Kari'na

Galibi Carib

Cariban

FamilyCariban Speakers~7K (definitely endangered) ScriptLatin CountriesSuriname Official inSuriname Vitalitydefinitely-endangered ISO 639-3car

Galibi Carib (autonymously Kari'na, also known as Kalinha or Karina) is the type-language for the entire Cariban language family — the Spanish term "caribe" derived from the Carib autonym, and gave rise to both "Caribbean" (the geographic region) and "cannibal" (Carib was a feared warrior people in colonial Spanish accounts). The Galibi Carib language is spoken by around 7,000 people across Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela, Guyana, and northern Brazil. The Carib peoples were the dominant indigenous group of the southern Caribbean and northern South American coast at the time of European contact in the 1490s, having migrated north from the Amazon basin to displace the earlier Arawak peoples. The Carib language was a lingua franca of the southern Caribbean before being largely replaced by colonial languages, with surviving Carib speech communities now concentrated along the Atlantic coast of the Guianas and the Lesser Antilles (where Carib has effectively been replaced by Garifuna cab — descended from a Carib-Arawak-Spanish-French creole that developed on St. Vincent).

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Galibi Carib

Water

tuna

/tuna/

Fire

waktö

/waktø/

Sun

weju

/weju/

Moon

nuno

/nuno/

Mother

sano

/sano/

Father

papa

/papa/

Eat

onökö

/onøkø/

Drink

ëne

/ɘne/

Love

kataneko

/kataneko/

Heart

emanga

/emaŋɡa/

Tree

wewe

/wewe/

House

paty

/pati/

Dog

pero

/peɾo/

Cat

meu

/meu/

Hand

amu

/amu/

Eye

enu

/enu/

Hello

mary

/maɾi/

Thank you

irombo

/iɾombo/

One

o:wi

/oːwi/

Good

epoja

/epoja/

Sources

Words compared

Compared with related Cariban languages

Meaning Galibi CaribGarifunaMaquiritariWixarikaWaraoNorthern EmberaSoninke
Water tuna /tuna/ huya /huja/ tuna /tuna/ ha /ha/ hoidu /hojdu/ do /do/ jiyi /dʒiji/
Fire waktö /waktø/ watu /watu/ kayuwane /kajuwane/ tai /tai/ hekunu /hekunu/ tu /tu/ ñaaxe /ɲaːxe/
Sun weju /weju/ weyu /weju/ shi /ʃi/ tau /tau/ ya /ja/ hewa /hewa/ kiye /kije/
Moon nuno /nuno/ hati /hati/ nuna /nuna/ metsa /metsa/ waniku /waniku/ ahuru /ahuɾu/ kullu /kulːu/
Mother sano /sano/ úguchu /uɡutʃu/ ñawi /ɲawi/ nana /nana/ dani /dani/ papa /papa/ ma /ma/
Father papa /papa/ úguchili /uɡutʃili/ baba /baba/ yawe /jawe/ daka /daka/ apa /apa/ baba /baba/
Eat onökö /onøkø/ éiga /eiɡa/ äsuukai /ɨsuːkai/ kuye /kuje/ nahoro /nahoɾo/ ko /ko/ lawu /lawu/
Drink ëne /ɘne/ ata /ata/ äsoojai /ɨsoːʒai/ hi'eka /hiʔeka/ osi /osi/ dorrare /doraɾe/ mini /mini/
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