Jê languages

The Jê languages (also spelled Gê, Jean, Ye, Gean), or Jê–Kaingang languages, are spoken by the Jê, a group of indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Genetic relations

The Jê family forms the core of the Macro-Jê family. Kaufman (1990) finds the proposal convincing.

Family division

According to Ethnologue (which omits Jeikó), the language family is as follows:

Jeikó (†)
Northern Jê
- Apinayé (2,300 speakers)
- Mẽbengokre (Kayapó) (8,638 speakers)
- Panará (Kreen Akarore) (380 speakers)
- Suyá (350 speakers)
- Timbira (Canela-Krayô, with the Canela and Kreye dialects) (5,100 speakers)
Central Jê
- Acroá (†)
- Xavante (9,600 speakers)
- Xerente (1,810 speakers)
- Xakriabá (†)
Southern Jê
- Xokleng (760 speakers)
- Kaingáng
  - Kaingáng (18,000 speakers)
  - São Paulo Kaingáng (†)
  - Ingain (†)
  - Guayana (†)

Ramirez (2015)

Internal classification of the Jê languages according to Ramirez, et al. (2015):^[1]

Jê

Southern Jê (dialect continuum)
- Ingain ↔ Xokleng ↔ Kaigáng
Northern Jê
- Jê proper (Timbira-Kayapó dialect continuum)
  - Canela-Krahô ↔ Gavião-Krĩkati ↔ Apinajé ↔ Kayapó ↔ Suyá-Tapayuna ↔ Panará-Kayapó do Sul
- Akuwẽ (various microdialects)
  - Xavante
  - Xerente (including Xakriabá, Akroá, Gueguê)

Ramirez excludes Jaikó as a possibly spurious language.

Nikulin (2020)

According to Nikulin (2020), the internal branching of the Jê language family is as follows:^[2]^[3]

Jê

Paraná
- Ingain
- Southern Jê
  - Kaingáng
  - Laklãnõ
Cerrado
- Akuwẽ
  - Xerénte
  - Xavánte
  - Xakriabá
  - Acroá
- Goyaz Jê
  - Southern Kayapó
    - Mossâmedes dialect
    - Triângulo dialect
      - Panará
  - Northern Jê
    - Timbíra
      - Parkatêjê; Kỳikatêjê
      - Core Timbíra
        Krikati; Pykobjê
        Krahô; Canela (dialects: Apànjêkra, Mẽmõrtũmre)
    - Trans-Tocantins
      - Apinajé
      - Trans-Araguaia
        Mẽbêngôkre (dialects: Xikrín, Kayapó)
        Tapajós
        Kĩsêdjê
        Tapayúna

Some sound changes and lexical innovations that define various Jê subgroups:^[4]

Proto-Southern Jê *a < *Proto-Jê *ô
Proto-Cerrado *wa < Proto-Jê *ô
Proto-Goyaz Jê: *am, *um, *ɨm > *ãm, *ũm, *ɨ̃m
- Proto-Northern Jê: replacement of *kakũm ‘dry season’ (as in Panará akũŋ and Proto-Central Jê transl. mis – transl. '*wahum) with *aŋgrə
- Proto-Timbíra: *c > *h
- Proto-Trans-Tocantins: replacement of *a-mbə ‘eat (intransitive)’ with *ap-ku

Varieties

Below is a full list of Jê language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.^[5]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.^[5]

Proto-language

Nikulin (2020)

Proto-Jê reconstructions by Nikulin (2020):^[2]

For a more complete list of Proto-Jê reconstructions, as well as Proto-Southern Jê reconstructions, see the corresponding Portuguese article.

Proto-Jê reconstructions by Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010):^[6]

References

Wiktionary has a list of reconstructed forms at Appendix:Proto-Jê reconstructions

^ Ramirez, Henri; Vegini, Valdir; França, Maria Cristina Victorino de (2015). "Koropó, puri, kamakã e outras línguas do Leste Brasileiro". LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas. 15 (2): 223–277. doi:10.20396/liames.v15i2.8642302.
^ a b Nikulin, Andrey (2020). "A reconstruction of Proto-Jê phonology and lexicon". Journal of Language Relationship. 17 (1–2): 93–127. doi:10.31826/jlr-2019-171-211.
^ Nikulin, Andrey. 2020. Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo. Doctoral dissertation, University of Brasília.
^ Nikulin, Andrey; De Carvalho, Fernando O. (2019). "Estudos diacrônicos de línguas indígenas brasileiras: Um panorama" (PDF). Macabéa – Revista Eletrônica do Netlli. 8 (2): 255–305. doi:10.47295/mren.v8i2.1910.
^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
^ Ribeiro, Eduardo Rivail (2010). "Nimuendajú was right: The inclusion of the jabutí language family in the Macro-Jê stock". International Journal of American Linguistics. 76 (4): 517–570. doi:10.1086/658056. hdl:2066/86080.