Kwaza language

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Kwaza
Koaiá
Native to Brazil
Region Rondônia
Ethnicity Kwazá
Native speakers 7–25  (2010)[1]
Language family
Language codes
ISO 639-3 xwa

Kwaza (also written Kwazá or Koaiá) is an endangered, unclassified language spoken by the Kwaza people of Brazil.[2] As of 2005 there were only 25 known speakers,[3] living in close proximity with neighbouring speakers of the Aikanã and Nambikwaran languages, though over half of these were children.

Contents

Phonology[edit]

Vowels[edit]

Front Central Back
Close i /i/ y /ɨ/ u /u/
Mid e /e/
Open-Mid ɛ /ɛ/
œ /œ/
o /ɔ/
Open a /a/
  • All vowels, except <œ>, may be nasalized.

Consonants[edit]

    Labial Lamino-alveolar Apico-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive Voiceless p /p/ t /t/ c /c/ k /k/ ? /ʔ/
Implosive b /ɓ/ d /ɗ/
Affricate ts /t͡s/ tx /t͡ʃ/
Fricative s /s/ x /s̠~ʃ̠/ h /h/
Nasal m /m/ n /n/ ñ /ɲ/
Tap r /ɾ/
Lateral l /l/
Approximant w /w/ j /j/

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Kwaza at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
  2. ^ "Introduction: Kwazá." Povos Indígenas no Brasil. Retrieved 12 Feb 2012.
  3. ^ "Kwaza." Ethnologue. Retrieved 12 Feb 2012.

Further reading[edit]

  • van der Voort, Hein (2004). A Grammar of Kwaza. Mouton de Gruyter. 
  • van der Voort, Hein (November 1998). "Kwazá". Encyclopedia of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil.