# Surui language

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surui_language
> Source revision: 1320641475
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{{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](/source/Brazil)
| ethnicity        = [Paiter](/source/Paiter_people)
| speakers         = {{sigfig|1010|2}}
| date             = 2006
| ref              = e18
| familycolor      = tupian
| fam1             = [Tupian](/source/Tupian_languages)
| fam2             = [Monde](/source/Monde_languages)
| iso3             = sru
| glotto           = suru1262
| glottorefname    = Suruí
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|[pa.iˈte:ɾ̥]}}
| region           = [Rondônia](/source/Rond%C3%B4nia), [Mato Grosso](/source/Mato_Grosso)
}}

'''Suruí''' (of Jiparaná), also known as '''Paíter''' or '''Suruí-Paíter''', is a [Tupian language](/source/Tupian_language) of [Brazil](/source/Brazil). The Suruí of Rondônia call themselves [Paiter](/source/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](/source/Oral_vowels)
! colspan="3" |[Nasal](/source/Nasal_vowel)
|-
![Front](/source/Front_vowel)
![Central](/source/Central_vowel)
![Back](/source/Back_vowel)
![Front](/source/Front_vowel)
![Central](/source/Central_vowel)
![Back](/source/Back_vowel)
|-
![Close](/source/Close_vowel)
|{{IPA link|i iː}}
|{{IPA link|ɨ ɨː}}
|
|{{IPA link|ĩ ĩː}}
|{{IPA link|ɨ̃ ɨ̃ː}}
|
|-
![Mid](/source/Mid_vowel)
|{{IPA link|e eː}}
|
|{{IPA link|o oː}}
|{{IPA link|ẽ ẽː}}
|
|{{IPA link|õ õː}}
|-
![Open](/source/Open_vowel)
|
|{{IPA link|a aː}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|ã ãː}}
|
|}

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
! colspan="2" |
![Labial](/source/Labial_consonant)
![Alveolar](/source/Alveolar_consonant)
![Palatal](/source/Palatal_consonant)
![Velar](/source/Velar_consonant)
![Glottal](/source/Glottal_consonant)
|-
! rowspan="2" |[Stop](/source/Stop_consonant)
!<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](/source/Nasal_consonant)
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[Fricative](/source/Fricative_consonant)
|{{IPA link|β}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|{{IPA link|ʃ}}
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[Tap](/source/Tap_consonant)
|
|{{IPA link|ɾ}}
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[Approximant](/source/Approximant_consonant)
|
|{{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](/source/Endangered_Languages_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](/source/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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Surui language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surui_language) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surui_language?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.