Spoken Pirahã with subtitles

Posted with permission from Dr Daniel Everett.

Original video, and notes on which I based the subtitle track, can be found here: [BROKEN LINK] http://llc.illinoisstate.edu/dlevere/Piraha/vids/index.shtml

Category:

Education

Tags:

• pirahã
• kaioá
• everett
• mura
• muran
• language
• linguistics
• amazon

[DanielDouch]

Is there any way that I can see the translation for the subtitles? The link below the video to see the notes doesn't work.

[xepharnazos]

@DanielDouch Hm.. so it doesn't. Dr Everett's ISU page doesn't seem to exist anymore, probably because he recently moved jobs and universities. I can't find the transcription anywhere else at the moment, either, and he doesn't atm have a personal webpage at Bentley like he did at Illinois State.

[pyreneeamour]

Fascinating. He has a permanent grin on his face - he must be a happy man.

[Redpilldown]

Is there an English translation....I am fascinated by these people

[Flashkidgotsuspended]

@ericNA82 From the transcript:

00:01:43

Kaioá to Dan

Tíi hi aíbásigíi kobaisoogabagaí. Hi hóihi. Hi hóihiái gáihi. {he holds up two fingers

though he shouldn't if Piraha don't know how to count and hói means one {Again, notice that even though he holds up two fingers, he clearly doesn't mean two,

since he is referring to the entire population of the Pirahã (!). He is here talking about his

desire to see a lot of people together, which is something the Pirahãs never see in the

village.}

[Flashkidgotsuspended]

@ericNA82 Piraha has words for 1 2 and then "many". A study was actually done that revealed Piraha can't keep track of items larger than 3 in quantity.

FK

[raffaelregis]

i think he looks amused by the fact he's being interviewed in an asseptic place, with a camera and a crew, it all must be so unusual to him, maybe that's why he has a grin on all the time.

[ericNA82]

"He said it's OK to use his image for other people to see in other jungles." --> I allow you to use my image for the purpose of it being seen by others in other jungles --> You may use my image so that it can be seen by others in other jungles... Whatever the sytax of the original utterance was, the idea behind it clearly implies, to my mind, a clear case of the recursion supposedly lacking in the language.

Anyone else notice him saying "hói" + holding up two fingers?? --> numeral dispute..

[J00T00bRageCage]

If you're interested, read the book "Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes," about dan everetts time in the jungle. I just finished it and it was fantastic. Very entertaining, didn't want to put it down.

[uphamtimothy]

"Kauan" -- "Greetings" in Piraha. What makes this language so unique is that it is not related to any other language in world. That is the reason why Brazil must make every effort to preserve its indigenous languages. Both Peru and Paraguay have made indigenous languages their second official languages, after Spanish. Peru also passed a law requiring it to have all government documents in the countries 80 indigenous languages. Brazil should follow suit, not everybody speaks Portuguese.

[Suprapersonality]

@pyreneeamour

Yeah, you can tell a lot about a person by observing them in one, limited situation for less than six minutes. Everyone who smiles is happy all the time. Thank you for your input. Try not to vote or raise children, please.

[Xevorim]

A beautiful people

[benningtonc7]

@pyreneeamour Piraha are extremely happy people. Living in the moment.

[benningtonc7]

@magical11 Similar tone system, that makes sense.