A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Ethnolinguistic Groups Around the Intersection of the Marmelos River and the Trans-Amazon Highway
This report is of a 2009 survey regarding the sociolinguistic vitality of five ethnolinguistic groups in an area of the Brazilian Amazon roughly to the west of the city of Humaitá. The ethnicities and the ISO codes for the languages they speak are Torá (trz), Pirahã (myp), Parintintín (pah), Diahui (pah), and Tenharim (pah); the latter three speak the same language.
The writer visited many villages and describes the way the people use their language. Generally, the longer ethnic groups have had contact with Portuguese-speaking outsider Brazilian nationals “Brazilians,” the weaker their language is. Three of the five ethnic groups appear to be good examples of this. Two are anomalous. One of these has a very weak language even though they have been in contact with outsiders for a short time. The other group has interacted with Brazilians for centuries yet their language remains strong. The report will speculate as to the reasons why this is so.