Nambikwara language
| Nambikwara | |
|---|---|
| Southern Nambikwara | |
| Kitãulhu | |
| Native to | Mato Grosso, Brazil |
| Ethnicity | Nambikwara |
|
Native speakers
|
720 (2006) |
|
Nambikwaran
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | sout2994 |
The Nambikwara language (Southern Nambikwara or Kitãulhu, contrasting with Northern Nambikwara or Mamaindé; also spelled Nambikuára, Nhambikwara or Nambiquara) is an indigenous language of Brazil, spoken by about 1200 Nambikwara people in the Mato Grosso state. It forms a small Nambikwaran language family, which are often considered dialects of a single language despite not being mutually intelligible. They are a language isolate; Joseph Greenberg had included in his Gê–Pano–Carib phylum, but this has not been followed by other linguists. Nambikwara is in vigorous use in the Nambikwara communities and in spite of having few speakers the language is not endangered. The name Nambikwara is of Tupi origin.
Most Nambikwara are monolingual but some young men speak Portuguese.
Nambikwara phonology is complex: it distinguishes aspirated, glottalized and plain consonants, and also has two different phonation types of vowels, nasal vowels and three tones.
Kroeker (2001) distinguishes 19 different vowel sounds for Kitãulhu, based on six vowel qualities:
Apart from /ʌ/, these have creaky counterparts, /ḭ ɛ̰ a̰ o̰ ṵ/, and apart also from /o/, nasal and creaky nasal counterparts, /ĩ ɛ̃ ã ũ/, /ḭ̃ ɛ̰̃ ã̰ ṵ̃/.
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