Wayoró language
| Wayoró | |
|---|---|
| Ajurú | |
| Region | Brazil |
| Ethnicity | 80 (2006)[1] |
Native speakers | 3 (+ 11 semispeakers)[2]: 3 (2019)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wyr |
| Glottolog | wayo1238 |
| ELP | Wayoró |
Wayoró is a moribund Tuparian language (Tupian family), which is spoken in the state of Rondônia, in the Amazon region of Brazil. As of 2019, there were reported to be 3 speakers (all above 70 years old) and 11 semispeakers.[2]: 3
Phonology
Consonants
The consonantal inventory of Wayoró is as follows.[2]: 8 The graphemes which correspond to each phoneme are given in chevrons.
| labial | alveolar | postalveolar/palatal | velar | labiovelar | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| voiceless obstruents | p ‹p› | t ‹t› | tʃ ‹tx› | k ‹k› | kʷ ‹kw› |
| nasals | m ‹m, mb› | n ‹n, nd› | ɲ ‹y, dj› | ŋ ‹ng, g› | ŋʷ ‹ngw, gw› |
| oral sonorants | β ‹w› | ɾ ‹r› |
Underlying nasal consonants may be partially or fully oralized in oral environments. Nogueira (2019) describes the following allophones:
- /m/ → [m] ‹m›, [mb] ‹mb›
- /n/ → [n] ‹n›, [nd] ‹nd›
- /ɲ/ → [ɲ, j, j̃, jt] ‹y›, [ndʒ, dʒ] ‹dj›
- /ŋ/ → [ŋ, ŋg] ‹ng›, [g] ‹g›
- /ŋʷ/ → [ŋʷ, ŋgʷ] ‹ngw›, [gʷ] ‹gw›
The phonological status of the glottal stop [ʔ], which occurs in the onset position only (e.g. o’uwa [oʔʉβa] ‘my pot’, o’ega [oʔɛga] ‘my hiccup’, apa’a [apaʔa] ‘to weave a hammock horizontally’), is given as uncertain by Nogueira (2019).[2]: 11
Vowels
The vowel inventory of Wayoró is as follows.[2]: 9
| front unrounded | central rounded | central unrounded | back rounded | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| high | i iː ĩ ĩː ‹i ii ĩ ĩi› | ʉ ʉː ʉ̃ ʉ̃ː ‹u uu ũ ũu› | ||
| high-mid | o oː õ õː ‹o oo õ õo› | |||
| open-mid | ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː ‹e ee ẽ ẽe› | |||
| low | a aː ã ãː ‹a aa ã ãa› |
Syntax
As in other Tuparian languages, the main clauses of Wayoró follow the cross-linguistically rare nominative–absolutive pattern. Person prefixes on the verb are absolutive, i.e., they index the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) and the patient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb (P). Person pronouns, which follow the verb (either cliticizing to it or not) are nominative: they may encode the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) or the agent argument of a transitive verb (A), but not the patient of a transitive verb (P). This is exemplified below.[3]: 99
Eamõjãn (en). s-V (S) /e-amõc-a-t (ẽt)/ 2-dance-TH-NFUT (2.NOM) ‘You danced.’
Etopkwap nã on. p-V A /e-top-kʷ-a-p nã õt/ 2-see-PL-TH-p FUT 1.NOM ‘I’ll see you every day.’
References
- ^ a b Wayoró at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b c d e Nogueira, Antônia Fernanda de Souza (2019). Predicação na língua Wayoro (Tupi): propriedades de finitude (PDF) (Thesis). São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.
- ^ Galucio, Ana Vilacy; de Souza Nogueira, Antônia Fernanda (20 July 2018). "From object nominalization to object focus: The innovative A-alignment in the Tuparian languages (Tupian family)". Journal of Historical Linguistics. 8 (1): 95–127. doi:10.1075/jhl.16025.gal.
External links
 | This Tupian languages-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |