Nuts and Bolts: Xavante

The language of the Xavante people is much cherished in its homeland, the Eastern Matto Grosso of Brazil.

It's one of only two known languages in the world which arrange their sentences in the order Object-Subject-Verb (basically, you start a sentence by naming the thing that's had something done to it, then you name the person or thing that's done the action, then you say what the action was. Sausages man ate, that sort of thing).

The other very distinctive thing about Xavante is that its grammar specifies very exactly the person to whom you are speaking. It's common for languages have this feature to some extent, of course, but Xavante even has special forms for speaking to your grandparents or, sweetly, to your fiancé(e).

Not many people speak Xavante - fewer than ten thousand - but those people are proud of and love their language, and teach it to their children. Seven thousand of the Xavante people speak only Xavante, which is a good thing for the language, though I'm not certain if it's such a good thing for the people.

Still, if they're keeping such a treasure alive then I, for one, am very very grateful. 

Word To Use Today: one in Xavante. The number one in Xavante is misi, two is maparane, and three is si'ubdatō.

If you want more, then HERE is the Lord's Prayer in Xavante. Our Father is, irresistibly, Wamama.