Kambiwá language

Not to be confused with Xambioa language.

Kambiwá
Cambioá
Native to	Brazil
Region	Petrolândia, Pernambuco
Ethnicity	Kambiwá
Extinct	early 20th century
Language family	unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xbw
Glottolog	kamb1239

Kambiwá (a.k.a. Cambioá) is an extinct unclassified language of Brazil. A couple dozen words were collected by Wilbur Pickering during the 1960s from two people living in Barreira, Petrolândia, Pernambuco. However, by that time the language had become extinct.^[1] The Kambiwá still refer to their original language, and they preserve a few words of it today.^[2]

Classificationv

Apart from two apparent borrowings, none of the words are relatable to known languages. Loukotka (1968) characterized the language as unclassifiable due to lack of data.^[3]

Vocabulary

In 1961, two word lists of Kambiwá were collected by Wilbur Pickering from elderly rememberers in Barreira, Petrolândia, Pernambuco. The word lists are published in Meader (1978).^[1]

Word list recorded from Manoel de Souza:

Portuguese gloss (original)	English gloss (translated)	Kambiwá
bebê indígena	indigenous baby	ˈkɔ́lúmì
fogo	fire	ˈtóὶ
fumo	smoke	ˈpɔ́ṛ̃ùi
mulher	woman	ˈšíˈtúrù
cachimbo	smoking pipe	ˈkákwì / ˈkwákwì
gado	cattle	ˈkǫ́ną̀
homem branco (estrangeiro)	white man (stranger)	ˈtš̭yářίtš̭yà
negro	black man	tãˑˈkážúpì
ovelha	sheep	ˈtyápɔsεřε̨
peba	drink	ˈr̃úpʌ̨̀ų̀
porco-do-mato	collared peccary (Pecari tajacu)	ˈtų́pàřà
raposa	fox	ˈfɔ́iàsà
tamanduá	tamandua	ˈfílípį̀
tatu-bola	Brazilian three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus)	ˈkʌ̨́ñíkį̀

Word list recorded from an elderly man named Tenoro:

Portuguese gloss (original)	English gloss (translated)	Kambiwá
fogo	fire	břázádò
fumo	smoke	pą̃ˈ húì
abelha	bee	ˈkóìm
água corrente	running water	bibi / ε
bebida alcoólica indígena feita de jurema-preta	indigenous liquor made from black jurema (Mimosa tenuiflora)	ʌ̨́žúˈkà
bebida alcoólica indígena feita de murici	indigenous liquor made from murici (Byrsonima crassifolia)	álúˈà
besta	beast	ˈtš̭yápàřú
homem branco	white man	ˈnεkřu
ovelha	sheep	púsέˈrὲ̨
peba	six-banded armadillo (Euphractus sexcinctus)	ˈgwášínì
porco-do-mato	collared peccary (Pecari tajacu)	pǫį
veado	deer	ˈgwą́wų̀

Kambiwá words provided by each informant that differ from each other:

Portuguese	English	Manoel de Souza	Tenoro
fogo	fire	ˈtóὶ	břázádò (loanword?)
fumo	smoke	ˈpɔ́ṛ̃ùi	pą̃ˈ húì
ovelha	sheep	ˈtyápɔsεřε̨	púsέˈrὲ̨
porco-do-mato	peccary	ˈtų́pàřà	pǫį

References

1. Meader, Robert E. (1978). Indios do Nordeste: Levantamento sobre os remanescentes tribais do nordeste brasileiro (in Portuguese). Brasilia: SIL International. Archived from the original on 2024-10-08. Retrieved 2020-01-23.
2. "Kambiwá - Povos Indígenas no Brasil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
3. Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

• Meader, R. E. 1978. Indios do nordeste. Levantamento sobre os remanescentes tribais do nordeste brasileiro. SIL Internacional. pp 65–92.
• Fabre, Alain (2005): "Kambiwá" (Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos)