Akwáwa language
| Akwáwa | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Pará |
| Ethnicity | Suruí do Pará, Asuriní, Parakanã |
Native speakers | 1,500 (2012)[1] |
Tupian
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:asu – Asurinímdz – Suruípak – Parakanã |
| Glottolog | tupi1284 |
Akwáwa is a Tupi–Guarani dialect cluster spoken in Pará in western Brazil.
Dialects
There are three distinct dialects:[2]
- Asuriní (of Tocantins or Trocará), or Akwawa
- Suruí (of Tocantins or Pará), or Akewara
- Parakanã, Awaeté
Both the name Asuriní and Suruí are used for related peoples and their languages: Suruí of Jiparaná, Suruí of Rondônia, Asuriní of Xingú, etc.
Phonology
The following is the Parakanã dialect:[3]
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ɨ | |
| Mid | e | o | |
| Open | a |
- Vowel sounds are realized as nasalized when preceding nasal consonants.
- /e/ can also be heard as [ɛ] when in stressed position.
- /ɨ/ can also be heard as [ə] when preceding a vowel.
- /a/ can be heard as back [ʌ] when in word-final position. In its nasal form, it is heard as back [ʌ̃].
- /o/ can be heard as [u] when in unstressed position.
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | |||||
| Plosive | p | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | ʔ |
| Fricative | β | h | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||
| Glide | (w) | |||||
- /β/ can also be heard as a glide [w].
- /tʃ/ can be realized as a glide [j] in final position, and as voiced [dʒ] in intervocalic positions.
Notes
- ^ Asuriní at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Suruí at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Parakanã at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Cheryl Jensen, 1999, "Tupí-Guaraní", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, The Amazonian Languages
- ^ Souza e Silva, Auristéa Caetana (1999). Aspectos da referência alternada em Parakanã. Universidade Federal do Pará.