Language name and locationː Maléku Jaika, Alajuela, Costa Rica [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 马勒库-海卡语 (瓜图索语 Guatuso), 哥斯达黎加中北部阿拉胡埃拉省低地地区通希贝和马加丽塔原住民保留区三个村庄

1. /ana:katʃumaː/, /anaːkatʃaː/, /lakaːtʃumaː/ or /lakaːtʃaː/ *

2. /pauŋka/

3. /poiːkiriː/

4. /pakeːkiriː/

5. /oːtiŋ/ (tne most frequent form), /atiːkiɾiː kuiŋju/ *

6.  /oːtiŋ anaːkatʃumaː/ ('five one') or /oːtiŋ takaː amiː anaːkatʃumaː/ *

7. /oːtiŋ pauŋka/

8. /oːtiŋ pauŋka/ 

9. /oːtiŋ pauŋka/ 

10. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ/ ('both hands')

11. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ anaːkatʃumaː/ ('both hands one'), *

12. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ pauŋka/

13. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ poiːkiriː/

14. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ pakeːkiriː/

15. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ

16. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ anaːkatʃumaː/ ('both hands five one')

17. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ pauŋka/

18. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ poiːkiriː/

19. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ pakeːkiriː/

20. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ naɬoːki tʃaː muːɾi/ ('both hands and my feet too')

Linguist providing data and dateː Prof. Adolfo Constenla-Umaña, University of Costa Rica, Republic of Costa Rica, September 4, 2009.    

提供资料的语言学家: Prof. Adolfo Constenla-Umaña, 2009 年 9 月 4 日.

Other comments: Maléku Jaika or Guatuso is an endangered language spoken by 300 adults only out of 1,000 ethnic population, youth understand but do not speak it and shifting to Spanish, living in Alajuela province: Tonjibe and Margarita reservations; northern lowlands, Costa Rica.

Guatuso ( traditional name in Spanish),  /maleːku ɬaiːka/or /maleːku xaiːka/(the name in the Guatuso language: 'our people speech'; /ma-/ 'first person plural, inclusive', /le?ku/ 'people', /?ai?-/'speak',/-ka/ 'infinitive') is a small language spoken in Guatuso canton,  Alajuela province, Costa Rica, Central America. In the Guatuso counting system,  Please note the following options and additional informationː

1. For number one, speakers tend to prefer one of these forms, but sometimes they

   use the others). In the numerals above five, I will use only /anaːkatʃumaː/, but any

   of the other three forms could occur.

2. For number five, /atiːkiɾiː kuiŋju/ is (less frequent; literally 'with the whole hand')

3. For number six there are four formsː /oːtiŋ anaːkatʃumaː/ ('five one') or

    /oːtiŋ takaː amiː anaːkatʃumaː/(five and again one')or/atiːkiɾiː kuiŋju anaːkatʃumaː/

    ('with the whole hand, one') or /atiːkiɾiː kuiŋju takaː amiː anaːkatʃumaː/ ('with the

    whole hand and again one'). In the following cases I will include only the forms

    of the first type, but all the others occur..

4. There is option form for elevenː /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ takaː amiː anaːkatʃumaː/

    ('both hands and again one')

5. For twenty pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ naɬoːki tʃaː muːɾi takaː amiː anaːkatʃumaː/ is the

    forms after 20, obtained only by elicitation, are more frequently of the second type)

6. 22 to 29 are ː 22. pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ naɬoːki tʃaː muːɾi takaː amiː pauŋka/...
   28. pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ naɬoːki tʃaː muːɾi takaː amiː poiːkiriː/ and

   29. /pakeːnepakeːne kuiŋ oːtiŋ naɬoːki tʃaː muːɾi takaː amiː pakeːkiriː/ was the

    highest number my informants could tell before the 1980's (I began working with 

    the language in 1969). During the 1980's, when the language began to be taught

    at the schools of the reservation, a teacher began to create words for higher numbers

    and to teach them in his classes. Some Guatusos approve this, other do not.

   The phonemic system of Guatuso includes the following Consonants:

   /p/, /t/, /k/, /tʃ/ (voiceless palato-alveolar affricate), /j/ ([ɟ] (voiced palatal

    affricate, [ʝ] voiced palatal fricative), /ɸ/, /s/, /x/, /ɬ/, /l/, /r/, /ɾ/, /m/, /n/, /ŋ/.

    and Vowels: /i/, /iː/, /e/, /eː/, /a/, /aː/, /o/, /oː/, /u/, /uː/

     Stress is predictable. It falls on all long vowels and in short vowels which are

followed by a consonant in the same syllable.

   The phonemic shape of the numerals which is given is the one used inside a

   sentence. At the end of sentences ending in a falling intonation contour, many 
   morphophonemic changes occur. For example, long vowels preceded by a sequence

   of a short vowel and a consonant are deleted, so instead of /anaːkatʃumaː/ or

   /poiːkiriː/ you find . /anaːkatːum/ and /poiːkir/.