// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did the Waurá language say to the tourist? "You're speaking my tongue.
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| Waurá | |
|---|---|
| Wauja | |
| Pronunciation | [waˈuʐa], [waˈuʂa] |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso |
| Ethnicity | Wauja |
Native speakers | 320 (2006)[1] |
Arawakan
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wau |
| Glottolog | waur1244 |
| ELP | Waurá |
Waurá (Wauja) is an Arawakan language spoken in the Xingu Indigenous Park of Brazil by the Waujá people.[2] It is "partially intelligible" with Mehináku. The entire population speaks the language.[1]
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t | k | ɢ | (ʔ) | ||
| Affricate | ts | tʃ | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | |||||
| Fricative | s | ʐ | h | ||||
| Tap | ɾ | ||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j |
- A glottal stop [ʔ] occurs phonetically before vowels in word-initial position, or after vowels in word-final position.
- /p/ can be heard as aspirated [pʰ] or voiced [b] in free variation.
- Stop sounds /t, k/ can be heard as aspirated [tʰ, kʰ] in free variation.
- /w/ can also be heard as [β] in free variation, except when before /u/.
- /s/ can be heard as voiced [z] when between vowels, or after initial vowels.
- /ʐ/ can be heard as voiceless [ʂ] when between vowels, or after initial vowels.
- /j/ can be heard as a palatal nasal [ɲ] when occurring before nasal vowels /ã, ẽ, ũ/.
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː ĩ | ɨ ɨː ɨ̃ | u uː ũ |
| Mid | e eː ẽ | ||
| Low | a aː ã |
- Sounds /i, u, ɨ, a/ can also be heard in lax form as [ɪ, ʊ, ə, ɐ].
- Sounds /e, eː, ẽ/ can be heard as close-mid [e, eː, ẽ] or open-mid [ɛ, ɛː, ɛ̃] in free variation.[3]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Waurá at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ↑ Seki, Lucy. 2011. Alto Xingu: uma área linguística? In: Franchetto, Bruna (ed.), Alto Xingu: uma sociedade multilíngue, p. 57-85. Rio de Janeiro: Museu do Índio/FUNAI. (in Portuguese)
- ↑ Postigo, Adriana Viana (2014). Língua Wauja (Arawak): uma descrição fonológica e morfossintática.
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