// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Apalaí language say to its friend? "Let's dialect.

Apalaí
Aparaí
Native to	Brazil
Ethnicity	Aparai people
Native speakers	650 (2022)
Language family	Cariban Apalaí
Language codes
ISO 639-3	apy
Glottolog	apal1257
ELP	Apalaí
Linguasphere	80-AGA-aa
Apalai is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

Apalaí is a Cariban language spoken in Brazil. Approximately 450 Aparai people speak Apalaí. It is an agglutinative language which uses a rare object–verb–subject word order.

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants of Apalai

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Postalveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Stop		p	t			k	ʔ
Fricative	voiceless		s	ʃ
	voiced		z
Nasal		m	n
Approximant					j	w
Tap/Flap			ɾ

Vowels

Vowels of Apalai

	Front		Central		Back
	plain	nasal	plain	nasal	plain	nasal
High	i	ĩ	ɨ	ɨ̃	u	ũ
Mid	e	ẽ			o	õ
Low			a	ã