| Wayoró | |
|---|---|
| Wayoro, Ajurú, Wajuru | |
| wayoro emẽto | |
| Pronunciation | [βajoˈɾoɛmɛ̃ˈto] |
| Region | Rondônia (Brazil) |
| Ethnicity | ~250Wajuru (FUNASA/SESAI 2016)[1]: 3 |
Native speakers | 3 (+ 11 semispeakers) (2019)[1]: 3 |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wyr |
| Glottolog | wayo1238 |
| ELP | Wayoró |
Wayoró (alsoWayoro,Ajurú,Wajuru; Wayoró:wayoro emẽto[βajoˈɾoɛmɛ̃ˈto]) is a moribundTuparian language (Tupian family), which is spoken in the state ofRondônia, in the Amazon region ofBrazil. As of 2019, there were reported to be 3 speakers (all above 70 years old) and 11 semispeakers out of the ethnic population of approximately 250.[1]: 3
The Wajuru people is subdivided into three subgroups: the Ngwayoroiat (‘those from the Stone’), the Ngwãkũyãian (‘theAgouti ones’), and the Kupndiiriat (‘the Forest ones’). Some lexical and phonological differences have been reported between the varieties spoken by the Ngwayoroiat (Wayoroiat) and by the Kupndiiriat.
The graphemes which correspond to each phoneme are given in⟨brackets⟩.
| labial | alveolar | palatal | velar | labio-velar | glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plosive | p⟨p⟩ | t⟨t⟩ | tʃ⟨tx⟩ | k⟨k⟩ | kʷ⟨kw⟩ | [ʔ]⟨’⟩[a] |
| nasal | m⟨m, mb⟩ | n⟨n, nd⟩ | ɲ⟨y, dj⟩ | ŋ⟨ng, g⟩ | ŋʷ⟨ngw, gw⟩ | |
| sonorant | β⟨w⟩ | ɾ⟨r⟩ |
Underlying nasal consonants may be partially or fully oralized in oral environments. Nogueira (2019) describes the following allophones:
| front | central | back | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| short | long | short | long | short | long | ||
| high | oral | i⟨i⟩ | iː⟨ii⟩ | ʉ⟨u⟩ | ʉː⟨uu⟩ | ||
| nasal | ĩ⟨ĩ⟩ | ĩː⟨ĩi⟩ | ʉ̃⟨ũ⟩ | ʉ̃ː⟨ũu⟩ | |||
| mid | oral | ɛ⟨e⟩ | ɛː⟨ee⟩ | o⟨o⟩ | oː⟨oo⟩ | ||
| nasal | ɛ̃⟨ẽ⟩ | ɛ̃ː⟨ẽe⟩ | õ⟨õ⟩ | õː⟨õo⟩ | |||
| low | oral | a⟨a⟩ | aː⟨aa⟩ | ||||
| nasal | ã⟨ã⟩ | ãː⟨ãa⟩ | |||||
As in otherTuparian languages, the main clauses of Wayoró follow the cross-linguistically rarenominative–absolutive pattern. Person prefixes on the verb areabsolutive, i.e., they index the soleargument of anintransitive verb (S) and thepatient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb (P). Person pronouns, which follow the verb (either cliticizing to it or not) arenominative: they may encode the soleargument of anintransitive verb (S) or theagent argument of atransitive verb (A), but not the patient of a transitive verb (P). This is exemplified below.[2]: 99
V:verbS:sole argument of an intransitive verbP:patient argument of a transitive verbA:agent argument of a transitive verbTH:thematic vowel:thematic vowelPL:pluractionality:pluractionality
Eamõyãn (en).
s-V (S)
/e-amõc-a-t (ẽt)/
2-dance-TH-NFUT (2.NOM)
‘You danced.’
Etopkwap nã on.
p-V {} A
/e-top-kʷ-a-p nã õt/
2-see-PL-TH-p FUT 1.NOM
‘I’ll see you every day.’