Waura and Mehinaku: a brief comparative study

Abstract

Mehinaku, Waura and Yawalapiti are the only languages of the Arawak linguistic family still spoken in the indigenous park of Xingu, State of Mato Grosso. The first observations and linguistic registries of these three languages were presented by Karl von den Steinen (1940 [1886]) in his classical book Between the aborigines of Central Brazil. In this work, Steinen says that the Arawak people of the Xingu divide themselves in two sub-groups: nu and aruak. “Nu is the predominant prefix in these tribes, it is the characteristic pronominal prefix of the first person; […] Mehinaku, Kustenau, Waura and Yaulapiti are Nu-Aruak” (p. 197). Steinen also stated that the Mehinaku and Waura formed a single ethnological unit and that they spoke the same language. Considering these primary observations, I present in this article a brief comparative study between Waura and Mehinaku languages.