User:Tom Wulfric/Emerillon

The Emerillon Language; otherwise known as Emerilon, Emerion, Mero, Melejo, Mereyo, and Teco, is a written and spoken language belonging to the Tupi–Guarani language family. The Tupi–Guarani language family is made up of more than 40 languages, and is one of the most heavily researched language families in Amazonia. Among the languages related to Emerillon; those related most closely are Wayampípukú, Wayampí, and Jo’é. Emerillon is spoken by a small community residing in two areas of French Guiana: The Maroni River and the Oyapock-Camopi confluence. The speakers of Emerillon refer to themselves and their language as Teko.

The last recorded number of Emerillon speakers was 410, as recorded in 2010. The language is currently listed as endangered due to the extremely low amount of speakers. However, the language is still being actively passed onto each generation and taught as a first language, with very little influence from the widely spoken tongues of the area. There is insight as to why the Teko people and the Emerillon language have dwindled. Much of the depopulation of the Emerillon speakers and neighboring tribes is due to deadly epidemics such as influenza and malaria, causing as much as an 88% decrease in the population rate since the turn of the 19th century.

Orthography
Emerillon is spelt phonetically based on the International Phonetic Alphabet, and not according the French orthography. The spelling uses the letter ɨ for the close central unrounded vowel between i and u. e is always pronounced é, vowels with a tilde are always nasal (ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ), ö is like the German Ö|O umlaut, and b is pronounced mb. All letters are pronounced.

Classification
Emerillon belongs to the Tupi–Guarani language branch of the Tupi family. Within this family, Emerillon is found within subgroup VIII along with the Wayampi language, Wayampípukú, Guajá, and several other Amazonian languages (the Wayampi language being its closest relative in similarity and proximity of native speakers).

Emerillon is categorized as an Endangered language due to the steadily low population of around 400 speakers (Most recent census measuring 410 speakers).

History
Emerillon is a language that shares many components with outside sources. It borrows words from Creoles, French, and other American Indian languages (given its position in French Guiana alongside other tribes). Amongst the many tribes in French Guiana, Emerillon makes very little contact with other tribes or foreigners since they have been able to mitigate their decreasing population in the mid 1900's. Before then, Emerillon was built from its own speakers and the inter-tribal communication within the Tupi-Guarani family. Many of the Tupi languages share similar traits, such as the use of SOV syntax and word commonalities. Wayampi is the closest language to Emerillon in the Tupi family, and its speakers are also the closest tribe to the Teko people. Upon the arrival of major world powers, first by Spain in 1496, The native people in what is now French Guiana were first impressed upon by foreign influence. When the French settled and colonized the territory in the 1600's, the Emerillon began to borrow words and speech patterns.

Before the first major communications between the foreign superpowers of the time and the Emerillon speakers, it is difficulty to say exactly where and when the language was first developed and how it changed over time, because the Teko people and other native tribes of the area were not entered into recorded history until that point.

Interestingly enough, several of the studies on the Teko people pre-1970 offer the idea that the population had descended to a mere 50 native Emerillon speakers. The most recent census recording of the Teko population however find that there are at least 400 native speakers of Emerillon in French Guiana. This is not to say, however, that the Teko population is not on the decline, or has not suffered heavy loss. In the 1700's and 1800's, the immense depopulation began. Out of all of the tribal families in French Guiana, the Tupi family, of which the Teko are a part of, has suffered the heaviest of losses. In fact, the Teko people suffered the second highest loss in population of all the Tupi tribes, depopulating at a rate of 88% since then.

It is most probable that this massive depopulation of Emerillon speakers came from the spread of epidemics brought upon by the Tupi tribes' contact with foreigners, which happened to be slightly higher than most other tribe families. The foreign settlers in the area, namely the French, also incited warfare between the native tribes, resulting in further deaths. These instances of contact with the French and other foreign countries did influence the language to some degree. For example, the French language influenced nasality into Emerillon, although in the Emerillon language nasality is used in segments throughout a phrase. A French word that ends with a nasal tone will become completely nasal in the Emerillon equivalent. Since the mid 20th century, the Teko are only seen communicating with the Wayampi (Waiãpi) speakers. The Wayampi language is also the closest remaining language to Emerillon, and the two are mutually understood to an extent. In the 1950s, medical assistance became available to several tribes including the Teko, allowing for their steady and dangerous decline in population to cease and level off around the current population. This remaining population actively passes on the language through each generation, maintaining its importance and position as the official language of the Teko people.

Considering the numerous studies of the Emerillon speakers from before 1970 that found there to be below 100 speakers, the introduction of medical assistance, and the subsequent 2010 census finding that places 410 speakers of Emerillon in French Guiana, there is evidence of a population surge over the last half century. The Emerillon language came dangerously close to extinction.

Emerillon is rich in storytelling and tradition. The Teko people place great importance on natural resources and a culture based upon the Earth around them, and this is evident in their mythology and storytelling. One such story describes the tale of a worm that visits an Emerillon woman, falls in love with her, and becomes a man in order to woo her. This worm-man realizes the difficult and hard-working lifestyle of her people, and takes his new lover and her family to his worm people who agree to help them. The worm people give them plentiful resources: corn, maize, cassava, and other crops. They plant some of their crops, and when the worm man tells his lover to go and look for more of the resources that they have grown, she is afraid to search and does not go immediately. When she eventually goes to check for resources, the harvest is weak. Furthermore, this brief summarization of the Emerillon folk tale shows the emphasis on the importance of hard work and a strong relationship with the Earth and its resources.

