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Kỳikatêjê dialect

Kỳikatêjê^[2]orKyikatêjê^[3][1]: 10 is a dialect of Pará Gavião, a Jê language of Brazil. It spoken by the Kỳikatêjê people in Terra Indígena Mãe Maria (Bom Jesus do Tocantins, Pará). Almost all speakers are over 40 years old; the younger generations have shifted to Portuguese.^[2] Kỳikatêjê is closely related to the Parkatêjê dialect, spoken by another Timbira group in the same reservation.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

The consonantal inventory of Kỳikatêjê is as follows.^[3]: 62

The stops /p k t/ are sometimes phonetically aspirated in coda: /pɨtit/ [pɨˈtitʰ] ‘one’. The approximant /j/ surfaces as [ʒ] preceding one of /ɨ̃ ĩ/, as in /mpɔ-jĩ/ [mpɔˈʒĩ] ‘meat’, /pa mũ jɨ̃/ [pamũˈʒɨ̃] ‘I sat down’. /n/ is optionally assimilated to [ŋ] before /k/, as in [ĩnkɾiˈɾɛ] ~ [ĩŋkɾiˈɾɛ] ‘small’. The voiced labial fricative and the glottal stop [ʔ] have been attested in one word each, [kuβeneˈɾɛ] ‘bird’ and [aʔə̃ˈɾɛ] ‘hen’.

Available complex onsets include /pɾ kɾ mp/ (and possibly others). The maximum syllable in Kỳikatêjê is /CCVC/.

Vowels[edit]

The vowel inventory of Kỳikatêjê is as follows.^[3]: 62

References[edit]