Surui language
| Suruí | |
|---|---|
| Paíter | |
| Native to | Brazil |
| Ethnicity | Paiter |
Native speakers | 1,000 (2006)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sru |
| Glottolog | suru1262 |
| ELP | Paiter |
Suruí (of Jiparaná), also known as Paíter or Suruí-Paíter, is a Tupian language of Brazil. The Suruí of Rondônia call themselves Paiter, which means “the true people, we ourselves". They speak a language of the Tupi group and Monde language family. There were 1,171 Suruí-Paíter in 2010.
Phonology
Vowels
| Oral Vowels | Nasal Vowels | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front | Central | Back | Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | i iː | ɨ ɨː | ĩ ĩː | ɨ̃ ɨ̃ː | ||
| Mid | e eː | o oː | ẽ ẽː | õ õː | ||
| Open | a aː | ã ãː | ||||
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | tʃ | k | |
| voiced | b | d | (dʒ) | ɡ | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
| Fricative | β | s | ʃ | h | ||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||
| Approximant | l | j | (w) | |||
- /β/ can be heard as either [β] or [w] in free variation, and as [ɸ] when before voiceless consonants.
- /b/ can be heard as prenasal [ᵐb] when after a nasal vowel, or when in initial position.
- /h/ can be heard as voiced [ɦ] when between vowels. It is also said to be heard as a voiceless lateral [l̥], among elder speakers.
- /j/ can be heard as nasal [j̃] when preceding or in between nasal vowels.
- Sounds /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ/, can be heard as [p̚, t̚, k̚, m̚, n̚, ŋ̚] in word-final position.[2]
References
- ^ Suruí at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Guerra, Mariana de Lacerda (2004). Aspects of Suruí Phonology and Phonetics. Université Libre de Bruxelles.
External links
- ELAR archive of Documentation of Gavião and Suruí Languages in whistled and instrumental speech by Julien Meyer
- ELAR archive of Language Documentation of traditional culture among the Gavião and Suruí of Rondônia by Dennis Moore