Waiká, also Yanomám (or Yanomae, Yanomama, Yanomami),[2] is one of several closely related languages spoken by the Yanomami people in Brazil. Most speakers are monolingual. For a grammatical description, see Yanomaman languages.
The names Waika (Guaica) and Yanomami are shared with the Yanomamö language.
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Plosive | plain | p | t | k | ||
| aspirated | tʰ | |||||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | h | ||
| Flap | ɾ | |||||
| Approximant | w | (l) | j | |||
/ɾ/ may alternate to a lateral approximant [l] sound.[2]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i ĩ | ɨ ɨ̃ | u ũ |
| Mid | e ẽ | ə | o õ |
| Open | a ã |
References
- ^ Waiká at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ a b 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. ISBN 978-85-8226-076-0