The Northern Jê or Core Jê languages (Portuguese: Jê Setentrionais) are a branch of the Jê languages constituted by the Timbira dialect continuum (which includes Canela, Krahô, Pykobjê, Krikati, Parkatêjê, and Kỳikatêjê) and a number of languages spoken to the west of the Tocantins River, the Trans-Tocantins languages Apinajé, Mẽbêngôkre, Kĩsêdjê, and Tapayúna. Together with Panará (and its predecessor, Southern Kayapó), they form the Goyaz branch of the Jê family.
The term Northern Jê has been sometimes used to refer to a broader group of languages, which also includes Panará and Southern Kayapó. In this article, the label Northern Jê is used in the narrow sense (that is, excluding Panará and Southern Kayapó).
Phonology
The Northern Jê languages have been noted for their outstanding relation between the nasality vs. orality of the nuclei and the allophonic realization of the adjacent nasal consonants. In Apinajé and Kĩsêdjê, for instance, underlying nasal consonants surface as partially oral (for example, /m/ [mb]) if the nucleus of the syllable is oral; this allophony pattern has been characterized by Wetzels and Nevins (2018) as nasal shielding.
All Northern Jê languages have similar phonotactic restrictions. Typically, the maximal syllable is CRWVC, where C stands for a consonant, R for a rhotic (typically /ɾ/), W for a glide (/w j/), and V for a vowel. Several additional co-occurrence restrictions apply: only /p m k ŋ/ may form a complex onset with a rhotic, /j/ never follows coronals (i.e., clusters such as ˣ/nj/, ˣ/cj/ or ˣ/pɾj/ are not permitted; */tj/ is reconstructed for Proto-Northern Jê but is not preserved in any contemporary language), and /w/ never follows labials (i.e., */pw pɾw mw bw ww/ are ruled out). In specific languages, some of these restrictions have been altered due to sound change. For example, Kĩsêdjê has lost Proto-Northern Jê */pɾ/ for hr [hɺ] through debuccalization. In Apinajé, the fricatives /v z/ replaced the earlier glides */w j/, resulting in the inversion of the order of the elements in the triconsonantal clusters from CRW to CWR (e.g. */kɾw/ > /kvɾ/), which has been attributed to the different treatment of glides and fricatives by the Sonority Sequencing Principle. The Timbira varieties only have CRVC and CWVC, but not *CRWVC.
Consonants
Onsets The inventory of Proto-Northern Jê onsets (including complex onsets) is reconstructed as follows. Note that underlying nasals acquired an oral phrase preceding an oral nucleus (this is preserved in all Northern Jê languages with the exception of Mẽbêngôkre, which no longer has the postoralized allophones of the underlying nasal stops). Conversely, the underlying voiced stops */ĵ/ and */g/ were nasalized to *[ɲ] and *[ŋ] preceding nasal nuclei. labiallabial + rhoticdentialveolarpalatalvelarvelar + rhoticvoiceless stops*/p/ *[p]*/pɾ/ *[pɾ]*/t/ *[t]*/c/ *[c]*/k/ *[k]*/kɾ/ *[kɾ]voiced stops*/b/ *[b](*/d/ *[d])*/ɟ/ (nasal *[ɲ],oral & stressed *[ɟ],oral & unstressed *[j])*/g/ (nasal *[ŋ],oral *[g])nasal stops*/m/(nasal *[m],oral *[mb])*/mɾ/(nasal *[mɾ],oral *[mbɾ])*/n/(nasal *[n],oral *[nd])*/ɲ/(nasal —,oral *[ɲɟ])*/ŋ/(nasal *[ŋ],oral *[ŋg])*/ŋɾ/(nasal *[ŋɾ],oral *[ŋgɾ])sonorants*/w/ *[w]*/ɾ/ *[ɾ]*/j/ *[j]
Specific Northern Jê languages innovated in multiple ways with respect to the reconstructed inventory. For example, the Timbira languages, Apinajé and the Tapajós languages coincide in no longer employing the feature [voice] (in most cases, however, the oppositions present in Proto-Northern Jê have been preserved by introducing contrastive aspirated consonants). In the Tapajós languages, the palatal stops were dentalized, whereas the original dentialveolar consonants acquired considerable retraction. In addition, Tapayúna got rid of all labial consonants.
