A documentation of the Tomárâho variety of Chamacoco, a language of the Paraguayan Chaco, and research into its verbal morphosyntax.

Tracy Carro de Noya, SOAS

Project Details:

Individual Graduate Studentship. Duration: 2011-2014. £46,385

Project Summary:

Chamacoco [ceg] is a Zamucoan language with approximately 1,300 speakers in the Alto Paraguay department of Paraguay. The rich mythological and sociocultural system of the Chamacoco has long interested anthropologists, but their language remains underdescribed.

This project will initiate a documentation of the Tomárâho variety, spoken in Puerto María Elena (20°45’S, 57°56’W), by recording and annotating a range of culturally significant text materials in collaboration with the community. The main outcomes will be completion of my PhD thesis, which will include a detailed analysis of Tomárâho’s verbal morphosyntax and a sketch grammar, and the production of materials for community use.