Akwáwa language

Akwáwa
Native to	Brazil
Region	Pará
Ethnicity	Suruí do Pará, Asuriní, Parakanã
Native speakers	1,500 (2012)[1]
Language family	Tupian Tupí–Guaraní Group IV Akwáwa
Dialects	Suruí Asuriní Parakanã
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: asu – Asuriní mdz – Suruí pak – Parakanã
Glottolog	tupi1284

Akwáwa is a Tupi–Guarani dialect cluster spoken in Pará in western Brazil.

Dialects

There are three distinct dialects:^[2]

• Asuriní (of Tocantins or Trocará), or Akwawa
• Suruí (of Tocantins or Pará), or Akewara
• Parakanã, Awaeté

Both the name Asuriní and Suruí are used for related peoples and their languages: Suruí of Jiparaná, Suruí of Rondônia, Asuriní of Xingú, etc.

Phonology

The following is the Asuriní dialect:^[3]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ
Mid	ɛ		o
Open		a

• Vowel length is also distinctive.
• Vowel sounds are realized as nasalized when preceding nasal consonants.

Consonants

	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
				plain	lab.
Plosive	p	t	tʃ	k	kʷ	ʔ
Fricative						h
Nasal	m	n		ŋ
Tap		ɾ
Approximant					w

Notes

1. Asuriní at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
   Suruí at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
   Parakanã at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. Cheryl Jensen, 1999, "Tupí-Guaraní", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, The Amazonian Languages
3. Nicholson, Velda (1978). Aspectos da língua Asuriní. Brasília: SIL.