Guarayu language

Guarayu (Guarayu: Gwarayú, nyanyanye, ñañañe, guarani'ete) is a Tupian language of Bolivia that is spoken by the Guarayo people who number 23,910 in 2012.^[2]

Guarayu
Gwarayú, nyanyanye, ñañañe, guarani'ete'
Native to	Bolivia, Paraguay
Region	Santa Cruz, Boquerón
Ethnicity	12,000 (2012)[1]
Native speakers	8,400 (2012)[1]
Language family	Tupian Tupí–Guaraní Guarayu–Sirionó Guarayu
Official status
Official language in	Bolivia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gyr
Glottolog	guar1292
ELP	Guarayu

The name Guarayu (Gwarayú) is a variant of Guarayo, which when used in a pejorative sense refers to several indigenous peoples in the area with the meaning of 'savage' or 'uncultured'. The origin of the names is Guara meaning "warrior", and yu "pale" (yellow or white). Compared to other Guarani peoples, the Gwarayú are lighter in colour, and bear a striking resemblance to another Guarani group found in Paraguay, the Ache.^{[citation needed]}

There were some 30 speakers of Guarayu in Paraguay as of 2012. ^[3]

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i, ĩ	ɨ, ɨ̃	u, ũ
Mid	e, ẽ		o, õ
Open		a, ã

Consonants

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
					plain	lab.
Nasal	central	m	n	ɲ
	post-ploded	mᵇ	nᵈ
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k	kʷ	ʔ
	pre-ploded					ᶢw
	prenasal vl.	(ᵐp)	(ⁿt)		(ᵑk)
	prenasal vd.				ᵑɡ	ᵑᶢw
Affricate			t͡s	t͡ʃ
Fricative		β	s
Tap			ɾ
Glide				j		w

• [ᵐp, ⁿt, ᵑk] are heard as allophones of /p, t, k/ when in nasal vowel position.^[4]