The nominal classification system of the Puruborá language (Tupi)
- V. 25, N. 2 (2026)
- Submitted: Sep 30, 2025
- Published: Sep 18, 2026
- DOI 10.25189/rabralin.v25i2.2370
Abstract
The Puruborá language is the native language of the Puruborá indigenous people, an ethnic group that traditionally inhabits the southern part of the Brazilian state of Rondônia. The Puruborá people are located in several municipalities of this state and they have as its central territory a village called Aperoi. The Puruborá language is a language of the Tupian family, belonging to the Ramarama-Puruborá subgroup. Currently, this language is considered a critical case in the context of endangered languages. The general objective of this study is to describe the nominal classification system of the Puruborá language in its (i) synchronic, (ii) internal development, and (iii) comparative typological aspects. To this end, we will use specialized typological literature on classifiers (Grinevald, 2000; Aikhenvald, 2000) and studies on classifiers in Amazonian languages, especially those dealing with the subject in Tupian languages (Storto & Costa, 2015; Rodrigues & Cabral, 2012), as well as data from the Karo (Gabas Jr. 1999) and Puruborá (Galucio, ALIM) languages. The results demonstrate the existence of a nominal classification system composed of six class terms in Puruborá with their own morphosyntactic and semantic properties. The study also indicates the origin and internal development of this system as the class of nouns in the language and the process of word composition, also demonstrating how morphemes are at different stages of evolution within the system. Finally, the study identified the correspondence of form, function, and meaning between the classifiers described in Karo and the class terms identified in Puruborá, including their morphosyntactic and semantic properties.
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