The following table shows the usual reflexes of the Proto-Northern Jê onsets in the individual languages. The reconstructions are cited after Nikulin & Salanova (2019) in the Macro-Jê alphabet, whereas for the reflexes in the contemporary languages the official orthographies in use by the respective language communities are preferred. The underlying representations are given in the International Phonetic Alphabet.
+ Northern Jê onsets Proto-Northern Jê Mẽbêngôkre Kĩsêdjê Tapayúna Apinajé Parkatêjê Canela, Krahô, Pykobjê Krikati *p */p/ p /p/ hw /hʷ/, h /h/, w /w/ hw /hʷ/, h /h/, w /w/ p /p/ p /p/ *mb */m/ m /m/ mb /m/ w /w̃/ m /m/ mp /mp/, p /p/ *m */m/ m /m/ m /m/ w /w̃/ m /m/ m /m/ *pr */pɾ/ pr /pɾ/ hr /hɺ/ hr /hɾ/ pr /pɾ/ pr /pɾ/ *mbr */mɾ/ mr /mɾ/ mbr /mɺ/ nr /ɾ̃/ mr /mɾ/ mpr /mpɾ/, pr /pɾ/ *mr */mɾ/ mr /mɾ/ mr /mɺ/ nr /ɾ̃/ mr /mɾ/ mr /mɾ/ *b */b/ b /b/ p /p/, w /w/ w /w/ p /p/ p /p/ *w */w/ w /w/ w /w/ w /w/ w /v/ w /w/ *t */t/ t /t/ th /t̠ʰ/ th /t̠ʰ/ t /t/ t /t/ *nd */n/ n /n/ nd /n/ nd ~ n /n/ n /n/ nt /nt/, t /t/ *n */n/ n /n/ n /n/ n /n/ n /n/ n /n/ *d */d/ ∅ /∅/ r /ɺ/, nd /n/, t /t̪/ r /ɾ/, t /t̪/ ∅ /∅/, t /t/ t /t/ *r */ɾ/ r /ɾ/ r /ɺ/ r /ɾ/ r /ɾ/ r /ɾ/ *c */c/ ∅ /∅/ s /s/ t /t̪/ ∅ /∅/ h /h/, ∅ /∅/ *nĵ */ɲ/ nh /ɲ/ j /ɲ/ nt ~ nd /ⁿt/ nh /ɲ/ nx /ntʃ/ (C, Pb, Kk, Pt), /nts/ (Kh); x /tʃ/ (C, Pb, Kk, Pt), /ts/ (Kh) *ñ */ɟ/ nh /ɲ/ nh /ɲ/ nh /ɲ/ nh /ɲ/ j /j/ *ĵ */ɟ/ dj /dʒ/ t /t̪/ t /t̪/ x /tʃ/ x /tʃ/ (C, Pb, Kk, Pt), /ts/ (Kh) *j */ɟ/, */j/ j /j/ j /ɲ/ j /j/ j /z/ j /j/ *k */k/ k /k/ kh /kʰ/ kh /kʰ/ k /k/ k /k/ c/qu (C, Kh), k (Pb) /kʰ/ c/qu /kʰ/ *ŋg */ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ nk /nk/ nc/nqu /nk/, c/qu /k/ *ŋ */ŋ/, */g/ ng /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ ng /ŋ/ h /h/ g /ŋ/ h /h/ *kr */kɾ/ kr /kɾ/ khr /kʰɺ/, kh /kʰ/ khr /kʰɾ/, kh /kʰ/ kr /kɾ/ kr /kʰɾ/ kr /kʰɾ/ *ŋgr */ŋɾ/ ngr /ŋɾ/ ngr /ŋɺ/ nghr /ŋɾ/ ngr /ŋɾ/ nkr /nkɾ/ ncr /nkɾ/, cr /kɾ/ *ŋr */ŋɾ/ ngr /ŋɾ/ ngr /ŋɺ/ nghr /ŋɾ/ ngr /ŋɾ/ r /ɾ/ *g */g/ g /g/ k /k/ k /k/ k /k/ k /k/ c/qu /k/
Codas In all Northern Jê languages, the syllables may be either open or closed. The maximum number of consonants in the coda position is one (that is, only simplex codas are allowed). The nasal codas which follow oral nuclei may be subject to nasal shielding in some languages, whereby the initial phase of the nasal consonant is oralized, as in Apinajé /om/ [ˈobm] ‘its powder’.
