| Ofayé | |
|---|---|
| Opaye | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Mato Grosso do Sul |
| Ethnicity | 61Ofayé people (2012)[1] |
Native speakers | 12 (2012)[1] |
| Revival | effort underway[1] |
Macro-Jê
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | opy |
| Glottolog | ofay1240 |
| ELP | Ofayé |
 Map of Ofayé among the Macro-Jê languages | |
TheOfayé orOpaye language, alsoOfaié-Xavante, Opaié-Shavante, is a language spoken inMato Grosso do Sul,Brazil which forms its own branch of theMacro-Jê languages. It is spoken by only a couple of the smallOfayé people, though language revitalization efforts are underway.
Grammatical descriptions have been made by thePankararú linguistMaria das Dores de Oliveira (Pankararu),[2] as well as bySarah C. Gudschinsky[3] and Jennifer E. da Silva, from theUniversidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul.
It was spoken on theIvinhema River,Pardo River, andNhandú River inMato Grosso do Sul.Guachi, spoken on theVacaria River in Mato Grosso do Sul, is a dialect.[4]
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with theMacro-Mataguayo-Guaykuru languages due to contact.[5]
The consonantal inventory of Ofayé is as follows.[2]: 40
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar/ palatal | Velar | Labio-velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | n | ||||||
| Stop | voiceless | t | tʃ | k | kʷ | ʔ | |
| voiced | d | dʒ | g | ||||
| Fricative | ɸ | ʃ | h | ||||
| Oralsonorant | ɾ | j | w | ||||
The vowel inventory of Ofayé is as follows.[2]: 42
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | iĩ | ||
| Close-mid | eẽ | ə | oõ |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ||
| Open | aã |
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.[4]
| gloss | Opaie |
|---|---|
| one | enex-há |
| two | yakwári |
| tongue | chü-õrá |
| foot | chü-gareyé |
| fire | mitáu |
| tree | komekatá |
| jaguar | woki |
| house | shüa |
| white | õká |
