Muinane language explained

Muinane language should not be confused with Nipode language.

Muinane
Nativename:	Muìnánɨ
States:	Colombia
Region:	Puerto Santander, Amazonas between Caquetá River and Yari River in Caquetá Department
Ethnicity:	(2018)
Speakers:	150
Date:	2007
Ref:	e25
Familycolor:	American
Fam1:	?Bora–Witoto
Fam2:	Boran
Iso3:	bmr
Glotto:	muin1242
Glottorefname:	Muinane
Notice:	IPA
Map:	Lingua muinane.png

Muinane is an indigenous American language spoken in Colombia.

Classification

Muinane belongs to the Boran language family, along with Bora.

Geographic distribution

Muinane is spoken by 150 people in Colombia along the Upper Cahuinarí river in the Department of Amazonas. There may be some speakers in Peru.

Phonology

Consonants

Muinane consonant phonemes!! Bilabial! Alveolar! Postalveolar/
Palatal! Velar! Glottal

Nasal	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Plosive	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Affricate			pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Fricative	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Trill		pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

• Voiceless stops and affricates contrast with their geminate counterparts: pronounced as /tː/ pronounced as /tʃː/ pronounced as /tʲː/ pronounced as /kː/.

Vowels

Muinane vowel phonemes!! Front! Central! Back

High	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/
Low	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/	pronounced as /link/

Tone

There are two tones in Muinane: high and low.

Grammar

Word order in Muinane is generally SOV. Case marking is nominative–accusative.

Writing System

Muinane is written using a Latin alphabet. A chart of symbols with the sounds they represent is as follows:

Latin	IPA	Latin	IPA	Latin	IPA	Latin	IPA	Latin	IPA	Latin	IPA
a	pronounced as //a//	b	pronounced as //b//	c	pronounced as //k//-pronounced as //s//	ch	pronounced as //tʃ//	d	pronounced as //d//	e	pronounced as //e//
f	pronounced as //ɸ//	g(u)	pronounced as //ɡ//-pronounced as //x//	h	pronounced as //ʔ//	i	pronounced as //i//	ɨ	pronounced as //ɨ//	j	pronounced as //x//
ll	pronounced as //dʒ//	m	pronounced as //m//	n	pronounced as //n//	ñ	pronounced as //ɲ//	o	pronounced as //o//	p	pronounced as //p//
qu	pronounced as //k//	r	pronounced as //r//	z	pronounced as //s//	s	pronounced as //ʃ//	t	pronounced as //t//	u	pronounced as //u//
v	pronounced as //β//	y	pronounced as //j//

• Palatalized consonants are written using the unpalatalized forms plus y: ty pronounced as //tʲ//, dy pronounced as //dʲ//, ry pronounced as //rʲ//. For the purposes of alphabetization, these are considered sequences of letters.
• Tone is not generally indicated in writing. When it is shown, it is indicated by an acute accent over the vowel: á, é, í, ɨ́, ó, ú.
• The Muinane writing system is based on Spanish orthography. For that reason, the sound pronounced as //k// is written as c before a, ɨ, o, and u and as qu before e and i. Likewise, the sound pronounced as //ɡ// is written as gu before e and i, and g elsewhere.