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Wayoró (also Wayoro, Ajurú, Wajuru; Wayoró: wayoro emẽto ) is a moribund Tuparian language (Tupian family), which is spoken in the state of Rondônia, in the Amazon region of Brazil. As of 2019, there were reported to be 3 speakers (all above 70 years old) and 11 semispeakers out of the ethnic population of approximately 250.

Dialects

The Wajuru people is subdivided into three subgroups: the Ngwayoroiat (‘those from the Stone’), the Ngwãkũyãian (‘the Agouti ones’), and the Kupndiiriat (‘the Forest ones’). Some lexical and phonological differences have been reported between the varieties spoken by the Ngwayoroiat (Wayoroiat) and by the Kupndiiriat.

Phonology

Consonants

The graphemes which correspond to each phoneme are given in ⟨brackets⟩.

1. Occurs in the onset position only (e.g. o’uwa ‘my pot’, o’ega ‘my hiccup’, apa’a ‘to weave a hammock horizontally’). The phonological status is given as uncertain by Nogueira (2019).

Underlying nasal consonants may be partially or fully oralized in oral environments. Nogueira (2019) describes the following allophones:

• /m/ → ⟨m⟩, ⟨mb⟩
• /n/ → ⟨n⟩, ⟨nd⟩
• /ɲ/ → ⟨y⟩, ⟨dj⟩
• /ŋ/ → ⟨ng⟩, ⟨g⟩
• /ŋʷ/ → ⟨ngw⟩, ⟨gw⟩

Vowels

Syntax

As in other Tuparian languages, the main clauses of Wayoró follow the cross-linguistically rare nominative–absolutive pattern. Person prefixes on the verb are absolutive, i.e., they index the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) and the patient argument ('direct object') of a transitive verb (P). Person pronouns, which follow the verb (either cliticizing to it or not) are nominative: they may encode the sole argument of an intransitive verb (S) or the agent argument of a transitive verb (A), but not the patient of a transitive verb (P). This is exemplified below.

V:verb S:sole argument of an intransitive verb P:patient argument of a transitive verb A:agent argument of a transitive verb TH:thematic vowel:thematic vowel PL:pluractionality:pluractionality

Eamõyãn

s-V

/e-amõc-a-t

2-dance-TH-NFUT

(en).

(S)

(ẽt)/

(2.NOM)

Eamõyãn (en).

s-V (S)

/e-amõc-a-t (ẽt)/

2-dance-TH-NFUT (2.NOM)

‘You danced.’

Etopkwap

p-V

/e-top-kʷ-a-p

2-see-PL-TH-p

nã

nã

FUT

on.

A

õt/

1.NOM

Etopkwap nã on.

p-V {} A

/e-top-kʷ-a-p nã õt/

2-see-PL-TH-p FUT 1.NOM

‘I’ll see you every day.’

References

1. ^ Nogueira, Antônia Fernanda de Souza (2019). Predicação na língua Wayoro (Tupi): propriedades de finitude (PDF) (Thesis). São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo.
2. Galucio, Ana Vilacy; de Souza Nogueira, Antônia Fernanda (20 July 2018). "From object nominalization to object focus: The innovative A-alignment in the Tuparian languages (Tupian family)". Journal of Historical Linguistics. 8 (1): 95–127. doi:10.1075/jhl.16025.gal.

External links

• ELAR archive of Documentation of Urgently Endangered Tupian Languages (including Ajuru)
• TuLaR (Tupian Languages Resources)

• Tupian languages
• Languages of South America
• Mamoré–Guaporé linguistic area