Sanöma or Sanumá is a Yanomaman language spoken in

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 ...

. It is also known as ''Sanema, Sanima, Tsanuma, Guaika, Samatari, Samatali, Xamatari'' and ''Chirichano''. Most of its speakers in Venezuela also speak Ye'kuana, also known as Maquiritare, the language of the Ye'kuana people the Sanumá live alongside in the Caura River basin.

History

Throughout the centuries, the

Yanomami The Yanomami, also spelled Yąnomamö or Yanomama, are a group of approximately 35,000 indigenous people of the Americas, indigenous people who live in some 200–250 villages in the Amazon rainforest on the border between Venezuela and Brazil. ...

, originally from the Parima range, have spread up toward river valleys on the plains both to the south in

, and to the north in

. The Sanumá speak one of the four known

languages. It is in the rainforests of north

and south

that the groups have lived undisturbed until recently. In the last 40 years or so the western world has been knocking at their doorsteps wanting lumber and gold.

Dialects

Some linguists identify dialects such as ''Yanoma, Cobari, Caura,'' and ''Ervato-Ventuari'' in Venezuela and ''Auaris'' in Brazil. All the dialects are mutually intelligible. In Venezuela, Sanumá is spoken in the vicinity of the Caura and Ervato-Ventuari Rivers in Venezuela, while in Brazil, it is spoken in the Auari River region of

Roraima Roraima ( ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil. Located in the country's North Region, it is the northernmost and most geographically and logistically isolated state in Brazil. It is bordered by the state of Pará to the southeast, Amazonas t ...

. There are three dialects spoken in

, Brazil:Ferreira, Helder Perri; Machado, Ana Maria Antunes; Senra, Estevão Benfica. 2019.
As línguas Yanomami no Brasil: diversidade e vitalidade
'. São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) and Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). 216pp. * Awaris (2,955 speakers) * Aracaçá (29 speakers) *Hokomawä (180 speakers)

Phonology

* The sound has limited distribution as a phoneme. * /k/ can be heard as �and /t/ can be heard as a flap � in intervocalic positions. * /k/ becomes palatalized as ʲwhen preceding /i/. * /s/ becomes palatalized as �when preceding /i/. In initial positions, /s/ can be heard as an affricate s or as ʃwhen palatalized, preceding /i/. * /l/ becomes palatalized as �when preceding sounds /i, e/. * /a/ may be heard as �after sounds , l, j * /o/ may be heard as �in free variation. * /e/ may be heard as �after when a consonant is palatalized.

History

Dialects

Phonology

References

Further reading