERNInternal;IO Individual verification, Observationorientation.
L Locative.
M Manner.
N Noun; N.CLTNegative clitic; NE Negative emphasizer; NEG Negative;
NI Noun incorporation; NMZNominalizer; NSP Noun specifier; NSQ Normal
sequence; NUNumeral.
o Object; oP Opinion; o.pers Object person.
P Past tense; PCN Phrase connector; PE Positive emphasizer; PF Per-
fective; PIMPPermissive imperative; PL Plural; PNS Pensive quote; PNS.CL
Pensive quote closer; POSPossessive prefix; POS1+2 Possessive inclusive;
PosI Possessive first person; Pos2 Possessive second person; Pos3 Posses-
sive third person; PRCAUT Precautionary; PRES Present tense; PRHProhibi-
tion; PRV Pro-verb; PTL Particle.
Q Question; Q.CLTQuestion clitic; QOPQuote opener.
RCP Reciprocal suffix; RDUP Reduplicated; REP Recent past tense; RFX
Reflexive suffix; RPRemote past tense; rpt Again; RRReturnreferent.
s Subject; S.PERS Subject person; sd Strong desire; SE.PTL Speaker emo-
tion particle; SEQ Sequential; SG Singular; SHRT Strong hortative; SHRTC
Strong hortative of cessation; SIM Similarity; SIMPStrong imperative; SP
Static process; SQT Sequential; STAT Static.
T Temporal;T/ETense/evidential; TFTime frame suffix; TF.F Time frame
future; TF.P Time frame past; TF.PRES Time frame present; TF.REPTime
frame recent past; TF.RPTime frame remote past; THOTThought.
UNSPCCUnspecified in continuum; UNSPCR Unspecified agent reflex-
ively; UNSPGUnspecified agent on goal; up Urgent plea.
v Verb; VEVeracity emphasizer;vz Verbalizer.
WH Question word; WHH Human; WHN Nonhuman; WHRTWeak horta-
tive; WHRTC Weak hortative of cessation; WIMP Weak imperative; WRN
Warninghortative.
REFERENCES
KROEKER, BARBARA.1972. Morphophonemics of Nambiquara.Anthropological Linguistics
14, no. 1.
.1982. Aspectos de Lingua Nambikuara:A Pedagogical Grammar.Brazil: Summer
Institute of Linguistics.

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 DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR OF NAMBIKUARA 87

. 1995. Um Censo da Populacao Nambikuarado Campo. Brazil: Summer Institute of

Linguistics.
. 1998. Um Censo da Populagao Nambikuara do Campo. 2d ed. Brazil: Summer
Institute of Linguistics.
KROEKER, MENNO.1963a. NambikuaraPhonemes. Brazil: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
. 1963b. NambikuaraPronouns. Brazil: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1966a. NambikuaraClauses. Brazil: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1966b. NambikuaraSentence Structure.Brazil: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1966c. NambikuaraVerb Stems. Brazil: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
1975. Thematic linkage in Nambiquara narrative. The Thread of Discourse, ed.
Joseph E. Grimes, pp. 351-62. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University. [Reprint ed., The Hague:
Mouton, 1975, pp. 361-68.]
.1976. CondiqionamentoMiltiplo de Vogais na Lingua Nambikuara.Serie Linguis-
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.1996. Dicionario Escolar Bilingue. Brazil: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
LOWE,IVAN.1972. On the relationship of formal to semantic matrices. Foundations of Lan-
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