A Phonemic Analysis of the Apurinã Language

Grooved Fricatives s šlabialnon-labialNasals m nlabialpalatalSemi-Vocoids w yGlottal Fricative(h̃)N.B. The glottal fricative is enclosed in parentheses because of its drastically restricteddistribution, a factor which makes possible an alternate conclusion as to its phonemicstatus.b. VowelsOralNasalfront non-front front non-fronthigh i ĩc. Stressmid ι o ι̃ õlow ε a ɛ̃ ãV. Evidence for phonemic decisionsa. Consonants/p//w/[p] [b] [w]'apʌ 'he fetches''awʌ 'there is''patι 'father''wakι 'inhame''pini 'medicine' 'bini 'medicine' 'wιnι 'out (on main river)'či'pari 'banana' či'bari 'banana' či'wantʌ 'caterpillar'marʌ'pari 'man's name' marʌ'bari 'man's name' a'warι 'it is, there is'šio'piri 'bat' šio'biri 'bat' a'wiri 'tobacco''ιpυ 'grub''ιwʌ 'he (absent)'ka'piši 'racoon' ka'biši 'racoon' na'win i ʌ 'my home'čipi̵'rιpι 'bread'čiwιri'εnʌ 'maracajá'kι'pãỹʌ̃ 'woman's name' kι'bãỹʌ̃ 'woman's name' ya'wãwʌ 'man's name'pa'ȼιιro 'it smarts' ba'ȼιιro 'it smarts' wa'čiigʌ 'now''k y εropʌ 'what kind?' 'k y εrobʌ 'what kind?' 'owʌ 'she (absent)''pʌŋkυ 'board' 'bʌŋkυ 'board' 'wʌŋkʌ 'name'14