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Ofayé language

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Ofayé
Opaye
Native toBrazil
RegionMato Grosso do Sul
Ethnicity61 Ofayé people (2012)[1]
Native speakers
12 (2012)[1]
Revivaleffort underway[1]
Macro-Jê
  • Ofayé
Dialects
  • Guachi (Vaccaria)
Language codes
ISO 639-3opy
Glottologofay1240
ELPOfayé
Map of Ofayé among the Macro-Jê languages

The Ofayé or Opaye language, also Ofaié-Xavante, Opaié-Shavante, is a language spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil which forms its own branch of the Macro-Jê languages. It is spoken by only a couple of the small Ofayé people, though language revitalization efforts are underway.

Documentation

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Grammatical descriptions have been made by the Pankararú linguist Maria das Dores de Oliveira (Pankararu),[2] as well as by Sarah C. Gudschinsky[3] and Jennifer E. da Silva, from the Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul.

Geographical distribution

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It was spoken on the Ivinhema River, Pardo River, and Nhandú River in Mato Grosso do Sul. Guachi, spoken on the Vacaria River in Mato Grosso do Sul, is a dialect.[4]

Language contact

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Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Macro-Mataguayo-Guaykuru languages due to contact.[5]

Phonology

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The consonantal inventory of Ofayé is as follows.[2]: 40 

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Postalveolar/
palatal
Velar Labio-velar Glottal
Nasal n
Stop voiceless t k ʔ
voiced d g
Fricative ɸ ʃ h
Oral sonorant ɾ j w

The vowel inventory of Ofayé is as follows.[2]: 42 

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i ĩ
Close-mid e ə o õ
Open-mid ɛ
Open a ã

Vocabulary

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Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.[4]

gloss Opaie
one enex-há
two yakwári
tongue chü-õrá
foot chü-gareyé
fire mitáu
tree komekatá
jaguar woki
house shüa
white õká

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ofayé at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b c Oliveira, Maria das Dores de (2006). Ofayé, a língua do povo do mel: fonologia e gramática (Ph.D. dissertation). Maceió: Universidade Federal de Alagoas.
  3. ^ Gudschinsky, Sarah C. (1974). "Fragmentos de Ofaié: a descrição de uma língua extinta". Série Lingüística. 3: 177–249.
  4. ^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
  5. ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.