Yanomamö (Yąnomamɨ) is the most populous of several closely related languages spoken by the Yanomami people. Most speakers are monolingual. It has no natively-used writing system. For a grammatical description, see Yanomaman languages.

Yanomamö
Yąnomamɨ
Native toVenezuela, Brazil
RegionOrinocoMavaca; Amazonas
EthnicityYanomami
Native speakers
20,000 (2000–2006)[1]
Yanomam
  • Yanomamö
Dialects
  • Cobari (Kobali)
Language codes
ISO 639-3guu
Glottologyano1261
ELPYanomamö
Yanomaman languages location
  Yanomamö
  Ninam

Phonology

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Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive plain p t k (ʔ)
aspirated
Fricative f s ʃ h
Flap ɾ
Nasal m n
Approximant w (l) j

/ɾ/ can also alternate to a lateral approximant [l] sound. A glottal stop sound [ʔ] can be heard intervocalically.[2]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i, ĩ ɨ, ɨ̃ u, ũ
Mid e, ə o, õ
Open a, ã

[3][4]

References

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  1. ^ Yanomamö at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Ferreira, Helder Perri (2017). Yanomama Clause Structure (PDF). Utrecht: LOT. ISBN 978-94-6093-258-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-04-18.
  3. ^ Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.; Dixon, R.M.W. (1999). The Amazonian Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521570213.
  4. ^ Lizot, Jacques (2004). Diccionario enciclopédico de la lengua yãnomãmī. Vicariato Apostólico de Puerto Ayacucho. ISBN 9789806800007. OCLC 61157955.

Further reading

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