Open AccessA Typological Sketch of Kamsá, a Language Isolate of Colombia
Author(s) -
Colleen Alena O'Brien
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
forma y función
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
H-Index - 1
eISSN - 2256-5469
pISSN - 0120-338X
DOI - 10.15446/fyf.v34n2.88673
Subject(s) - sketch , context (archaeology) , amazon rainforest , linguistics , geography , phonology , syntax , evidentiality , history , computer science , archaeology , philosophy , ecology , algorithm , biology
Kamsá is a language isolate spoken in the Sibundoy Valley in the Putumayo department of southern Colombia. Its speech community lives on the eastern slopes of the Andes Mountains, between the linguistic areas of the Andes and the Amazon. This paper presents various grammatical features of Kamsá, including its phonology, nominal morphology (especially noun class and case marking), verbal morphology (especially person/number marking for core arguments and evidentiality), morphosyntactic alignment, and syntax (including discussion of causatives, comparatives, and subordinate clauses). In doing so, the paper places Kamsá within its typological and geographical context, between the Amazon and the Andes.