Yanomamö language

Yanomamö
Yąnomamɨ
Native toVenezuela, Brazil
RegionOrinocoMavaca; Amazonas
EthnicityYanomami
Native speakers
20,000 (2000–2006)[1]
Yanomam
  • Yanomamö
Dialects
  • Cobari (Kobali)
Language codes
ISO 639-3guu
Glottologyano1261
ELPYanomamö
Yanomaman languages location
  Yanomamö
  Ninam

Yanomamö (Yąnomamɨ) is the most populous of several closely related languages spoken by the Yanomami people. Most speakers are monolingual. It has no natively-used writing system. For a grammatical description, see Yanomaman languages.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive plain p t k (ʔ)
aspirated
Fricative f s ʃ h
Flap ɾ
Nasal m n
Approximant w (l) j

/ɾ/ can also alternate to a lateral approximant [l] sound. A glottal stop sound [ʔ] can be heard intervocalically.[2]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i, ĩ ɨ, ɨ̃ u, ũ
Mid e, ə o, õ
Open a, ã

[3][4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Yanomamö at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Ferreira, Helder Perri (2017). Yanomama Clause Structure (PDF). Utrecht: LOT. ISBN 978-94-6093-258-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-18.
  3. ^ Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.; Dixon, R.M.W. (1999). The Amazonian Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521570213.
  4. ^ Lizot, Jacques (2004). Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua yãnomãmī. Vicariato Apostólico de Puerto Ayacucho. ISBN 9789806800007. OCLC 61157955.

Further reading[edit]