Barawana language

Barawana (Baré) is an Arawakan language of Venezuela and Brazil, 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 languages. (Marawá is not the same language as Marawán.)

Barawana
Baré
Mitua
Native toVenezuela, Brazil
Native speakers
240 (2011)[1]
Arawakan
Language codes
ISO 639-3bae
qth (Guiano)
 qqd (Marawá)
Glottologbare1276  Baré
guin1258  Guinau
mara1409  Maragua
ELPBaré

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:

Front Central Back
Close i ĩ i̥ u ũ u̥
Mid e ẽ e̥
Open a ã ḁ
  • Vowel sounds /a ã ḁ/, /e ẽ e̥/, and /u ũ u̥/ are heard as [ɵ ɵ̃ ɵ̥], [ɛ ɛ̃ ɛ̥], and [o õ o̥] when in unstressed position.
  • /a/ is heard as a back sound [ɑ] when after /w/.

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t t͡ʃ k
aspirated pʰ tʰ t͡ʃʰ kʰ
voiced b d
Fricative s h
Flap ɾ
Sonorant voiceless m̥ n̥ j̊ w̥
voiced m n j w
  • Sounds /t, n/ are realized as dentalized and palatal [t̪, ɲ] before and after /i/.
  • /d/ is realized as an affricate [d͡ʒ] before front vowels.
  • /ɾ/ can tend to fluctuate to a velarized [ɫ] in free variation.[2]

References
  1. Barawana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Cunha de Oliveira, Christiane (1993). Uma descrição do Baré (Arawak): Aspectos fonológicos e gramaticais. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina.
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