Maxakalí language
| Maxakalí | |
|---|---|
| (Tikmũ'ũn) Yĩy'ax | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Minas Gerais |
|
Native speakers
|
1,300 (2006) |
|
Maxakalían
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | west2636 |
Maxakalí (Yĩy'ax 'language', Tikmũ'ũn Yĩy'ax 'Maxakalí language') is a Maxakalían language spoken in fourteen villages in Minas Gerais, Brazil, by fewer than a thousand people.
Mason identifies six varieties of Maxakali. All but Maxakalí proper are extinct:
Maxakalí has five vowels, occurring in both oral and nasal form.
The most common word order in Maxakalí is SOV.
Maxakalí is an ergative language. The ergative case covers transitive subjects as well as indirect objects. The absolutive case covers intransitive subjects and transitive objects.
For some verbs, number is shown not by conjugation, but by suppletive verb stems. These verb stems can show number differences either for the subject or for the object.
Subject number
Object number
Maxakalí nouns readily form compounds, here are some examples:
...
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