Tiriyo language
| Tiriyó | |
|---|---|
| tarëno ijomi | |
| Pronunciation | [taɽəːno ijoːmi] |
| Native to | Brazil, Suriname |
| Region | Pará (Baixo Amazonas mesoregion), Sipaliwini District |
| Ethnicity | Tiriyó |
|
Native speakers
|
2,100 (2003–2006) |
|
Cariban
|
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | trio1238 |
The Tiriyó language (also known as Trio, autonym tarëno), is spoken by approximately 2,000 people living in several villages on both sides of the Brazil-Suriname border in the northern Amazon basin. It is a relatively healthy language, learned by all children as their mother tongue and actively used in all areas of life by its speakers. Most of the Tiriyó (there are no precise numbers, but impressionistic observation would suggest more than half) are monolingual speakers. Of course, the long-term survival of their language, as is the case for almost all native South American languages, remains an open question.
Tiriyó has been classified as belonging to the Taranoan group of the Guianan sub-branch of Cariban, together with Karihona (Carijona), in Colombia, and Akuriyó, in Suriname, the former with a few, and the latter with apparently no, speakers left. Gildea (2012) lists Tiriyó and Trió as distinct languages.
There seem to be two main dialects in the Tiriyó-speaking area, called by Jones (1972) Eastern or Tapanahoni basin, and Western or Sipaliwini basin dialects, and by Meira (2000, to appear) K-Tiriyó and H-Tiriyó. The main difference thus far reported is phonological: the different realization of what were (historically) clusters involving /h/ and a stop (see Phonology section below). Grammatical and/or lexical differences may also exist, but the examples thus far produced are disputed.
Demographically, H-Tiriyó is the most important dialect (~ 60% of the speakers). It is the dialect spoken in the village of Kwamalasamutu, Suriname, and in the villages along the Western Paru river (Tawainen or Missão Tiriós, Kaikui Tëpu, Santo Antônio) and also along the Marapi river (Kuxare, Yawa, etc.). K-Tiriyó is spoken in the villages along the Eastern Paru river (Mataware, and some people at Bonna) in Brazil, and in the villages of Tepoe and Paloemeu in Suriname.
Tiriyo was also a basis of the Ndyuka-Tiriyó Pidgin.
Tiriyó has 7 vowels and 10 consonants, as shown in the chart below. (Orthographic symbols in bold, IPA values in square brackets.)
The basic syllable template is (C1)V1(V2)(C2) -- i.e., the possible syllable types are:
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