{{Expand Portuguese|Língua_suruí-paiter|2025}} {{Short description|Tupian language spoken in Brazil}} {{Distinguish|Suruí do Pará language}} {{Infobox language | name = Suruí | nativename = {{lang|sru|Paíter}} | states = Brazil | ethnicity = Paiter | speakers = {{sigfig|1010|2}} | date = 2006 | ref = e18 | familycolor = tupian | fam1 = Tupian | fam2 = Monde | iso3 = sru | glotto = suru1262 | glottorefname = Suruí | pronunciation = {{IPA|[pa.iˈte:ɾ̥]}} | region = Rondônia, Mato Grosso }}
'''Suruí''' (of Jiparaná), also known as '''Paíter''' or '''Suruí-Paíter''', is a Tupian language of Brazil. The Suruí of Rondônia call themselves Paiter, which means “the true people, we ourselves".<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Surui |first=Tiago Iteor |title=Descrevendo a língua dos Paiter ej (Suruí de Rondônia) : contribuições de um falante nativo |date=2020-12-09 |degree=MA |url=https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/41046 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206074328/https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/41046 |archive-date=2022-12-06 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-10-31 }}</ref> They speak a language of the Tupi group and Monde language family. There were 1,375 Suruí-Paíter in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Surui Paiter - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil |url=https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/Povo:Surui_Paiter |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=pib.socioambiental.org |language=en}}</ref>
== Phonology ==
=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="3" |Oral ! colspan="3" |Nasal |- !Front !Central !Back !Front !Central !Back |- !Close |{{IPA link|i iː}} |{{IPA link|ɨ ɨː}} | |{{IPA link|ĩ ĩː}} |{{IPA link|ɨ̃ ɨ̃ː}} | |- !Mid |{{IPA link|e eː}} | |{{IPA link|o oː}} |{{IPA link|ẽ ẽː}} | |{{IPA link|õ õː}} |- !Open | |{{IPA link|a aː}} | | |{{IPA link|ã ãː}} | |}
=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" | !Labial !Alveolar !Palatal !Velar !Glottal |- ! rowspan="2" |Stop !<small>voiceless</small> |{{IPA link|p}} |{{IPA link|t}} |{{IPA link|tʃ}} |{{IPA link|k}} | |- !<small>voiced</small> |{{IPA link|b}} |{{IPA link|d}} |({{IPA link|dʒ}}) |{{IPA link|ɡ}} | |- ! colspan="2" |Nasal |{{IPA link|m}} |{{IPA link|n}} |{{IPA link|ɲ}} |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | |- ! colspan="2" |Fricative |{{IPA link|β}} |{{IPA link|s}} |{{IPA link|ʃ}} | |{{IPA link|h}} |- ! colspan="2" |Tap | |{{IPA link|ɾ}} | | | |- ! colspan="2" |Approximant | |{{IPA link|l}} |{{IPA link|j}} |({{IPA link|w}}) | |}
* /β/ can be heard as either [β] or [w] in free variation, and as [ɸ] when before voiceless consonants. * /b/ can be heard as prenasal [ᵐb] when after a nasal vowel, or when in initial position. * /h/ can be heard as voiced [ɦ] when between vowels. It is also said to be heard as a voiceless lateral [l̥], among elder speakers. * /j/ can be heard as nasal [j̃] when preceding or in between nasal vowels. * Sounds /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ/, can be heard as [p̚, t̚, k̚, m̚, n̚, ŋ̚] in word-final position.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guerra |first=Mariana de Lacerda |title=Aspects of Suruí Phonology and Phonetics |publisher=Université Libre de Bruxelles |year=2004}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == *ELAR archive of [http://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0228 Documentation of Gavião and Suruí Languages in whistled and instrumental speech] by Julien Meyer *ELAR archive of [https://elar.soas.ac.uk/deposit/0428 Language Documentation of traditional culture among the Gavião and Suruí of Rondônia] by Dennis Moore {{Tupian languages}}
Category:Tupian languages
{{tupian-lang-stub}} Category:Mamoré–Guaporé linguistic area