Barawana (Baré) is an
Arawakan language
Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient Indigenous peoples in South America. Branch ...
of
Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
and
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, where it is nearly extinct. It was spoken by the
Baré people. Aikhenvald (1999) reports "just a few old speakers left" of Baré proper, and that the Guinau variety was extinct. Kaufman (1994) considers Baré proper, Guinau, and Marawá (currently extinct) to be distinct languages; Aikhenvald, dialects of a single language. (Marawá is not the same language as
Marawán.)
''Baré'' is a generic name for a number of Arawakan languages in the area, including
Mandahuaca,
Guarequena,
Baniwa, and
Piapoco. Barawana is the language given this name in Kaufman, Aikhenvald, and ''Ethnologue''. It is also known as Ibini (a typo for Ihini ~ Arihini?) and Mitua.
Phonology
Vowels
Vowels can come in three forms; oral, nasal, and voiceless:
* Vowel sounds , /e ẽ e̥/, and /u ũ u̥/ are heard as
� ɵ̃ ɵ̥ � ɛ̃ ɛ̥ and
õ o̥when in unstressed position.
*/a/ is heard as a back sound when after /w/.
Consonants
* Sounds /t, n/ are realized as dentalized and palatal before and after /i/.
*/d/ is realized as an affricate before front vowels.
*/ɾ/ can tend to fluctuate to a velarized in free variation.
References
Languages of Brazil
Arawakan languages
Extinct languages of South America
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