Tanimuca-Retuarã is a Tucanoan language of Colombia, spoken by 300 people of the Tanimuca and Retuarã, two Indigenous peoples of Colombia. Typologically, it exhibits a basic subject–object–verb word order and is predominantly suffixing. It has been heavily influenced by Yucuna, another language of the region and classified within the Arawakan language family. Despite the influence from Yucuna and neighbouring Macuna, "the language is still spoken on all occasions".
History
Language contact Tanimuca-Retuarã exhibits significant differences from other East Tucanoan languages. This is due to historical contact and influence from the Yucuna language, spoken nearby. The two languages exhibit significant phonological and morphological similarities between them, and their cultures also share various myths and oral history.
Phonology Consonants BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalStopplain()voicedFricativeTrillApproximant Voiced stops are nasalized to before nasal vowels. is also nasalized to a nasalized flap in the same environment (e.g. realized as ).
Vowels FrontCentralBackplainnasalplainnasalplainnasalHighMidLow Vowel length is contrastive.
Suprasegmental features Stress in Tanimuca-Retuarã is phonemic, or contrastive. Other East Tucanoan languages, of which Tanimuca-Retuarã is a member, maintain a tonal distinction instead, which Tanimuca-Retuarã has lost. This is due to influence from Yucuna, which has a similar distinction. An example of a minimal pair, pairs of words differing in only one phonological element, is 'uncle' vs. 'yes'. Stressed syllables are often pronounced with a higher pitch, and stressed vowels are typically lengthened.
Syllable structure The basic syllable structure is (C)V, where C is a wildcard symbol for any consonant and V is a wildcard for any vowel. Closed syllables, in the form of *CVC, do not exist.
Syntax
Word order Tanimuca-Retuarã exhibits a subject-object-verb word order in main declarative clauses, as is illustrated by the examples below.
The subject in the example above is a full noun phrase, but these are uncommon in discourse. Subject pronoun clitics are attached before the verb, making object–subject–verb (OSV) word order much more common.
Notes
References