Waurá language

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]

Waurá
Native toBrazil
RegionXingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso
EthnicityWauja
Native speakers
320 (2006)[1]
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3wau
qdv Waura–Mehináku
Glottologwaur1244
ELPWaurá

Phonology

Consonants
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
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
  1. Waurá at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. 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)
  3. Postigo, Adriana Viana (2014). Língua Wauja (Arawak): uma descrição fonológica e morfossintática.


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