Waurá language

Waurá
Wauja
Pronunciation	[waˈuʐa],[waˈuʂa]
Native to	Brazil
Region	Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso
Ethnicity	Wauja
Native speakers	320 (2006) [1]
Language family	Arawakan Southern ? Paresí–Xingu Waurá Waura–Mehináku Waurá
Language codes
ISO 639-3	wau
Linguist List	qdv Waura–Mehináku
Glottolog	waur1244
ELP	Waurá

Waurá (Wauja) is an Arawakan language spoken in the Xingu Indigenous Park of Brazil by the Waujá people. ^[2] It is "partially intelligible" with Mehináku. The entire population speaks the language. ^[1]

Phonology

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Stop	p	t			k	ɢ	( ʔ )
Affricate		ts		tʃ
Nasal	m	n
Fricative		s	ʐ				h
Tap		ɾ
Approximant	w	l		j

• A glottal stop [ʔ] occurs phonetically before vowels in word-initial position, or after vowels in word-final position.
• /p/ can be heard as aspirated [pʰ] or voiced [b] in free variation.
• Stop sounds /t, k/ can be heard as aspirated [tʰ, kʰ] in free variation.
• /w/ can also be heard as [β] in free variation, except when before /u/.
• /s/ can be heard as voiced [z] when between vowels, or after initial vowels.
• /ʐ/ can be heard as voiceless [ʂ] when between vowels, or after initial vowels.
• /j/ can be heard as a palatal nasal [ɲ] when occurring before nasal vowels /ã, ẽ, ũ/.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
High	i iː ĩ	ɨ ɨː ɨ̃	u uː ũ
Mid	e eː ẽ
Low		a aː ã

• Sounds /i, u, ɨ, a/ can also be heard in lax form as [ɪ, ʊ, ə, ɐ].
• Sounds /e, eː, ẽ/ can be heard as close-mid [e, eː, ẽ] or open-mid [ɛ, ɛː, ɛ̃] in free variation. ^[3]

References

1. Waurá at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Seki, Lucy. 2011. Alto Xingu: uma área linguística? In: Franchetto, Bruna (ed.), Alto Xingu: uma sociedade multilíngue , p. 57-85. Rio de Janeiro: Museu do Índio/FUNAI. (in Portuguese)
3. Postigo, Adriana Viana (2014). Língua Wauja (Arawak): uma descrição fonológica e morfossintática.