| Gamela | |
|---|---|
| Gamela of Viana | |
| Native to | Maranhão, Brazil |
| Region | Northeastern Brazil |
| Ethnicity | ~1,200Gamela people [pt][1] |
| Extinct | by 1968 |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | game1240 |
Gamela (Gamella, Acobu, Barbados),a.k.a.Curinsi orAcobu, is an unclassified and extinct language of theMaranhão region ofNortheastern Brazil. It was originally spoken along theItapecuru River,Turiaçu River, andPindaré River, with ethnic descendants reported to be living in Cabo and Vianna inMaranhão State.[2] The Gamela today speakXavante and Portuguese. The last full-blooded Gamela died around the 1910s, and by 1930 only one old woman still remembered something of the language.[3]
Kaufman (1994) said that 'onlyGreenberg dares to classify this language', due to the lack of data on it.
This is theGamela language ofViana for which 19 words are recorded inNimuendajú (1937:68).[4]
Below are other extinct varieties, many of which have no data, that may have been related to Gamela.[2]
Loukotka (1968) gives three words in Gamela:[2]
Gamella of Viana words recorded byNimuendajú (1937:68) from his informant Maria Cafuza inViana, Maranhão:[3]
| gloss | Gamella of Viana |
|---|---|
| fire | tatá (<Tupi) |
| penis | purú |
| vulva | sebú |
| Negro | katú-brohó |
| White? Indian? | katú-koyaká |
| brother-in-law | múisi |
| pot | kokeáto |
| gourd bowl | kutubé |
| club | tamarána (<Tupi) |
| knife | kasapó |
| jaguar | yopopó |
| monkey | kokói (<Timbira) |
| horse | pohoné |
| cattle | azutí |
| domestic fowl | kureːká |
| tree | kyoipé |
| tobacco | anéno |
| pepper | birizu |
| thick | tomabéto |
