Kaingang – Simple Sentences

Kaingang, an Amerindian language of the Ge family, is spoken in four southern states of Brazil: São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.

The basic word orders in Kaingang are (1) SUBJECT (or Agent) + (2) OBJECT (or Patient) + (3) VERB for transitive constructions and (1) SUBJECT + (2) VERB for intransitive constructions. Consider the following examples (the symbol ¨ represents a nasal):

(1) Subj + O + Vt

rãrir vÿ rãgró tóg tï

Sun-Subj Marker dry bean Asp-HAB

“The sun dries the beans.”

(2) Subj + Vi

kÿnkÿr vÿ të

parrot-Subj Marker fly-Vi

‘The parrot flies’

Kaingang is an initial subject language showing the following constitution order: the postposition follows the noun (N-Postp), the noun precedes the adjective (N-Adj), and the genitive precedes the noun (Gen-N).

This means that Kaingang is a slightly inconsistent SOV type (Greenberg type 24) showing, like Basque, disharmony (N-Adj). Note that the languages ​​with Basque typology are at least partially ergative. In addition to that, the ergative system occurs with languages ​​that display the SOV or VSO as their basic word order.

The Kaingang clause shows the following general pattern:

S (Cir / IO) (O) V (ASP)

That is, the subject and the verb are the only mandatory elements in all the clauses. The subject is usually the first element of a clause. However, the direct object can be intended for emphasis. Non-direct arguments such as circumstance (Cir) and indirect object (IO) occur before the object. The object immediately precedes the verb. As a general rule, the object is always unchecked for upper and lower case. Facing an object from its unmarked position results in its marking by the postposition tÿ. Finally, Aspect Particles (ASP) are positioned as the last element of a clause.