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Kaishana language

South American Language Families

Kaishana, also known as Kawishana, Cawishana or Kayuwishana, is a nearly extinct Arawakan language of Brazil, classified within the Upper Amazon branch of the Maipurean family. Only a single fluent speaker remained as of 2012, down from a handful of speakers recorded in the 1950s. The language uses an active-stative syntax, dividing verbs into active and stative categories rather than transitive and intransitive ones. Scholars disagree on its closer relatives: Aikhenvald groups it with Bahuana and Manao in a Middle Rio Negro, North Amazonian grouping, while Kaufman had earlier placed it alongside the extinct Jumana and Pase languages.

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