| 摘要、提要註: |
The main purpose of this dissertation is to provide an introductory grammar of Karaja, a Macro-Je language spoken along the Araguaia River, in Central Brazil. Karaja has four mutually-intelligible dialects--Southern Karaja, Northern Karaja, Javae, and Xambioa. Combined, the four dialects have a total of approximately three thousand speakers (Silva 2009), in the Brazilian states of Goias, Mato Grosso, Tocantins, and Para. The dissertation takes into account data of all four dialects, collected by the author in several field trips. Although essentially descriptive, the dissertation adopts a comparative approach whenever relevant, aiming at a better understanding not only of the Karaja language, but also of the general analytical questions its study raises. |