Wayoró language

Wayoró (also Wayoro, Ajurú, Wajuru; Wayoró: wayoro emẽto [βajoˈɾoɛmɛ̃ˈto]) is a moribund Tuparian language (Tupian family), which is spoken in the state of Rondônia, in the Amazon region of Brazil. 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.

Dialects

The Wajuru people is subdivided into three subgroups: the Ngwayoroiat (‘those from the Stone’), the Ngwãkũyãian (‘the Agouti 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.

Phonology

Consonants

The graphemes which correspond to each phoneme are given in ⟨brackets⟩.

Consonant inventory
	labial	alveolar	palatal	velar	labio-velar	glottal
plosive	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩	tʃ ⟨tx⟩	k ⟨k⟩	kʷ ⟨kw⟩	[ʔ] ⟨’⟩
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:

/m/ → [m] ⟨m⟩, [mb] ⟨mb⟩
/n/ → [n] ⟨n⟩, [nd] ⟨nd⟩
/ɲ/ → [ɲ,j,j̃,jᵗ] ⟨y⟩, [ndʒ,dʒ] ⟨dj⟩
/ŋ/ → [ŋ,ŋg] ⟨ng⟩, [g] ⟨g⟩
/ŋʷ/ → [ŋʷ,ŋgʷ] ⟨ngw⟩, [gʷ] ⟨gw⟩

Vowels

Vowel inventory
	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⟩

Syntax

As in other Tuparian languages, the main clauses of Wayoró follow the cross-linguistically rare nominative–absolutive pattern. Person prefixes on the verb are absolutive, i.e., they index the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) and the patient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb (P). Person pronouns, which follow the verb (either cliticizing to it or not) are nominative: they may encode the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) or the agent argument of a transitive verb (A), but not the patient of a transitive verb (P). This is exemplified below.

V:verb S:sole argument of an intransitive verb P:patient argument of a transitive verb A:agent argument of a transitive verb TH:thematic vowel:thematic vowel PL:pluractionality:pluractionality

Eamõyãn

s-V

/e-amõc-a-t

2-dance-TH-NFUT

(en).

(S)

(ẽt)/

(2.NOM)

Eamõyãn (en).

s-V (S)

/e-amõc-a-t (ẽt)/

2-dance-TH-NFUT (2.NOM)

‘You danced.’

Etopkwap

p-V

/e-top-kʷ-a-p

2-see-PL-TH-p

nã

FUT

on.

õt/

1.NOM

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.’

External links

ELAR archive of