In most (if not all) Northern Jê languages, codas may be followed by epenthetic vowels called echo vowels. Most commonly, the echo vowels are exact copies of the nuclei, but some nuclei (especially /a/) may trigger height dissimilation of the echo vowels; in addition, codas may influence the quality of the echo vowels (details vary from language to language). In the Tapajós languages Kĩsêdjê and Tapayúna, the echo vowels are represented orthographically; in Mẽbêngôkre, the echo vowels are written out only after r, whereas in the remaining languages the echo vowels are not reflected in writing.
The inventory of Proto-Northern Jê codas comprised nine phonemes, whose reflexes in the daughter languages are shown below. The character V stands for the echo vowels whose quality is a precise copy of the respective nucleus. For the Tapajós languages Kĩsêdjê and Tapayúna, which represent the echo vowels orthographically, both possibilities (without and with the echo vowel) are given, separated by a slash.
+ Northern Jê codas Proto-Northern Jê Mẽbêngôkre Kĩsêdjê Tapayúna Apinajé Parkatêjê, Canela, Krahô, Krikati Pykobjê V_ Ṽ_ *p */p/ p p / wVp / wy (after /a/) m / mV p / wV p p *m */m/ m ~ p m / my m / mV p / wV m m *t */t/ t t / rVt / ri (after /a/) n / nV t / rV t t *n */n/ n ~ t n / ni n / nV t / rV n n *r */ɾ/ rVri (after a;in nouns also after o, à) rVj / ji (after /a/;in nouns also after o, á) rV rVj (after /a/;in nouns also after o, à) r r *c */c/ x ~ j t / rVt / ri (after a, e) nV / rVn / ni (after ẽ) t / rVt / ri (after e) x j x *ñ */ɲ/ nh ~ j n / ni nV / rVn / ni (after ẽ) j nh n *j */j/ j j / ji j j j *k */k/ k k / kVk / ky (after /a/) k / kV k k (Pt), c (C, Kh, Kk, P) /k/
Nuclei The inventory of Proto-Northern Jê monophthongs is reconstructed as follows.
oralnasal*i */i/*y */ɨ/*u */u/*ĩ */ĩ/*ỹ */ɨ̃/(*ũ */ũ/)*ê */e/*ə̂ */ɘ/*ô */o/*e */ɛ/*ə */ɜ/*o */ɔ/*ẽ */ɛ̃/*ə̃ */ɜ̃/*õ */ɔ̃/*a */a/(*ã */ã/)
In addition, six complex nuclei can be reconstructed, of which three are falling (*/ɨwă/, */uwă/, */ijă/, represented by Nikulin & Salanova (2019) as *ŷ, *û, *î) and three are raising (*/wa/, */ja/, */je/).
The following table shows the usual reflexes of the Proto-Northern Jê nuclei in the individual languages. The reconstructions are cited after Nikulin & Salanova (2019) in the Macro-Jê alphabet as well as in the International Phonetic Alphabet. For the reflexes in the contemporary languages, the official orthographies in use by the respective language communities have been preferred.
