| Warázu | |
| Also Known As: | Pauserna |
| Nativename: | Guarasugwé |
| Region: | Rondônia, Brazil and Beni Department, Bolivia |
| Ethnicity: | 46 (2000) |
| Extinct: | Late 20th century |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | American |
| Fam1: | Tupian |
| Fam2: | Tupi–Guarani |
| Fam3: | Guarayu |
| Iso3: | psm |
| Glotto: | paus1244 |
| Glottorefname: | Warázu |
| States: | Bolivia |
Warázu, also known as Pauserna or Guarasugwé (Guarasú'we), is a moribund Tupi–Guaraní language of Brazil. It was also formerly spoken in Bolivia.[1] It is spoken by the Guarasugwé people, who were estimated to number 125 according to a census in 2012.[2]
Warázu is most closely related to Sirionó and Yuki (Yuqui). Ramirez (2017) places the classification of Warázu in the Guaraní subgroup of the Tupi-Guarani languages as follows:
Speakers are also known as Guaraiutá, Guaraju, Pauserna, Guarasugwe, or Warazúkwe [waɾaðúkwe].
Ramirez (2017) found only 2 remaining speakers of Warázu, an elderly couple consisting of Känä́tsɨ [kənə́tsɨ] (José Frei Leite) and Híwa (Ernestina Moreno). They were born in Riozinho (Urukuríti) in Rondônia, Brazil, and moved back and forth between Brazil and Bolivia until finally settling in Pimenteiras do Oeste, Rondônia.[3] [4]
Traditionally, the Warázu people had lived in the following 7 villages along the banks of the Guaporé River. However, the Warázu language is no longer spoken in these localities.
Phonological inventory of Warázu:
| Labial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | ||||||
| Nasal | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | ||||
| Plosive | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |
| Continuant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /ink/ | pronounced as /ink/ | |||
| Trill | pronounced as /ink/ | |||||
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
Syllabic structure is (C)V or (C)VV.
Warázu pronouns:
| pronoun | Warázu | |
|---|---|---|
| I | tsé | |
| you (sg.) | né [á-pe] | |
| we (excl.) | óre | |
| we (incl.) | ðáne | |
| you (pl.) | pé [peðó-pe] | |
| he, she | áʔe |
For a list of Warázu plant and animal names from Ramirez (2017), see the corresponding Portuguese article.