Apinayé language

Apinayé
Region	Brazil
Native speakers	1,300 (2003)
Language family	Macro-Jê Jê Northwest Apinayé
Language codes
ISO 639-3	apn
Glottolog	apin1244

Apinayé (otherwise known as Apinagé, Apinajé) currently an endangered language is a Subject–object–verb Jê language spoken in Tocantins, Eastern Central Brazil by some 1529 speakers of Apinajé people. There are six villages that speak the Apinajé language.

Historical Events Leading to Endangerment

During the first quarter of the nineteenth century the Apinayé had a successful economic growth fueled by extensive cattle farming and the extraction of babaù palm oil which brought an increase in migration.

Phonology

The consonant and vowel inventory follows.

Consonants

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Voiceless stop	p	t	c	k	ʔ
Voiced nasal	m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Voiced oral	v	r	z

Vowels

	Front		Central / back
	Non-rounded				Rounded
	Oral	Nasal	Oral	Nasal	Oral	Nasal
Close	i	ĩ	ɯ	ɯ̃	u	ũ
Close-mid	ɛ	ɛ̃	ʌ	ʌ̃	ɔ	ɔ̃
Low			a	ã

Just as in Mebengokre, there are underlying nasal vowels which surface independent of the nasal consonants.

Syllable structure

Onsets

The onset is optional in Apinayé, but when it exists it may be any consonant from the inventory. C1C2V(C)-type syllables, where C2 is a voiced [+cont] semivowel or liquid are very common. CCC onsets are always /kvr/or /ŋvr/

Codas

All consonants other than /ŋ, ʔ/ are permitted in the coda. Note also that the possible syllable types are identical to what we find in Mebengokre, except for those in which there are /ʔ/-initial complex onsets.

External links

• WALS page for Apinayé