Irantxe language
Encyclopedia
Irantxe also known as Münkü (Mỹky), is an indigenous American language
that is spoken in Mato Grosso
, Brazil
by about 200 people. It is generally left unclassified due to lack of data. Ethnologue (2000) idiosyncratically assigns it to the Arawakan family, but there is no published account to back this up (Fabre 2005). The most recent descriptions treat it as a language isolate
, saying that it "bears no similarity with other language families" (Arruda 2003), though this may not be based on new data (Monserrat 2010).
The 250 Irantxe (Iránxe, Iranche, Manoki, Munku) have largely assimilated to Brazilian culture. Most are monolingual in Portuguese, and Irantxe speakers are over 50 years old. A splinter group, the Mỹky (Mynky, Münkü, Munku, Menku, Kenku, Myy), however, moved to escaped assimilation, and were isolated until 1971. As of 2003, there were 38 people in the Mỹky village, but not all were ethnic Mỹky, and the others were monolingual in Portuguese. Among the Mỹky, however, the language is being passed on to children.
Monserrat (2010) is a well-reviewed grammar.
/m/ is optionally [mb] word initially, especially among the Irantxe: muhu [mbuhu], mjehy [mbjɛhɨ]. /s/ is pronounced [ʃ] before /j/. [r] and [l] are in free variation.
There are 28 vowels: Seven qualities, /i ɨ u ɛ ə ɔ a/, all appear long, short, and nasalized. The schwa, however, alternates with /ɛ/ in many words.
Syllables may be CjVC, though words may not end in a consonant. The role of tone is not clear.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
that is spoken in Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso
Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
by about 200 people. It is generally left unclassified due to lack of data. Ethnologue (2000) idiosyncratically assigns it to the Arawakan family, but there is no published account to back this up (Fabre 2005). The most recent descriptions treat it as a language isolate
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
, saying that it "bears no similarity with other language families" (Arruda 2003), though this may not be based on new data (Monserrat 2010).
The 250 Irantxe (Iránxe, Iranche, Manoki, Munku) have largely assimilated to Brazilian culture. Most are monolingual in Portuguese, and Irantxe speakers are over 50 years old. A splinter group, the Mỹky (Mynky, Münkü, Munku, Menku, Kenku, Myy), however, moved to escaped assimilation, and were isolated until 1971. As of 2003, there were 38 people in the Mỹky village, but not all were ethnic Mỹky, and the others were monolingual in Portuguese. Among the Mỹky, however, the language is being passed on to children.
Monserrat (2010) is a well-reviewed grammar.
Phonology
Monserrat posits a series of palatalized stops. For several reasons, however, reviewer D’Angelis (2011) suggests these are simply /Cj/ sequences.| m | n | ||
| p | t | k | ʔ |
| s | h | ||
| w | l~r | j |
/m/ is optionally [mb] word initially, especially among the Irantxe: muhu [mbuhu], mjehy [mbjɛhɨ]. /s/ is pronounced [ʃ] before /j/. [r] and [l] are in free variation.
There are 28 vowels: Seven qualities, /i ɨ u ɛ ə ɔ a/, all appear long, short, and nasalized. The schwa, however, alternates with /ɛ/ in many words.
Syllables may be CjVC, though words may not end in a consonant. The role of tone is not clear.