Eperara a.k.a. Epena (Southern Embera) is an Embera language of Colombia, with about 250 speakers in Ecuador.
| Eperara | |
|---|---|
| Saija | |
| Epena | |
| Native to | Colombia |
Native speakers | 3,600 in Colombia and Ecuador (2004–2012)[1] plus an unknown number in Panama[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sja |
| Glottolog | epen1239 |
| ELP | Epena |
 | |
Geographic Distribution
editEpena is spoken on the Pacific coastal rivers of the departments of Nariño, Cauca, and Valle del Cauca in Colombia. A major grouping of the Epena is found in Cauca along the Saija River and three of its major tributaries: the Guangüí, Infí, and Cupí. Social contact and intermarriage with the neighboring Wounaan is commonplace.[2]
The Basuradó dialect is spoken on the Basuradó River in the Department of the Chocó, near the Docampadó River. This is the only Epena dialect that differs significantly from the others.[2]
Orthography
edit- a - [a]
- ã - [ã]
- b - [b]
- ch - [t͡ʃ]
- d - [d]
- e - [e]
- ẽ - [ẽ]
- ë - [ə]
- ë̃ - [ə̃]
- g - [g]
- i - [i]
- ĩ - [ĩ]
- ï - [ɨ] (also written as ɨ in some texts)
- ï̃ - [ɨ̃]
- j - [h]
- k - [k]
- kꞌ - [kʰ]
- m - [m]
- n - [n]
- o - [o]
- õ - [õ]
- p - [p]
- pꞌ - [pʰ]
- r - [ɾ~r]
- s - [s]
- t - [t]
- tꞌ - [tʰ]
- u - [u]
- ũ - [ũ]
- w - [w]
- y - [j]
Glottal stops are represented with hyphens.
Long vowels are doubled.
C, f, h, l, ñ, q, v, x, z are used in foreign words and names.[3]
Phonology
editThe phonology consists of the following:[4]
Consonants
edit| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | plain | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Affricate | t͡ʃ | |||||
| Fricative | s | h | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||
| Liquid | trill | r | ||||
| tap | ɾ | |||||
| Glide | w | j | ||||
Vowels
edit| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i ĩ iː | ɨ ɨ̃ ɨː | u ũ uː |
| Mid | e ẽ eː | ə ə̃ əː | o õ oː |
| Low | a ã aː |
Notes
edit- ^ a b Eperara at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ a b Harms, Phillip Lee (1994). "Epena Pedee syntax: Studies in the languages of Colombia 4" (PDF).
- ^ Eperara language and pronunciation, Omniglot.
- ^ Harms, Philip Lee (1984). Fonología del epena pedee (saija).
Bibliography
edit- Harms, Phillip Lee. 1994. Epena Pedee Syntax. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics and University of Texas at Arlington.
External links
edit
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