Wayampi language

Wayãpi or Wayampi (Waiãpi, Guayapi, Oiampí) is a Tupi–Guarani language spoken by the Wayãpi people. It is spoken in French Guiana and Brazil.

Wayãpi
Wayampi
Region	French Guiana, Brazil
Ethnicity	Wayãpi
Native speakers	1,200 (2000)
Language family	Tupian Tupi–Guaraní Northern Wayãpi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	oym
Glottolog	waya1270
ELP	Wayampí

Phonology

Consonants

Consonant phonemes

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
				plain	lab.
Nasal	m	n		ŋ
Plosive	p	t		k	kʷ	ʔ
Fricative		s				h
Lateral		l
Approximant	w		j

Vowels

Vowel phonemes

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ		ɯ ɯ̃	u ũ
Mid	e ẽ		o õ
Open		a ã

In closed syllables, /e, o/ are heard as [ɛ, ɔ].

Orthography

Wayãpi is spelt phonetically based on the International Phonetic Alphabet, and not according the French orthography. The spelling uses the letter ɨ for the close central unrounded vowel between i and u. E is always pronounced é, vowels with a tilde are always nasal (ã, ẽ, ĩ, õ, ũ), ö is like the German O umlaut, and b is pronounced mb. All letters are pronounced.

Bibliography

• Copin, François (2012), Grammaire wayampi (famille tupi-guarani), Université de Paris
• Grenand, Pierre; Grenand, Françoise Grenand (2017). "Pour une histoire de la cartographie des territoires teko et wayãpi (Commune de Camopi, Guyane française)". Revue d’ethnoécologie (in French) (11). doi:10.4000/ethnoecologie.3007. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

External links

• Wayampi (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)