+ Northern Jê nuclei Proto-Northern Jê Mẽbêngôkre Kĩsêdjê Tapayúna Apinajé Parkatêjê Canela, Krahô Pykobjê, Krikati *a */a/ a a a a a a a *ə */ɜ/ à á à à à à ỳ *ə̂ */ɘ/ ỳ â â ỳ ỳ ỳ y *y */ɨ/ y y y y y y ỳh *ŷ */ɨwă/ y yp / ywy yp / ywy yw uw, ow uw, ow ohw, ow *o */ɔ/ o o o o o o o *ô */o/ ô ô ô, (w)â ô, (w)â ô ô u *u */u/ u u u u u u oh *û */uwă/ uwa ? uwa uw ~ ur uw, ow uw, ow ohw, ow *wa */wa/ wa wa wa wa wa wa wa *wə̂ */wɘ/ wỳ wâ wâ wỳ wỳ wỳ wy *e */ɛ/ e e e e e e e *ê */e/ ê ê ê ê ê ê i *i */i/ i i i i i i eh *î */ijă/ ija ija ija ij ~ ir ij ij ehj *jê */je/ jê jê jê jê jê jê ji *ã */ã/ ã ~ a ã ã ã ã ~ a ã ~ a ã *ə̃ */ɜ̃/ ã ã ã ã ã ã ỹ *ỹ */ɨ̃/ ỹ ỹ ỹ ỹ ỹ ỹ ỹh *õ */ɔ̃/ õ õ õ õ õ õ õ *ũ */ũ/ ũ ũ ũ ũ ũ ũ õh *ẽ */ɛ̃/ ẽ ẽ ẽ ẽ ẽ ẽ ẽ *ĩ */ĩ/ ĩ ĩ ĩ ĩ ĩ ĩ ẽh
Morphology Finiteness morphology In all Northern Jê languages verbs inflect for finiteness and thus have a basic opposition between a finite form and a nonfinite form. Finite forms are used in matrix clauses only, whereas nonfinite forms are used in all types of subordinate clauses as well as in some matrix clauses (at least in some languages). Nonfinite forms are most often formed via suffixation and/or prefix substitution. Some verbs (including all descriptives with the exception of *kato ‘to exit’, whose nonfinite form is *kator) lack an overt finiteness distinction.
For the protolanguage, five nonfinite suffixes have been reconstructed: *-r (the most common option, found in many transitive and intransitive verbs), *-ñ (found in some transitive verbs), as well as *-k, *-m, and *-c (found in a handful of intransitive verbs which take a nominative subject when finite).
+ Nonfinite suffixesin Proto-Northern Jê finite nonfinite gloss suffix *-r *mõ *mõr to go (plural) *bĩ *bĩr to kill (singular) *krẽ *krẽr to eat (singular) *karê *karêr to weed *japrô *japrôr to take away suffix *-ñ *põ *põñ to rub *kê *kêñ to grate *kwỹr *kwỹñ to break *kumbə *kumbəñ to gnaw *kaĵô *kaĵôñ to tear suffix *-k *ty *tyk to die *rû *rwə̂k to descend suffix *-m *tẽ *tẽm to go (singular) *ijkõ *kõm to drink *ĵa *ĵãm to stand (singular) suffix *-c *aŋgî *ŋgjêc to enter (plural)
In a handful of verbs, all of which end in an underlying stop, the nonfinite form does not receive any overt suffixes, but it is nevertheless distinct from the finite form because the latter lenites the stem-final consonant (*-t, *-c, *-k → *-r, *-j, *-r).
+ Nonfinite suffixesin Proto-Northern Jê finite nonfinite gloss *tjêr *tjêt to burn *ŋõr *ñõt to sleep *bôj *bôc to arrive *do=pôj *do=pôc to extract (plural) *kar *kak to cough *pôr *pôk to burn, to ignite *jarkjêr *jarkjêk to yawn
Palatalizing prefix A small set of verbs form their nonfinite forms by employing one of the aforementioned processes and a morphophonological process whereby the onset of the stressed syllable becomes palatal, and the nucleus of the stressed syllable is raised (if possible); this has been attributed to the influence of an underlying palatalizing nonfinite prefix.