Mbyá Guaraní language

{{Infobox language

| name = Mbya

| nativename = {{lang|gun|ayvu}}, {{lang|gun|nhandeayvu}}

| states = Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay

| ethnicity = Guarani

| speakers = 15,050

| date = 2007–2008

| ref = e18

| familycolor = tupian

| fam1 = Tupian

| fam2 = Tupi–Guarani

| fam3 = Guarani (I)

| fam4 = Guarani

| iso3 = gun

| glotto = mbya1239

| glottorefname = Mbya Guarani

}}

Mbya Guarani is a Tupi–Guarani Indigenous language of the southern cone. It is 75% lexically similar to Paraguayan Guarani.

Mbya Guarani is one of a number of "Guarani dialects" now generally classified as distinct languages.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}} Mbya is closely connected to Ava Guarani, also known as Ñandeva, and intermarriage between speakers of the two languages is common. Speakers of Mbya and Ñandeva generally live in mountainous areas of the Atlantic Forest, from eastern Paraguay through Misiones Province of Argentina, Uruguay to the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.{{cite web |url= https://pib.socioambiental.org/en/Povo:Guarani_Mbya#Contact_with_the_juru.C3.A1_.5BWhite_man.5D|title= Guarani Mbya|last= Ladeira|first= Maria Inês|date= 2018-03-26|website= Povos Indígenas no Brasil|publisher= Instituto Socioambiental|access-date= 2019-02-01}}

Phonology

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! !Front !Central !Back
Close \|{{IPA link\|i}} {{IPA link\|ĩ}} \|{{IPA link\|ɨ}} {{IPA link\|ɨ̃}} \|{{IPA link\|u}} {{IPA link\|ũ}}
Mid \|{{IPA link\|ɛ}} {{IPA link\|ɛ̃}} \| \|{{IPA link\|o}} {{IPA link\|õ}}
Open \|{{IPA link\|a}} {{IPA link\|ã}} \| \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Front

!Central

!Back

|{{IPA link|i}} {{IPA link|ĩ}}

|{{IPA link|ɨ}} {{IPA link|ɨ̃}}

|{{IPA link|u}} {{IPA link|ũ}}

Mid

|{{IPA link|ɛ}} {{IPA link|ɛ̃}}

|{{IPA link|o}} {{IPA link|õ}}

Open

|{{IPA link|a}} {{IPA link|ã}}

Vowel sounds /ɛ, o/ can also be heard as [e, ɔ] in free variation.
/i, u/ when preceding vowels can be heard as non-syllabic [i̯, u̯]

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" \| ! rowspan="2" \|Labial ! rowspan="2" \|Alveolar ! rowspan="2" \|Palatal ! colspan="2" \|Velar ! rowspan="2" \|Glottal
plain !lab.
rowspan="2" \|Plosive !voiceless \|{{IPA link\|p}} \|{{IPA link\|t}} \|{{IPA link\|tʃ}} \|{{IPA link\|k}} \|{{IPA link\|kʷ}} \|{{IPA link\|ʔ}}
prenasal/vd. \| rowspan="2" \|{{IPA link\|m}} ~ {{IPA link\|ᵐb}} \| rowspan="2" \|{{IPA link\|n}} ~ {{IPA link\|ⁿd}} \| rowspan="2" \|{{IPA link\|ɲ}} ~ {{IPA link\|dʒ}} \| rowspan="2" \|{{IPA link\|ŋ}} ~ {{IPA link\|ᵑɡ}} \| rowspan="2" \|{{IPA link\|ŋʷ}} ~ {{IPA link\|ɡʷ}} \|
colspan="2" \|Nasal \|
colspan="2" \|Fricative \| rowspan="2" \|{{IPA link\|β̞}} ~ {{IPA link\|v}} \| \| \| colspan="2" \| \|{{IPA link\|h}}
colspan="2" \|Approximant \| \|({{IPA link\|i̯}}) \| colspan="2" \|({{IPA link\|u̯}}) \|
colspan="2" \|Tap \| \|{{IPA link\|ɾ}} \| \| colspan="2" \| \|

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |

! rowspan="2" |Labial

! rowspan="2" |Alveolar

! rowspan="2" |Palatal

! colspan="2" |Velar

! rowspan="2" |Glottal

plain

!lab.

rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|tʃ}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|kʷ}}

|{{IPA link|ʔ}}

prenasal/vd.

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|m}} ~ {{IPA link|ᵐb}}

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|n}} ~ {{IPA link|ⁿd}}

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ɲ}} ~ {{IPA link|dʒ}}

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ŋ}} ~ {{IPA link|ᵑɡ}}

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|ŋʷ}} ~ {{IPA link|ɡʷ}}

colspan="2" |Nasal

colspan="2" |Fricative

| rowspan="2" |{{IPA link|β̞}} ~ {{IPA link|v}}

| colspan="2" |

|{{IPA link|h}}

colspan="2" |Approximant

|({{IPA link|i̯}})

| colspan="2" |({{IPA link|u̯}})

colspan="2" |Tap

|{{IPA link|ɾ}}

| colspan="2" |

/β̞/ can also be realized as {{IPAblink|v}} or {{IPAblink|u̯}} in free variation.
Nasal sounds /m, n, ŋ/ can also be heard as prenasalized stops [ᵐb, ⁿd, ᵑɡ] in free variation.
/ɲ, ŋʷ/ can be heard as [i̯~dʒ, ɡʷ] before oral vowels, and as [ɲ, ŋʷ] before nasal vowels.{{Cite book |last=Fileti Martins |first=Marci |title=Descrição e Análise de Aspectos da Gramática do Guarani Mbyá |publisher=Universidade Estadual de Campinas |year=2003}}

References

External links

[https://www.ailla.utexas.org/islandora/object/ailla%3A124442 Mbya Guarani Collection] of Robert Dooley, including interlinear texts with glosses and free translations in Portuguese and English and grammatical labels in English, from the Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America.
[https://blogs.umass.edu/phonolist/2016/05/20/de-paula-2016-the-sound-system-of-misiones-mbya/ A Description of the Sound System of Misiones Mbya] (de Paula, 2016).

Category:Guarani languages

Category:Languages of Paraguay

Category:Languages of Argentina

Category:Languages of Brazil