Mehináku
Native toBrazil
RegionXingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso
EthnicityMehinako
Native speakers
230 (2006)[1]
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3mmh
qdv Waura–Mehináku
Glottologmehi1240
ELPMehináku

Mehináku (Meinaku) is an Arawakan language spoken by the Mehinaku people in the Xingu Indigenous Park of Brazil.[2] One dialect, Waurá-kumá, is "somewhat intelligible" with Waurá due to influence from this language.[1]

Phonology

Mehináku features five vowels /a e i ɨ u/ which can be either oral or nasal /ã ẽ ĩ ɨ̃ ũ/.[3]

The language has thirteen consonants.[3]

Mehináku Consonants
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p t k
Affricate ts tʃ
Fricative ʂ h
Nasal m n
Lateral l
Tap ɾ
Approximant w j

References

  1. ^ a b Mehináku at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Seki, Lucy. 2011. Alto Xingu: uma área linguística? In: Franchetto, Bruna (ed.), Alto Xingu: uma sociedade multilíngue, p. 57-85. Rio de Janeiro: Museu do Índio/FUNAI. (in Portuguese)
  3. ^ a b Mori, Angel Corbera (2012). "Waurá e Mehináku: um breve estudo comparativo". Estudos Linguísticos (São Paulo. 1978) (in Portuguese). 41 (1): 196–205. ISSN 1413-0939.


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