Dicionário karo-português e narrativas mitológicas arara: produtos do processo de descrição e documentação da língua karo de Rondônia

Abstract

There are many ways to document a language that is threatened with disappearance, for example by describing aspects of its phonology, morphology and syntax. In addition, the elaboration of a dictionary, as well as a collection of texts, is of paramount importance for it. In this sense, the present research subproject is inserted, which consisted of documenting the indigenous language Karo of Rondônia, Tupi trunk, through the elaboration of two materials: the Karo-Portuguese Dictionary and the Book of Arara Mythological Narratives. The following activities were part of the methodology: in relation to the Dictionary, feeding the database through the use of field notebooks, insertion of examples of occurrence of lexical items, and also digitized images, etc.; as for the Book of Narratives, 17 narratives were organized in terms of transcription, as well as their translation into Portuguese. As a result, we have a database with approximately 1900 lexical items, of which about 1500 are already with the field \XV, referring to the example of occurrence of the referred lexical item, duly filled. As the Karo-Portuguese Dictionary will be used in the future as support material for the language literacy process, the use of illustrative images can be a viable resource, giving the final product an illustrative character. Thus, 160 illustrative images (plants, body parts, animals and manufactures) were inserted into the base. The 17 Narratives were organized in such a way that resulted in the following profile: Karo Transcription; Karo-Portuguese Translation; Karo-Portuguese Translation, sentence by sentence, and Free Translation into Portuguese. It is hoped, therefore, that both the Dictionary and the set of Karo Narratives will become materials in the Karo language that enable not only the recording of the language, but also means by which a heritage that is expressed through the traditional knowledge of this people will be disseminated, as well as cultural objects of paramount importance for the knowledge of indigenous societies.