Terêna language
| Terêna | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Brazil |
| Region | Mato Grosso do Sul |
| Ethnicity | Terena people |
Native speakers | 16,000 (2006)[1] |
Arawakan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | ter |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:ter – Terenagqn – Kinikinao & Guanácaj – Chané |
| Glottolog | tere1279 |
| ELP | Terena |
Terêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar.[2] Many Terena people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul. 20% are literate in their language, 80% literate in Portuguese.
There were once four varieties, Kinikinao, Terena proper, Guaná, and Chané, which are sometimes considered separate languages (Aikhenvald 1999). Only Terena proper is still spoken.
Terêna has an active–stative syntax.[3]
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd | ᵑɡ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ʃ | h | ||
| prenasal | ⁿz | ⁿʒ | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Tap | ɾ | |||||
| Lateral | l | |||||
| Approximant | w | j | ||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i ĩ iː | (ɨ) | u ũ uː |
| Mid | e ẽ eː | o õ oː | |
| ɛ ɛː | ɔ ɔː | ||
| Low | a ã aː |
References
- ^ Terena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Kinikinao & Guaná at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Chané at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Butler, Nancy Evelyn; Ekdahl, Elizabeth Muriel (1979). Aprenda Terêna, Vol. 1 (in Portuguese). Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- ^ Aikhenvald, "Arawak", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, eds., The Amazonian Languages, 1999.
- ^ Nascimento, Gardênia (2012). Aspectos Gramaticais da Língua Terena. Belo Horizonte: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
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