Axininca language

Axininca
Ajyéninka
Pronunciation[aˈçiniŋka]
Native toPeru
Native speakers
(4,000 cited 2000)
Arawakan
  • Southern
    • Campa (Pre-Andine)
      • Axininca
Language codes
ISO 639-3cpc
Glottologajyi1238
Linguasphere82-BBA-ai
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Axininca (also "Axininca Campa", Ajyíninka Apurucayali, Campa, Ashaninca, Ashéninca Apurucayali, Apurucayali Campa, Ajyéninka) is an Arawakan language of the Ashéninka dialect group spoken along the Apurucayali tributary of the Pachitea River in Peru.

It has figured prominently in formal linguistic theory involving phonology (especially prosody including its stress) and morphology (Black 1991; Casali 1996, 2011; De Lacy 2002, 2006; De Lacy & Kingston 2013; Itô 1986, 1989; Levin 1985; Lombardi 2002; McCarthy & Prince 1993; Morley 2015; Rosenthall & Horn 1997; Spring 1990a, 1990b, 1990c, 1992; Yip 1983).

Demographics and language policy

There is 20% literacy in Ajyíninka Apurucayali and 30% literacy in Spanish; there was 40 to 50% bilingualism between the two as of 1981.

Classification

Axininca is a member of the Campa languages. Major clasifications of languages have unanimously classified the Campa languages as Arawakan. Axininca itself is closest to the Ucayali varietry of Ashéninka.

Geographical distribution

Axininca is spoken in the Apurucayali River and its respective tributaries, as well as potentially on the Arruya River.

History

Documentation

The first documentation of Axininca includes a wordlist published in 1973 by Heitzman, who collected data from Puerto Davis alng the Apurucayali River. Anderson's (1976) account of a surver trip lasting a week, also on the Apurucayali, contains a number of impressions on Axininca, including a basic comparison to other Asheninca varieties.

Phonology

Consonants

Payne (1981) describes the following Axininca consonant inventory:

Bilabial Apical Postalveolar/
Palatal
Velar Glottal
Plosives unaspirated ptk
aspirated tʰ
Affricates unaspirated tstʃ
aspirated tsʰtʃʰ
Fricatives sçh
Liquids rrʲ
Nasals mnɲ
Glides β̞jɰ
Unspecified nasal N

Vowels

Axininca has three phonemic vowels:

Front Back
unrounded rounded
High i
Mid o
Low a

Morphology

Axininca distinguishes five parts of speech, being verbs, nouns, adverbs, adjectives, and pronouns. However, pronouns and adverbs, as well as adjectives and nouns, are morphologically identical to each other. Verb stems cannot occur isolated. Nouns and adjectives may be suffixed for possession. Adverbs and pronouns can occur in isolation, but cannot take possessive affixes.

Notes

  1. ↑ The name Campa is offensive.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Payne, David L. (1981). The Phonology and Morphology of Axininca Campa (PDF). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  2. ↑ Axininca at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

Bibliography