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Kaiwá language

Kaiwá is a Guarani language spoken by about 18,000 Kaiwá people in Brazil in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and 510 people in northeastern Argentina. Literacy is 5-10% in Kaiwá and 15–25% in Portuguese. Kaiwá proper is 70% lexically similar with the Pai Tavytera language, and its similarity to its linguistic cousin Guaraní, one of the two national-languages of Paraguay alongside the Spanish language, means it is even sometimes considered mutually intelligible.^[1]

Phonology[edit]

Vowels[edit]

• /e/ can also be heard as [ɛ].

Consonants[edit]

• Prenasalized stops can also be heard as nasal sonorants.
• [w] is heard as an allophone of /v/ or /u/.
• [j] is heard as an allophone of /i/.^[2]

Sample text[edit]

Original Kaiwá text:

Eregwata-ramo ka'agwy-rupi erehexa gwa'a. Hagwe pytã porã. Oveve áry-rupi gwa'a. Oveve-ramo, "Kaa! Kaa!" he'i. Heta oĩ gwa'a ka'agwy-rupi.^[3]

Guarani translation:

Reguatáramo ka'aguýre rehecháta gua'a pytã. Hague pytã porã. Oveve yvatetere'i yvágare. Ovevẽro "Kaa! Kaa!" he'i. Heta oĩ gua'a pytã ka'aguýre.

Portuguese translation:^[3]

Quando você passeia no mato, você vê a arara. A plumagem dela é dum vermelho bonito. A arara voa no céu. Quando voa, grita "Kaa! Kaa!" Há muitas araras no mato.

Rough English translation:

When you walk in the bush, you see the macaw. The plumage is a beautiful red. The macaw flies in the sky. When it flies, it shouts "Kaa! Kaa!" There are many macaws in the bush.

Notes[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

• Summer Institute of Linguistics (1980) Te'ýi nhe'ẽ. 5 Cartilha Kaiwá, SIL, Brasilia, DF.

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