Terêna language

Terêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar.[3] Many Terena people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul. 20% are literate in their language, 80% literate in Portuguese.

Terena may also refer to TERENA
Terêna
Native toBrazil
RegionMato Grosso do Sul
EthnicityTerena people
Native speakers
16,000 (2006)[1]
Arawakan
  • Southern
    • Bolivia–Parana
      • Terêna
Language codes
ISO 639-2ter
ISO 639-3Variously:
ter – Terena
gqn – Kinikinao & Guaná
caj – Chané
Glottologtere1279[2]

There were once four varieties, Kinikinao, Terena proper, Guaná, and Chané, which are sometimes considered separate languages (Aikhenvald 1999). Only Terena proper is still spoken.

Terêna has an active–stative syntax.[4]

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
prenasal ᵐb ⁿd ᵑɡ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ h
prenasal ⁿz ⁿʒ
Nasal m n
Tap ɾ
Lateral l
Approximant w j

Vowels
Front Central Back
High i ĩ iː (ɨ)u ũ uː
Mid e ẽ eː o õ oː
ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Low a ã aː

[5]

References
  1. Terena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Kinikinao & Guaná at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Chané at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Terena-Kinikinao-Chane". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Butler, Nancy Evelyn; Ekdahl, Elizabeth Muriel (1979). Aprenda Terêna, Vol. 1 (in Portuguese). Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  4. Aikhenvald, "Arawak", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, eds., The Amazonian Languages, 1999.
  5. Nascimento, Gardênia (2012). Aspectos Gramaticais da Língua Terena. Belo Horizonte: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.


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