Kayapo language
| Kayapó | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Mato Grosso |
| Ethnicity | Kayapo |
|
Native speakers
|
8,638 (2010) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | kaya1330 |
Kayapô is a Jê language of Brazil. Mebengokre, also known as Kayapô is an indigenous language used in the eastern part of the Amazon, north of Mato Grosso and Para in Brazil. Mebengokre belongs to the Jê family and the Macro-Jê family stock. There are around 8,638 native speakers since 2010 based on the 2015 Ethnologue 18th edition. Due to the number of speakers the influence of Portuguese speakers, the language stands at a sixth level of endangerment; in which the materials for literacy and education in Kayapô are very limited.
The names Kayapô and Mebengokre do not only make reference to the language itself but have also been used to classify the indigenous communities that speak this language. Kayapô means “those who look like monkeys” and has been used to distinguish the Kayapô group from the other Mebengokre speaking peoples. The name Mebengokre has a meaning of itself; when referring to people, it means “the men of the hole/place of water.” "Although there are differences between the dialects spoken among the various ethnic groups, all recognize themselves as participants in a common culture."
The first historical records of the Kayapô language and culture date back to the end of the 19th century written by the French explorer Henri Coudreau, who came in contact with the Irã'ã Mrãjre Kayapô. The following writings were made by the missionaries who arrived to Brazil later in the century to Christianize the indigenous people. Known authors of such period are Father Sebastião and Reverend Horace Banner, who lived among another Mebengokre group known as Gorotire Kayapó between 1937 and 1951. Although, “the Mebengokre [have been in] permanent contact with the surrounding non-indigenous population at various times, in most cases [there have been] catastrophic consequences. The Irã'ã Mrãjre are now extinct, and the population of the Gorotire Kayapó decreased by 80% during the first years of contact. Following such brutal experiences, some small refused to be approached by investigators and remain uncontacted around the Xingu and Curua rivers.
Since the exploration period, academic linguists and anthropologists have investigated the Mebengokre and have successfully acquired a body of knowledge about this indigenous group. There are academic writings on the descriptive grammar and phonology of Kayapô language; some by Stout and Thomson in 1974, and Borgues in 1995, dictionaries with Portuguese translations; syntactic and phonological studies by Andres Salanova and Amelia Silva, translations of the New Testament into Kayapô published in 1996, and literary works including myth and ritual stories and descriptions of the Mebengokre speaking communities.
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