Piaroa language

"Kuakua" redirects here. For the exoplanet named Kua'kua, see LHS 3844 b.

Piaroa (also called Guagua ~ Kuakua ~ Quaqua, Adole ~ Ature, Wo’tiheh) is an indigenous language of Colombia and Venezuela, native to the Huottüja people. Loukotka (1968) reports that it is spoken along the Sipapo River, Orinoco River, and Ventuari River.^[2]

Piaroa
De'aruwa
Native to	Colombia and Venezuela
Ethnicity	Piaroa people
Native speakers	13,000–14,000 (2001)[1]
Language family	Piaroa–Saliban Piaroan Piaroa
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pid
Glottolog	piar1243
ELP	2954 Piaroa

A Wirö language (commonly called Maco) is closely related, the two forming the Piaroan branch of the family.^[3]

Phonology

Consonants

		Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Glottal
						nor.	lab.	nor.	lab.
Stop	Plain	p	t			k	kʷ	ʔ
	Aspirated	pʰ~ɸ	tʰ			kʰ	kʰʷ
	Ejective	pʼ	tʼ			kʼ	kʷʼ
	Glottal	ˀb	ˀd
Affricate	Plain				t͡ʃ~t͡s
	Aspirated			t͡sʰ
	Ejective			t͡sʼ
Fricative				s				hˣ	hˣʷ
Nasal		m		n
Flap/Lateral				ɾ	ʎ
Approximant					j~dʲ		w

Palatalization of /k, kʰ, kʼ, hˣ/ may occur when before front vowels as [kʲ, kʲʰ, kʲʼ, hʲ].

/pʰ/ may also be heard as a fricative [ɸ] in free variation.

Sounds /j/ and /t͡ʃ/ may have allophones of [dʲ, t͡s].

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i	ɨ	u ɯ
Mid	e		ɤ~o
Open	æ		ɑ~ɒ

Vowels /ɤ, ɑ/ are rounded as [o, ