Abreviations
| *act-nom. |
action nominalization |
| adj |
adjective |
| adv |
adverb |
| adv,V |
adverbial verb |
| Ana.Inf.Nom. |
anaphoric infinitive nominal |
| *ana. v. |
anaphoric verb |
| *a-nom. |
agentive nominalization |
| caus. |
causative |
| caus/refl. |
Causative/Reflexive |
| cf: |
cross reference |
| clx |
|
| *com |
command |
| *conn |
connective |
| *c-pr |
continuative, progressive |
| deadj.v |
deadjectival verb intransitive verb |
| *deictic pro |
deictic pro |
| *deo |
deontic |
| dial.var. |
dialectal variant |
| *dir.adv.. |
directional adverb |
| Evid. |
evidential |
| fr.var. |
free variant |
| *ger-nom. |
geruntive nominal |
| *idm. |
idiom denominal |
| *if-cl. |
if-clause |
| inf.nom. |
infinitive nominal |
| inal.noun |
inalienable noun |
| *inal.pro. |
inalienable pronoun |
| interj. |
interjection deictic |
| iv |
intransitive verb |
| loc |
locative |
| *mod |
modal |
| n |
noun |
| na |
name |
| *neg |
negative |
| *neg.imp. |
negative command |
| opp: |
oppositive |
| post |
postposition |
| pred |
predicate |
| prep.ph. |
prepositional phrase |
| quest |
questions |
| sfx |
suffix |
| sp.var. |
specified variant |
| *s.v.m.,f. |
animate verbal noun, masculine or feminine |
| syn: |
synonym |
| *s.v.pl. |
animate verbal noun, plural form |
| Tim.Ad. |
adjective of time |
| Unspec. |
Unspecified |
| V |
verb |
| v.caus. |
causative verb |
| Vi/Vt. |
|
| Vref. |
verb referent |
| v.st. |
stative verb |
| vt |
transitive verb |
* The grammatical categories used by the compiler in the past.
Appendices
Use this page to provide any other information of the language, either directly, or as a link or as a download. This menu item may be removed if it is not needed.
The Nanam area is indicated by the letter A on the following map of the region:
Use this page to provide information about the Grammar of the language, either directly, or as a link or as a download.
Use this page to provide information about the Phonology of the language, either directly, or as a link or as a download.
Webonary
The search function of this website was built using Webonary.
Webonary gives language groups the ability to put their dictionaries on the web with a minimum of technical help. Each dictionary is built around a search bar, which looks for a word (or part of a word) throughout the dictionary, and returns the most relevant results to the top of the list.
Webonary, in turn, is built on top of WordPress.
Fieldworks Language Explorer
The dictionary database was developed in SIL's Fieldworks Language Explorer.
Maps
The maps in this website include the use of geo data from Esri® and World GeoDatasets. The following is a list of the specific data sources:
Terrain: Elevation Tinted Hillshade: Tinting
World GeoDatasets: Basemaps
The Ninam dictionary entries consist of a headword in green. A pronunciation guide is included in brackets. The part of speech is indicated in italics. The definition in English is in black followed by the definition in Portuguese in blue. Then an example sentence is given in green italics. This is followed by a translation.
Below is an example of a verb with an example sentence.
The following noun includes a semantic domain category, Bird, in parentheses.
The headword that follows is a plural noun.
The following word is an interjection and contains a cross reference to a main word, peheti.
The following examples show two homophones, the first of which has two senses (few and some) which are numbered.
adj.
conj.
esp.
interj.
Lit:
n.
Pl:
Sg:
sp.
Syn:
Var:
adjective
conjunction
especially
interjection
literally
noun
plural
singular
species
synonym
variant
adv.
dem.
Euph.
interrog.
loc.
num.
pro.
s.b.
s.t.
v.
adverb
demonstrative
euphemism
interrogative
locative
number
pronoun
somebody
something
verb
Note: In the English definitions all references to he, him, his etc. should also be taken to refer to she, her, hers etc.
This is the order of the Ninam alphabet:
a ã e ẽ ë ë̃ h i ɨ j k m n o õ p r s t tx w x y
We acknowledge everyone who has participated in the development of this dictionary. This includes Ernest Migliazza, his language coworkers, and the community members who gave support to the project over the years.
Ninam Dictionary
Compiler:
Ernest Migliazza
© 2022 SIL International®
Published by:
This web edition may be cited as:
Migliazza, Ernest. 2022. "Ninam Dictionary." Webonary.org. SIL International. Retrieved <Date of access>, from <full URL>.
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The development of the Ninam language began around 1958. We are thankful to the Ninam community for showing interest in developing their mother tongue.
This dictionary is intended for the speakers of Ninam. We hope it will be a useful reference tool for providing more literature in the language. Please send us your comments and suggestions for improvement.
If you find an error in this dictionary please use the form below to submit any corrections or suggestions for improvement.
The Ninam language, a language of northwestern Brazil and Venezuela, is spoken by 1,030 people, but only 470 of them live in their homeland in Roraima state: Mucajaí, Paragua, Roraima, and upper Uraricaá rivers.
Ninam is classified as Yanomaman of which there is a total of 15,700 speakers.
There are two main dialects with alternate names: Southern Ninam (Mukajai, Shirishana), Northern Ninam (Shiriana, Uraricaa-Paragua). The number of speakers of the southern and northern dialects is evenly divided. Alternate names for the Ninam language are Shiriana, Xirianá, Xirixana, and Yanam.
The Ninam language is used regularly by all age groups. Many also use Portuguese, especially children. Speakers of Arutani [atx] use Ninam as a second language. The Ninam language is distinct from Arawakan Xiriâna [xir].