Official status
Emerillon is endangered, and is not the official language of any one country. Rather, the native Emerillon speakers (the Teko people) reside in a small part of French Guiana, a colony in South Africa settled by the French in the late 16th century, located between Suriname and Brazil, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. The Teko are found in the southernmost point of the country, and are split into two areas. One group resides in on the Tampoc River, and the second is found near Camopi. The Emerillon speakers are believed to have been in these areas since the 1600s, with definite reason known as to why they reside in two separate locations. Both groups communicate with each other, and on rare occasions with neighboring tribes such as the Wayampi, whose language is understood by the Emerillon. Emerillon is still passed on from generation to generation thanks to the miniscule amount of outside influence on the Teko people, and despite the low number of speakers, the language does not appear to be going extinct anytime soon if tradition holds.

Dialects/Varieties
Emerillon does not have any known dialects, although several alternate names for the language exist as follows: Emerilon, Emerion, Mero, Melejo, Mereyo, and Teco. Emerillon is a branch language from the family of Tupi-Guarani, which all hold similar traits. No language has been built by the Emerillon, rather most of the tribal languages of French Guiana build upon each other's rare influence, and tend to keep to their own traditions.

Sounds/Phonology
Emerillon Consonants: p, b, t, h, d, tʃ, dʒ, k, kʷ, g, s, z, w, j, l, and ʔ.

Many of these consonants and vowels are pronounced as they would be in English, aside from several that seem to originate from Latin.

There are several interesting consonants found in the Emerillon language that descend from various external languages and influences. Emerilllon uses the labiovelar consonant   "kʷ," which is a common vocal sound used in Africa and the southern Americas. In Emerillon, the "y" is also pronounced as a "j." The language also features glottal stops in the form of the consonant "ʔ." This sound is created by rapidly closing the airway in the glottis, creating a "stop" sound. Several examples of these glottal stops are found in the Syntax examples on this page.

Emerillon Vowels: i, u, ɨ, e, a, o, and ǝ.

The vowels " ǝ " and " ɨ " both originate from Latin. Here is an example of spoken Emerillon, in which you can clearly hear changing tones and prosody amongst other unique vocal aspects of the language: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a20S1esf0VE

Prosody
In addition to the alphabetical phonology, the Emerillon language contains a definite prosody which is common amongst the other similar Tupi family languages. An expression meant to stand out or hold importance tends to vary broadly in pitch, with the highest pitch points being placed on the verb or verbs. Considering the SOV syntax format of the language, this means that a potent phrase will increase in pitch until the verb, where the major accent is found.

Morphology
Emerillon, similarly to the other languages of the Tupi-Guarani family, is an agglutinative language. The language contains many morphemes that are modified. Prefixes are rarely used, and when they are, they tend to indicate gender and recognize a person. Suffixes are very common, and in fact are used to modify most words.

The language also has signs of polysynthesis, and therefore often utilizes the combination of many morphemes and suffixes to create a single word or expression.

In this example cited by Erika Coljin, three words are added to the base morpheme "karu" (to eat) as if they are tailing suffixes in order to create one more meaningful word consisting of the action, time, purpose, etc.

 Karu-rire-guá-icha : eat-after-PURPOSE-like --- ‘as if for dessert’

Syntax
The syntax of Emerillon is most commonly SOV (subject, object, verb). However, this is not always the case when either the subject or object are not realized in the sentence.

Examples of Emerillon word order:


 * 1) Mama baʔerupiʔa o-bo-siu-siu-- "Mom used to fry eggs."

- In this sentence, according to the SOV syntax, the subject would be "Mama" or mom, the object would be "baʔerupiʔa," or eggs, and the verb would be "obosiusiu," or the past tense of fry (used to fry).

2. Orone-karakuri-nam pe-r-upi oro-ho-tar-uwe-- "When we have money, we'll go that way too.

-In this sentence, the subject is "Oronekarakurinam," or money/when, the object is "perupi," or way, and the verb is "orohotaruwe," or go too.

3. Wane-maʔẽ za-ɨkɨdʒ-taɾ apam-a-wi: "We will take the good things to the foreigners."

-In this outlier sentence that does not follow the SOV format, and instead the SVO format,  the subject is "Wanemaʔẽ," or good (things), the verb is "zaɨkɨdʒtaɾ," or  take, and the object would be "apamawi," or foreigners.

Written Examples

 * 1) a-ʔɨta          ʔɨ-pope

I-swim       river-in "I swim in the river.’"

2.            d-o-ʔu- dʒ-                             sautu

Negative 3rd Person  'I Eat'              salt

"She does not eat salt"

3.              Teko*- a- te                               ere- dʒu! *Notice the use of "Teko," the native term for Emerillon speakers.

Emerillon-REF-FOC            Second Person- I- be

''"Emerillon you are!" (You are Emerillon!)''