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Kaiwá is a Guarani language spoken by about 18,000 Kaiwá people in Brazil in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and 510 people in northeastern Argentina. Literacy is 5-10% in Kaiwá and 15–25% in Portuguese. Kaiwá proper is 70% lexically similar with the Pai Tavytera language, and its similarity to its linguistic cousin Guaraní, one of the two national-languages of Paraguay alongside the Spanish language, means it is even sometimes considered mutually intelligible.

Phonology

Vowels

• /e/ can also be heard as [ɛ].

Consonants

• Prenasalized stops can also be heard as nasal sonorants.
• is heard as an allophone of /v/ or /u/.
• is heard as an allophone of /i/.

Sample text

Original Kaiwá text:

Eregwata-ramo ka'agwy-rupi erehexa gwa'a. Hagwe pytã porã. Oveve áry-rupi gwa'a. Oveve-ramo, "Kaa! Kaa!" he'i. Heta oĩ gwa'a ka'agwy-rupi.

Guarani translation:

Reguatáramo ka'aguýre rehecháta gua'a pytã. Hague pytã porã. Oveve yvatetere'i yvágare. Ovevẽro "Kaa! Kaa!" he'i. Heta oĩ gua'a pytã ka'aguýre.

Portuguese translation:

Quando você passeia no mato, você vê a arara. A plumagem dela é dum vermelho bonito. A arara voa no céu. Quando voa, grita "Kaa! Kaa!" Há muitas araras no mato.

Rough English translation:

When you walk in the bush, you see the macaw. The plumage is a beautiful red. The macaw flies in the sky. When it flies, it shouts "Kaa! Kaa!" There are many macaws in the bush.

Notes

1. ^ Kaiwá at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Bridgeman, Loraine I. (1961). "Kaiwa (Guarani) Phonology". International Journal of American Linguistics. 27 (4): 329–334. doi:10.1086/464654.
3. ^ Te'ýi nhe'ẽ. 5 Cartilha Kaiwá, pg 2.

Bibliography

• Summer Institute of Linguistics (1980) Te'ýi nhe'ẽ. 5 Cartilha Kaiwá, SIL, Brasilia, DF.

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