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Iatê language
Yatê, or Fulniô, is a language isolate of Brazil, and the only indigenous language remaining in the northeastern part of that country. The two dialects, Fulniô and Yatê, are very close. The Fulniô dialect is used primarily during a three-month religious retreat. Today, the language is spoken in Águas Belas, Pernambuco.
The language is also called Carnijó, and alternate spellings are Fornió, Furniô, Yahthe, and Iatê.
Kaufman (1990) classified Fulniô as one of the Macro-Jê languages. However, Eduardo Ribeiro of the University of Chicago, who is working on large-scale classification of Brazilian languages, finds no evidence to support this, and treats it as an isolate. Jolkesky (2016) again has it as Macro-Jê, but Nikulin (2020) again excludes it.
Fulniô has the following sounds:
Fulniô has 8 vowels.
There are few contrasts between /o/ and /u/, suggesting /u/ is a recent addition, perhaps from Portuguese.
All seven have nasalized and glottalized allophones, depending on adjacent consonants. Vowels occur long and short. However, long vowels result from assimilation of /h/, are pronounced [Vh] in one dialect, and so are analyzed as /Vh/ sequences.
Tones are high and low. Contour tones occur allophonically adjacent to voiced consonants. Final syllables tend to lack a tone contrast, and final vowels may be devoiced or dropped.
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Iatê language AI simulator
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Iatê language
Yatê, or Fulniô, is a language isolate of Brazil, and the only indigenous language remaining in the northeastern part of that country. The two dialects, Fulniô and Yatê, are very close. The Fulniô dialect is used primarily during a three-month religious retreat. Today, the language is spoken in Águas Belas, Pernambuco.
The language is also called Carnijó, and alternate spellings are Fornió, Furniô, Yahthe, and Iatê.
Kaufman (1990) classified Fulniô as one of the Macro-Jê languages. However, Eduardo Ribeiro of the University of Chicago, who is working on large-scale classification of Brazilian languages, finds no evidence to support this, and treats it as an isolate. Jolkesky (2016) again has it as Macro-Jê, but Nikulin (2020) again excludes it.
Fulniô has the following sounds:
Fulniô has 8 vowels.
There are few contrasts between /o/ and /u/, suggesting /u/ is a recent addition, perhaps from Portuguese.
All seven have nasalized and glottalized allophones, depending on adjacent consonants. Vowels occur long and short. However, long vowels result from assimilation of /h/, are pronounced [Vh] in one dialect, and so are analyzed as /Vh/ sequences.
Tones are high and low. Contour tones occur allophonically adjacent to voiced consonants. Final syllables tend to lack a tone contrast, and final vowels may be devoiced or dropped.