Analysis on the typology of constituents order in the indigenous dialect Pykobjê-Gavião (Timbira)
Keywords:
Brazilian indigenous language, Timbira dialect, morphosyntax, typology of constituents order.Abstract
In this paper we describe and analyse the typology of constituents order in basic
sentences of the indigenous dialect Pykobjê-Gavião (Macro-Jê Branch, Jê Family, Timbira Group). To develop it, we discuss contrasting, mainly, three references: Joseph H. Greenberg (1963), Matthew S. Dryer (1992) e Thomas E. Payne (1997). According to Greenberg (1963), we can understand Pykobjê-Gavião as a “head-final” language, which, according to Payne (1997), would be “fairly consistent” but not “very consistent”. Therefore, the model known as BDT (Branching Direction Theory), proposed by Dryer (1992), seems to be the most suitable to deal with Pykobjê-Gavião data, because it indicates that the Timbira dialect is a “left-branching” language.