A Phonological Sketch of Omagua

Publication Date

1-1-2020

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

International Journal of American Linguistics

Volume

86

Issue

1

DOI

10.1086/705755

First Page

95

Last Page

131

Abstract

This paper presents a sketch of the segmental and prosodic phonology of Omagua, a highly endangered Tupí-Guaraní language of Peru, based on original fieldwork. After reviewing the classification, history, and sociolinguistic situation of the language, we describe phonemic consonant and vowel inventories, arguing especially for an underspecified nasal consonant that in some contexts surfaces as nasality on vowels. We then describe syllable structure, argue for the phonemic status of glides, and review different vowel hiatus resolution strategies. We show that the basic stress pattern in Omagua is penultimate and sensitive to weight in final syllables. Lastly, we briefly describe minimum word requirements and postlexical phonological processes.

Funding Number

0966499

Keywords

Amazonia, Omagua, Phonology, Tupí-Guaraní

Department

Linguistics and Language Development

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