Ebook: The Mako Language: Vitality,Grammar and Classification

This dissertation focuses on the documentation and description of Mako, an indigenous
language spoken in the Venezuelan Amazon by about 1,200 people and for which the
only available published material at the start of this project were 38 words. The project
creates a collection of annotated ethnographic texts and a grammar that could serve as a
starting point for both language maintenance in the community and for further linguistic
research. Additionally, the project assesses the language’s vitality in the communities
where it is spoken and demonstrates the relationship of Mako to the two other extant
Sáliban languages, namely Piaroa and Sáliba.
This research thus includes an assessment of language vitality in the Mako communities
of the Ventuari River, a comprehensive description of the Mako language—heretofore
undescribed—, and an evaluation of the genetic relationship between the three Sáliban
languages. The description of the language covers a wide range of topics in areas such
as phonetics and phonology, nominal and verbal morphology, and syntax of both simple
and complex sentences. Discourse-level morphology and discourse-organization
strategies are also covered. Aside from facilitating the study of other members of the
Sáliban family and the reconstruction of the common ancestral language, the description
of Mako also contributes to the typology of Amazonian languages and to our
understanding of the pre-history of this area of the Orinoco basin. The products of this
project also have the potential to be mobilized in language literacy efforts in the Mako
communities.