Ofayé language
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The Ofayé or Opaye language, also Ofaié-Xavante, Opaié-Shavante, is a Macro-Jê language spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, forming an independent branch of the language family. It is spoken by only three of the Ofayé people, though language revitalization efforts are underway.
Documentation
Grammatical descriptions have been made by the Pankararú linguist Maria das Dores de Oliveira (Pankararu), as well as by Sarah C. Gudschinsky and Jennifer E. da Silva, from the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul.
Geographical distribution
It was spoken on the Ivinhema River, Pardo River, and Nhandú River in Mato Grosso do Sul. Guachi, spoken on the Vacaria River in Mato Grosso do Sul, is a dialect.
Language contact
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Macro-Mataguayo-Guaykuru languages due to contact.
Phonology
The consonantal inventory of Ofayé is as follows.
| 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 | ||||
| Oral sonorant | ɾ | j | w |
The vowel inventory of Ofayé is as follows.
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.
gloss Opaie one enex-há two yakwári tongue chü-õrá foot chü-gareyé fire mitáu tree komekatá jaguar woki house shüa white õká