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Mapoyo, or Mapoyo–Yavarana, is a Carib language spoken along the Suapure and Parguaza Rivers, Venezuela. The ethnic population of Mapoyo proper is about 365. Yabarana dialect is perhaps extinct; 20 speakers were known in 1977.[1] An additional dialect, Pémono,[2] was discovered in 1998. It was spoken by an 80-year-old woman and has since gone extinct.
Phonology
Consonants
| 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
| 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
- ^ a b c Mapoyo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Yabarana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Pémono at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Not the same as Pemon
- ^ Medina, Francia (1997). Introducción a la Fonética y a la Fonología Mapoyo (Caribe). Caracas: Universidad Central de Venezuela.
- 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
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