Linguistic evidence and Tupi-Guarani/Cariban contacts in the Eastern Guianas: Wajãpi kasi ‘be strong’, pipi ‘father’s sister’ and kasuru ‘pearl’

Abstract

Abstract This brief paper proposes a Cariban etymology for the Wajãpi (Tupi-Guarani) verb -kasi ‘be strong’, which has been incorrectly suggested as being of Tupi-Guarani provenance. It is proposed that the source language for this diffusion event was Apalai, and not Wayana, as is usually claimed when the issue of the Cariban influx into Wajãpi is addressed. Two other Cariban loans are discussed, pipi ‘father’s sister’ and kasuru ‘pearl’, and in these cases as well, it is shown that diffusion from Apalai, not Wayana, is the more likely scenario. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords

• Etymology
• Language contact
• Tupi-Guarani languages
• Cariban languages