Djeoromitxí language

Template:Short description Djeoromitxi or Jabutí (Yabuti) is an endangered Yabutian language that is spoken by only about fifty people (though including some children) in Rondônia, Brazil, at the headwaters of the Rio Branco.

Phonology

There is no tonal system in Djeoromitxí and accent is not contrastive. Morphophonological processes are rare.

Syllable structure follows a (C)V pattern.Template:Sfnp

Consonants

The table below shows the consonant phonemes of Djeoromitxí according to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010).Template:Sfnp

Although Pires (1992) counts /b/ /d/ as distinct phonemes, Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) count them as allophones of /m/ /n/ before oral vowels.Template:Sfnp

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Plosive		Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Affricate	voiceless	ps	Template:IPA link
	voiced	bz	Template:IPA link
Fricative					Template:IPA link
Approximant		Template:IPA link
Trill/Tap			Template:IPA link

According to Pires (1992), [[[:Template:IPA link]]] is an allophone of /Template:IPA link/ before high and medium round vowels, and [[[:Template:IPA link]]] is an allophone of /Template:IPA link/ following the high nasal vowel /Template:IPA link/.

While /ps/ and /bz/ only occur before /i/, they are contrastive with the other bilabial obstruents.Template:Sfnp

According to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010), /k/ is backed to [q] before [ʉ] and often aspirated before /ə/ and /u/. They state that /p/ is realized as [ɸ] or [pɸ] before back vowels and [ʉ].

When preceded by a personal prefix, or when starting the second element of a compound, /h/ becomes /r/. With some roots, /h/ can become /n/ in a similar manner.Template:Sfnp

Vowels

The tables below show the vowel phonemes of Djeoromitxí according to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010).Template:Sfnp

The accounts of Pires (1992) and Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) basically agree on the vowel phonemes.

Oral Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link	Template:IPA link
Close-mid		Template:IPA link
Open-mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

Nasal Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	Template:IPA link
Open-mid	Template:IPA link		Template:IPA link
Open		Template:IPA link

According to Pires (1992), [[[:Template:IPA link]]] is an allophone of /Template:IPA link/ in free variation with [[[:Template:IPA link]]] after /Template:IPA link/.Template:Sfnp

Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) state that /ʉ/ is often realized as [ø].Template:Sfnp

Grammar

Djeoromitxí has nouns, verbs, adverbs and particles, with adjectives treated as intransitive verbs. Its syntax is noun-modifier and SOV or OVS in order.Template:Sfnp

The following examples demonstrate noun-modifier and SOV word order.

Pronouns and person markers

The following table shows Djeoromitxí pronominal forms.Template:Sfnp

	Pronoun	Possessive/Preposition	Intransitive subject	Transitive subject	Transitive object
1st person singular	hʉ	—	—	hʉ	—
2nd person	adʒɛ	a-	a-	adʒɛ	a-/adʒɛ
3rd person	na	i-/N	i-/na/N	na/N	i-/N
1st person plural	hirʉ	hi-	hi-	hirʉ	hi-
Impersonal	—	hi-	—	—	i-/ɛ-

The use of the forms is illustrated in the following examples:Template:Sfnp

External links

• Djeoromitxi basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database