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Akwáwa
Native toBrazil
Region Pará
Ethnicity Suruí do Pará, Asuriní, Parakanã
Native speakers
1,500 (2012) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
asu – Asuriní
mdz –  Suruí
pak – Parakanã
Glottolog tupi1284
ELP

Akwáwa is a Tupi–Guarani dialect cluster spoken in Pará in western Brazil.

Dialects

There are three distinct dialects: [2]

  • Asuriní (of Tocantins or Trocará), or Akwawa
  • Suruí (of Tocantins or Pará), or Akewara
  • Parakanã, Awaeté

Both the name Asuriní and Suruí are used for related peoples and their languages: Suruí of Jiparaná, Suruí of Rondônia, Asuriní of Xingú, etc.

Phonology

The following is the Parakanã dialect: [3]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ɨ
Mid e o
Open a
  • Vowel sounds are realized as nasalized when preceding nasal consonants.
  • /e/ can also be heard as [ ɛ] when in stressed position.
  • /ɨ/ can also be heard as [ ə] when preceding a vowel.
  • /a/ can be heard as back [ ʌ] when in word-final position. In its nasal form, it is heard as back [ ʌ̃].
  • /o/ can be heard as [ u] when in unstressed position.

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab.
Plosive p t k ʔ
Fricative β h
Nasal m n ŋ
Tap ɾ
  • /β/ can also be heard as a glide [ w].
  • /tʃ/ can be realized as a glide [ j] in final position, and as voiced [ ] in intervocalic positions.

Notes

  1. ^ Asuriní at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Suruí at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Parakanã at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Cheryl Jensen, 1999, "Tupí-Guaraní", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, The Amazonian Languages
  3. ^ Souza e Silva, Auristéa Caetana (1999). Aspectos da referência alternada em Parakanã. Universidade Federal do Pará.