Waiwai language

Summary

Waiwai /ˈww/[2] (Uaiuai, Uaieue, Ouayeone) is a Cariban language of northern Brazil, with a couple hundred speakers across the border in southern Guyana and Suriname.

Waiwai
Native toBrazil, Guyana, Suriname
EthnicityWai-Wai
Native speakers
(2,200 cited 1990–2006)[1]
Cariban
Dialects
  • Katawian (Tunayana)
  • Karahawyana
Language codes
ISO 639-3waw
Glottologwaiw1244
ELP
  • Waiwai
  • Tunayana

Phonology edit

Consonants edit

Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop t k
Nasal m n ɲ
Fricative ɸ s ʃ h
Tap ɺ ɭ̥̆
Approximant w j

Vowels edit

Front Central Back
High i iː ɨ ɨː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Low a aː
  • /o/ can be heard as [ʌ] when following palatal consonants /tʃ, ʃ/.
  • /a/ can be heard as [æ] when preceded by sounds /j, tʃ/, and followed by sounds /w, m, s/.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Waiwai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. ^ Hawkins, Robert (1998). Wai Wai. Desmond Derbyshire and Geoffrey Pullum (eds.), Handbook of Handbook of Amazonian Languages, Vol. 4: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 25–224.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)

External links edit

  • Lev, Michael; Stark, Tammy; Chang, Will (2012). "Phonological inventory of Waiwai". The South American Phonological Inventory Database (version 1.1.3 ed.). Berkeley: University of California: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Digital Resource.
  • Waiwai Collection of Niels Fock from the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America, containing audio recordings of ceremonial chants and photographs made in the 1950s.
  • Wai Wai (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)