Terêna language

{{Short description|Arawakan language of Brazil}} {{Distinguish|TERENA}} {{multiple| {{Expand Portuguese|Língua terena|date=May 2022}} {{Page numbers needed|date=January 2026}}}} {{Infobox language | name = Terêna | nativename = | states = Brazil | ethnicity = Terena people | speakers = {{sigfig|15800|2}} | date = 2006 | ref = e18 | familycolor = arawakan | fam1 = Arawakan | fam2 = Southern | fam3 = Bolivia–Parana | iso2 = ter | lc2 = gqn | ld2 = Kinikinao & Guaná | lc1 = ter | ld1 = Terena | lc3 = caj | ld3 = Chané | glotto = tere1279 | glottorefname = Terena-Kinikinao-Chane | region = Mato Grosso do Sul | ELP2 = 509 | ELPname2 = Guana (Brazil) | altname = Etelena | dia1 = Terena proper | dia2 = Chané {{extinct}} | dia3 = Guaná {{extinct}} | dia4 = Kinikinao {{extinct}} }}

'''Terêna''' or '''Etelena''' is an Arawakan language spoken by 15,000 Terenas. The language has a dictionary and written grammar.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Butler |first1=Nancy Evelyn |url=https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_ter_book-2 |title=Aprenda Terêna, Vol. 1 |last2=Ekdahl |first2=Elizabeth Muriel |publisher=Summer Institute of Linguistics |year=1979 |language=pt}}</ref> Many Terena people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul. About 20% are literate in their language, 80% literate in Portuguese.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Terêna has an active–stative syntax{{sfn |Aikhenvald |1999}} and verb-object-subject as default word order.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Rosa |first1=Andréa |title=Aspectos morfológicos do terena (Aruák) |date=2010 |access-date=2024-05-26 |publisher=Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul |url=https://repositorio.ufms.br/bitstream/123456789/1101/1/Andr%c3%a9a%20Marques%20Rosa.pdf |pages=71–72 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240513145547/https://repositorio.ufms.br/bitstream/123456789/1101/1/Andr%C3%A9a%20Marques%20Rosa.pdf |archive-date=2024-05-13 |lang=pt-BR |location=Três Lagoas |url-status=live}}</ref>

==Dialects== Terêna originally had four varieties: Kinikinao, Terena proper, Guaná, and Chané. These varieties have sometimes been considered to be separate languages.{{sfn |Aikhenvald |1999}} Carvalho (2016) has since demonstrated all four to be the same language.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carvalho |first=Fernando |date=2016-03-10 |title=Terena, Chané, Guaná and Kinikinau are one and the same language:: setting the record straight on southern Arawak linguistic diversity |url=http://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/liames/article/view/8646165 |journal=LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas |language=pt |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=39–57 |doi=10.20396/liames.v16i1.8646165 |issn=2177-7160 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Only Terena proper is still spoken.

==Language contact== Terena originated in the Northwestern Chaco.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Carvalho |first=Fernando O. de |date=Fall 2019 |title=Etymology meets ethnohistory: Linguistic evidence for the pre-historic origin of the Guaná-Chané in the Northwestern Chaco |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=61 |issue=3 |pages=341–363 |doi=10.1353/anl.2019.0020 |jstor=27023791}}</ref> As a result, many Northern Guaicuruan loanwords can be found in Terena.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Carvalho, Fernando O. de |date=April 2018 |title=Arawakan-Guaicuruan Language Contact in The South American Chaco |url=https://www.academia.edu/36293525 |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |volume=84 |issue=2 |pages=243–263 |doi=10.1086/696198}}</ref>

There are also many Tupi-Guarani loanwords in Terena and other southern Arawakan languages.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Carvalho |first=Fernando O. de |title=Tupi-Guarani Loanwords in Southern Arawak: Taking Contact Etymologies Seriously |url=https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/rl/article/view/16383 |journal=Revista Linguí∫tica |date=2017 |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=41–74 |doi=10.31513/linguistica.2017.v13n3a16383|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Phonology== === Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" | !Labial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal |- ! rowspan="2" |Plosive !voiceless |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} |({{IPA link|tʃ}}) |{{IPA link|k}} |{{IPA link|ʔ}} |- !prenasal |{{IPA link|ᵐb}} |{{IPA link|ⁿd}} | |{{IPA link|ᵑɡ}} | |- ! rowspan="2" |Fricative !voiceless | |{{IPA link|s}} |{{IPA link|ʃ}} | |{{IPA link|h}} |- !prenasal | |{{IPA link|ⁿz}} |{{IPA link|ⁿʒ}} | | |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} |({{IPA link|ɲ}}) | | |- ! colspan="2" |Tap | |{{IPA link|ɾ}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Lateral | |{{IPA link|l}} |({{IPA link|ʎ}}) | | |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant |{{IPA link|w}} ~ {{IPA link|v}} | |{{IPA link|j}} | | |} {{IPA|/w, ʃ, n, l/}} may often be heard as {{IPA|[v, tʃ, ɲ, ʎ]}}.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Silva |first=Denise |title=Estudo lexicografico da lingua terena: proposta de um dicionário terena-português |publisher=Universidade Estadual Paulista |lang=pt-BR |location=Araraquara |year=2013 |hdl=11449/102358}}</ref>

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back |- !High |{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|ĩ}} {{IPA link|iː}} |({{IPA link|ɨ}}) |{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|ũ}} {{IPA link|uː}} |- ! rowspan="2" |Mid |{{IPA link|e}} {{IPA link|ẽ}} {{IPA link|eː}} | |{{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|õ}} {{IPA link|oː}} |- |{{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|ɛː}} | |{{IPA link|ɔ}} {{IPA link|ɔː}} |- !Low | |{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|ã}} {{IPA link|aː}} | |} {{IPAblink|ɨ}} is heard as an allophone of {{IPAslink|i}}.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Nascimento |first=Gardênia |title=Aspectos Gramaticais da Língua Terena |publisher=Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais |url=https://www.letras.ufmg.br/fbonfim/pdf/alunos/dissertacao_gardenia_nascimento.pdf |lang=pt-BR |location=Belo Horizonte |year=2012}}</ref>

==See also== *Terena Sign Language

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{cite book |last=Aikhenvald |first=Alexandra Y. |author-link=Alexandra Aikhenvald |title=The Amazonian Languages |year=1999 |editor-last1=Dixon |editor-first1=R. M. W. |editor-link1=Robert M. W. Dixon |chapter=The Arawak language family |editor-last2=Aikhenvald |editor-first2=Alexandra Y.}}

{{Languages of Brazil}} {{Arawakan languages}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Terena Language}} Category:Arawakan languages Category:Indigenous languages of the South American Cone Category:Languages of Brazil