Kapong

In the principal sources there are considerable differences concerning which entities are considered separate languages and which are dialects, and especially about to which language different varieties should be assigned. Gildea (2012) has Kapong as single language to which Akawayo, Patamona, and Ingarikó belong. Gildea (personal communication, Nov. 2014) clarifies this: "Patamuna, Arekuna, Akawaio, and Makushi are very similar, and all of them may be mutually intelligible with just a bit of exposure (like Spanish and Portuguese). I found nothing to suggest rethinking Migliazza's (18985) explanation of the "dialect area" (repeated in Gildea 1998, 2012). My subjective impressions (in the absence of detailed comparisons of wordlists) is that Patamuna and Akawaio have phonological differences, but Desrey Fox (native speaker of Akawaio) said they are the "same" language, Ka'pong (sky people), and I had no reason to doubt her; she also said that Patamuna (Guyana) and Ingarikó (Brazil) are pretty much identical, just spoken on different sides of the border. Makushi is clearly a different language."