Waiwai language

Waiwai /ˈwaɪwaɪ/[2] (Uaiuai, Uaieue, Ouayeone) is a Cariban language of northern Brazil, with a couple hundred speakers across the border in southern Guyana and Suriname.

Waiwai
Native toBrazil, Guyana, Suriname
EthnicityWai-Wai
Native speakers
(2,200 cited 1990–2006)[1]
Cariban
  • Parukotoan
    • Waiwai languages
      • Waiwai
Dialects
  • Katawian (Tunayana)
  • Karahawyana
Language codes
ISO 639-3waw
Glottologwaiw1244
ELP

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Glottal
Stop t tʃ k
Nasal m n ɲ
Fricative ɸ s ʃ h
Tap ɺ ɭ̥̆
Approximant w j

Vowels
Front Central Back
High i iː ɨ ɨː u uː
Mid e eː o oː
Low a aː
  • /o/ can be heard as [ʌ] when following palatal consonants /tʃ, ʃ/.
  • /a/ can be heard as [æ] when preceded by sounds /j, tʃ/, and followed by sounds /w, m, s/.[3]

References
  1. Waiwai at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. Hawkins, Robert (1998). Wai Wai. Desmond Derbyshire and Geoffrey Pullum (eds.), Handbook of Handbook of Amazonian Languages, Vol. 4: Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 25–224.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  • Lev, Michael; Stark, Tammy; Chang, Will (2012). "Phonological inventory of Waiwai". The South American Phonological Inventory Database (version 1.1.3 ed.). Berkeley: University of California: Survey of California and Other Indian Languages Digital Resource.
  • Waiwai Collection of Niels Fock from the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America, containing audio recordings of ceremonial chants and photographs made in the 1950s.
  • Wai Wai (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)


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