Kipeá language

Kipeá (Quipea), or Kariri, is an extinct Karirian language of Brazil. It is sometimes considered a dialect of a single Kariri language. A short grammatical treatise is available.^[1][2]

Kipeá
Kariri
1699 grammar of Kipeá
Native to	Brazil
Region	between Bahia and Maranhão
Ethnicity	Kiriri people (Quiriris [pt])
Extinct	mid 20th century
Language family	Macro-Gê ? Karirian Kipeá
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	kipe1235

Documentation

Kipeá is well documented by Luiz Mamiani, a Jesuit priest who wrote a grammar^[3] and catechism^[4] of the Kipeá language during the late 1600s.^[5]

Phonology

Phonology of the Kipeá language:^[6]

Consonant sounds

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	voiceless	p	t		k
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Nasal		m	n	ɲ	(ŋ)
Affricate	voiceless		t͡s	t͡ʃ
	voiced		d͡z	d͡ʒ
Fricative			s			h
Approximant				j

A voiced plosive [ɡ] can have an allophone of [ŋ].

Vowel/Nasal sounds

	Front	Central	Back
High	i	ɨ	u
Mid	e ẽ		o õ
Low		a ã	ɑ̃

Grammar

The morphology of the Kipeá language is predominantly isolating and analytic, unusual for a language native to the Americas.^[7]

See also

• Dzubukuá language

Further reading

• Ribeiro, E. R. (2010). Tapuya connections: language contact in eastern Brazil. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas, 9(1), 61-76. doi:10.20396/liames.v9i1.1463