Dohkapuara
Tuyuca
Tukanoan (Eastern)
Tuyuca (Dohkapuara) is an Eastern Tukanoan language of the NW Amazon, spoken by ~800-1000 people along the Papurí river and adjacent Vaupés tributaries on the Colombia-Brazil border. The Tuyuca participate in the famous Vaupés linguistic-exogamy network, in which spouses must come from a different language group, producing extreme societal multilingualism. Tuyuca is the textbook example of OBLIGATORY EVIDENTIALITY: every finite verb form must specify the speaker's source of information through one of FIVE evidential markers — visual (you saw it), non-visual (heard / felt / smelled), inferred (deduced from physical evidence), assumed (general knowledge / habitual), and reported (someone told you). The English statement "John played soccer" cannot be translated into Tuyuca without simultaneously encoding HOW the speaker knows it. Barnes' 1984 IJAL paper and Aikhenvald's 2004 monograph Evidentiality (Oxford) made the Tuyuca system the touchstone for cross-linguistic typology of evidentials.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Tuyuca
Water
oko
/oko/
Fire
pekãbẽ
/pekãbẽ/
Sun
—
/—/
Moon
—
/—/
Star
ñokõ
/ɲokõ/
Mother
pakó
/pakó/
Father
—
/—/
I
yʉʉ
/jɨː/
You
mʉʉ
/mɨː/
Name
wamé
/wamẽ/
Eye
kapea
/kapea/
Hand
—
/—/
Heart
—
/—/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
yukɨgɨ
/jukɨɡɨ/
House
—
/—/
Dog
diayi
/diaji/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
—
/—/
Drink
sĩdĩ
/sĩdĩ/
One
sika
/sika/
Two
pʉ́aro
/pɨ́aɾo/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
—
/—/
Sources
- Barnes, Janet (1984) "Evidentials in the Tuyuca verb" IJAL 50:255-271
- Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. (2004) Evidentiality (Oxford University Press)
- Stenzel, Kristine (2007) "The semantics of serial verb constructions" Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
- Glottolog: Tuyuca
- Ethnologue: tue
Words compared
Compared with related Tukanoan (Eastern) languages
| Meaning | Tuyuca | Damin (Lardil ceremonial register) | Venetic | Proto-Hmong-Mien | Goguryeo | Nicaraguan Sign Language | Tartessian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | oko /oko/ | — /—/ | ouriom /ˈou.ri.om/ | *ʔuwm /ʔuwm/ | 買 /*mai/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | pekãbẽ /pekãbẽ/ | l!ii /lǃiː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Moon | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Star | ñokõ /ɲokõ/ | l*i /ʎ͡ʘi/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mother | pakó /pakó/ | — /—/ | matur /ˈma.tur/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Father | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| I | yʉʉ /jɨː/ | n!aa /ŋ͡ʘaː/ | eχo /ˈexo/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| You | mʉʉ /mɨː/ | n!uu /ŋ͡ʘuː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Name | wamé /wamẽ/ | m!ii /m͡ʘiː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eye | kapea /kapea/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | yukɨgɨ /jukɨɡɨ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | diayi /diaji/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | sĩdĩ /sĩdĩ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | sika /sika/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Two | pʉ́aro /pɨ́aɾo/ | r!ii /ɽ͡ʘiː/ | — /—/ | *ʔwei /ʔwei/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
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