Mapoyo language
| Mapoyo | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Venezuela |
| Region | Suapure River |
| Ethnicity | 520 Mapoyo & Yabarana (2007)[1] |
Native speakers | 3?[2] (2014) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | mcg |
| Glottolog | mapo1246 |
| ELP | |
Mapoyo is a Carib language spoken along the Suapure and Parguaza Rivers, Venezuela. The ethnic population of Mapoyo proper is about 365.
Phonology
[edit]Consonants
[edit]| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||
| Fricative | β | s | h | ||
| Rhotic | ɾ | ||||
| Approximant | w | j |
- /h/ can be heard as a palatal [ç] when preceding a voiceless plosive.
- /n/ can be heard as a velar [ŋ] when preceding a velar /k/.
- /β/ can be heard as a voiced stop [b], when after a voiceless plosive or glottal /ʔ/.
- /s/ can be heard with an allophone of [ts] when word-initially, or after a glottal /ʔ/.
- /j/ can be heard as a voiced fricative [ʝ], when before a back vowel.
Vowels
[edit]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e | ɘ | o |
| Low | a |
- Sounds /i, u/ are reduced to [ɪ, ʊ] in syllable-final position.
- /ɘ/ is heard as a lower [ə] sound when preceding /h/, or following /β/.
- /a/ is heard as [ɑ] when occurring after an initial bilabial sound.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ Mapoyo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ "Context 30317: Mapoyo (Source: Personal communication about Mapoyo, Yawarana, Pémono, and Tamanaku) | Endangered Languages Project". www.endangeredlanguages.com. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
- ^ Medina, Francia (1997). Introducción a la Fonética y a la Fonología Mapoyo (Caribe). Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
- Granadillo, Tania. 2019. El mapoyo y la rama venezolana de lenguas caribes. Cadernos de Etnolingüística, volume 7, número 1, julho/2019, p. 43-55.
External links
[edit]
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