Varieties
Varieties listed by Mason (1950): *Puinave (Epined) **Western: Bravos, Guaripa **Eastern: Mansos *Macú **Macú **Tikié **Kerarí **Papurí **Nadöbo Alternate names of Puinave are ''Puinabe, Puinavis, Uaipunabis, Guaipunavos, Uaipis''.Classification
Puinave is sometimes linked to other poorly attested languages of the region in variousPhonology
Consonants
Vowels
Syllable structure is (C)V(C); nasal syllabic nuclei cause allophonic variation of consonantal segments in the same syllable. The phonemes have oral, non-sonorant allophones in the onsets of syllables with oral nuclei. The high vowel , when occurring in onset or coda position, is realized as a glide . When the high vowel is in coda position, it is also realized as a glide , but in onset position, it is realized as a palatal stop matching in nasality with the nucleus, either or , in the same way that match the following vowel's nasality. Any glides occurring before or occurring after a nasalized nucleus are also realized as nasal .Tone
Puinave distinguishes four surface (phonetic) tones: two simple (H and L) and two contour (HL and LH); these are analyzed as being composed of two phonemic tone values, H and L. Girón Higuita and Wetzels (2007) note that speakers seem to associate H with prominence, rather than increased duration or intensity (the typical correlates of prominence in languages like English).Morphology and syntax
Jesús Mario Girón's description of the morphology and the function of nominalized constructions in this language can be found in ''The Linguistics of Endangered Languages'' (edited byBibliography
*Bautista Sánchez, E. (2008). ''Diccionario puinave-español y la oración gramatical''. CIRCUI, Centro de Investigaciones de rescate cultural Puinave Autóctonas. *Girón, J. M. (2008). ''Una gramática del Wã́nsöjöt (Puinave)''. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit. (Doctoral dissertation). *Girón Higuita, J.M. and W. Leo Wetzels (2007). Tone in Wãnsöhöt (Puinave). ''Language Endangerment and Endangered Languages: Linguistic and Anthropological Studies with Special Emphasis on the Languages and Cultures of the Andean-Amazonian Border Area,'' W. Leo Wetzels ed., CNWS Publications.References
*External links