Pãi Tavyterã is a Guarani language spoken by about 600 Pai Tavytera people in eastern Paraguay, in Amambay, eastern Concepción, eastern San Pedro, and northern Canindeyú Departments. The language has 70% lexical similarity with the Kaiwá language, spoken in Brazil. Among Pai Tavyetera people, language use is shifting towards Guaraní.[1]

Pãi Tavyterã
Ava, Pãi, Tavyterã
Native toParaguay
Ethnicity8,030 Pai Tavytera people (2007)[1]
Native speakers
600 (2007)[1]
Tupian
Language codes
ISO 639-3pta
Glottologpait1247

The language is written in the Latin script.[2]

Phonology

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Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i ĩ ɨ ɨ̃ u ũ
Close-mid e o õ
Open a ã
  • Six shortened vowels both oral and nasal are heard as /ĭ ɨ̆ ŭ/ and /ĩ̆ ɨ̃̆ ũ̆/.

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative s ʃ ʝ h
Rhotic ɾ
Nasal m n ɲ (ŋ)
Approximant ʋ l w
  • /ʝ/ can also be heard as an affricate [ɟʝ].
  • /b d ʝ ɡ/ may also be prenasalized as [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᶮʝ, ᵑɡ].
  • /n/ is heard as [ŋ] before velar consonants.[3]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Pãi Tavyterã at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ "Pai Tavytera." Script Source. 2011. Retrieved 20 Jan 2012.
  3. ^ Escobar-Imlach, Celeste Mariana (2017). Aspectos fónicos, fonológicos y morfofonológicos del pai tavytera guaraní. México: Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social.
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