Akwáwa language explained

Akwáwa
States:	Brazil
Region:	Pará
Ethnicity:	Suruí do Pará, Asuriní, Parakanã
Date:	2012
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	Tupian
Fam2:	Tupí–Guaraní
Lc1:	asu
Ld1:	Asuriní
Lc2:	mdz
Ld2:	Suruí
Lc3:	pak
Ld3:	Parakanã
Glotto:	tupi1284
Glottorefname:	Tupi-Guarani Subgroup IV.A

Akwáwa is a Tupi–Guarani dialect cluster spoken in Pará in western Brazil.

Dialects

There are three distinct dialects:^[1]

• Asuriní (of Tocantins or Trocará), or Akwawa
• Suruí (of Tocantins or Pará), or Akewara
• Parakanã, Awaeté

Both the name Asuriní and Suruí are used for related peoples and their languages: Suruí of Jiparaná, Suruí of Rondônia, Asuriní of Xingú, etc.

Phonology

The following is the Parakanã dialect:^[2]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	pronounced as /ink/	pronounced as /ink/
Mid	pronounced as /ink/		pronounced as /ink/
Open		pronounced as /ink/

• Vowel sounds are realized as nasalized when preceding nasal consonants.
• /e/ can also be heard as pronounced as /link/ when in stressed position.
• /ɨ/ can also be heard as pronounced as /link/ when preceding a vowel.
• /a/ can be heard as back pronounced as /link/ when in word-final position. In its nasal form, it is heard as back pronounced as /link/.
• /o/ can be heard as pronounced as /link/ when in unstressed position.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
				plain	lab.
Plosive	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Fricative	pronounced as /link/					pronounced as /link/
Nasal	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/		pronounced as /link/
Tap		pronounced as /link/

• /β/ can also be heard as a glide pronounced as /link/.
• /tʃ/ can be realized as a glide pronounced as /link/ in final position, and as voiced pronounced as /link/ in intervocalic positions.

Notes and References

1. Cheryl Jensen, 1999, "Tupí-Guaraní", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, The Amazonian Languages
2. Book: Souza e Silva, Auristéa Caetana. Aspectos da referência alternada em Parakanã. Universidade Federal do Pará. 1999.