Krenak in São Paulo: contribution to lexical recovery in an obsolescent language

• Grant number: 16/07783-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2016
• End date: May 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics
• Principal Investigator: Wilmar da Rocha DAngelis
• Grantee: Pedro Ternes Frassetto
• Host Institution: Instituto de Estudos da Linguagem (IEL). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Krenak language is nowadays classified as critically endangered, one step away from extinction, according to UNESCO. The current members of this ethnic group live in Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul, being about 600 people. As part of the efforts of respect, study and support to strengthening actions for the survival of this language, this project proposes to compile three of the main vocabularies already registered in that language. The vocabularies will receive a treatment in order to become accessible to Krenak indigenous teachers of the Vanuire Indian Land (Arco-Iris, SP), so they can use the vocabularies in their indigenous school. The study base of this work is the set of vocabularies by Maximilian Wied-Neuwied (1816), Charles Frederick Hartt (1865-1866) and Claro Monteiro do Amaral (1898-1899). These vocabularies will be typed in a computer and each word will be transposed into the IPA phonetic alphabet, based on a phonological study of the language and the notations used by the various authors. Further, the words will be transposed into the current orthography adopted by the Krenak people, and they will be organized in a unified way. Once the final version of the compilation of the three vocabularies is properly written according to the Krenak orthography, it will be made available physically and virtually to the community. The aim is to assist the teaching and learning of that indigenous language and to strengthen the perpetuation of the people's identity.