Mbyá Guaraní language

Mbya Guarani is a Tupi–Guarani Indigenous languages of the southern cone. It is 75% lexically similar to Paraguayan Guarani.[1]

Mbya
ayvu (language), nhandeayvu (our language)
Native toArgentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
EthnicityGuarani
Native speakers
15,050 (2007–2008)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3gun
Glottologmbya1239
ELPMbyá

Mbya Guarani is one of a number of "Guarani dialects" now generally classified as distinct languages. Mbya is closely connected to Ava Guarani, also known as Ñandeva, and intermarriage between speakers of the two languages is common. Speakers of Mbya and Ñandeva generally live in mountainous areas of the Atlantic Forest, from eastern Paraguay through Misiones Province of Argentina, Uruguay to the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.[2]

Phonology

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Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i ĩ ɨ ɨ̃ u ũ
Mid ɛ ɛ̃ o õ
Open a ã
  • Vowel sounds /ɛ, o/ can also be heard as [e, ɔ] in free variation.
  • /i, u/ when preceding vowels can be heard as non-syllabic [i̯, u̯]

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
plain lab.
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
prenasal/vd. m ~ ᵐb n ~ ⁿd ɲ ~ ŋ ~ ᵑɡ ŋʷ ~ ɡʷ
Nasal
Fricative β̞ ~ v h
Approximant () ()
Tap ɾ
  • /β̞/ can also be realized as [v] or [] in free variation.
  • Nasal sounds /m, n, ŋ/ can also be heard as prenasalized stops [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ] in free variation.
  • /ɲ, ŋʷ/ can be heard as [i̯~dʒ, ɡʷ] before oral vowels, and as [ɲ, ŋʷ] before nasal vowels.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Mbya at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Ladeira, Maria Inês (2018-03-26). "Guarani Mbya". Povos Indígenas no Brasil. Instituto Socioambiental. Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  3. ^ Fileti Martins, Marci (2003). Descrição e Análise de Aspectos da Gramática do Guarani Mbyá. Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
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