Panará language

Panará (panãra pẽẽ, pronounced [panə̃ˈɾa ˈpẽj̃]), also known as Kreen Akarore (from Mẽbêngôkre Krã jakàràre, pronounced [ˈkɾʌ̃ jaˈkʌɾʌɾɛ]) and spelled Panãra, is a Jê language spoken by the Panará people of Mato Grosso, Brazil. It is a direct descendant of Southern Kayapó. Although classified as a Northern Jê language in earlier scholarship, Panará differs considerably from the Northern Jê languages in its morphosyntax and has been argued to be a sister language to Northern Jê rather than a member of that group.

History

An early form of Panará, Kayapó do Sul, was formerly spoken by the Southern Kayapó. It was spoken in a vast region that comprised Triângulo Mineiro, Goiás, southeastern Mato Grosso, northeastern Mato Grosso do Sul, and northeastern São Paulo (Brazil), in particular on the rivers Rio Turvo, Corumbá, Meia Ponte, Tijuco, Rio das Velhas, Rio Pardo, Sucuriju, Aparé, Rio Verde, and Taquari.

Two dialects have been identified based on the scarce documentation of the language. The variety spoken in São José de Mossâmedes (as attested by Johann Baptist Emanuel Pohl and Augustin Saint-Hilaire in short wordlists) is characterized by the retention of the Proto-Goyaz Jê rhotic *r. In contrast, the variety spoken in Santana do Paranaíba (as attested by Kupfer, Carl Nehring, and Joaquim Lemos da Silva in short wordlists) and in the Triângulo Mineiro region (as documented by Barbosa in an extensive wordlist) innovated by palatalizing the rhotic (i.e. *r > j) in certain environments and is thought to be the ancestor of Panará.

Phonology:

/ʃ/ exists only in the Mossâmedes dialect.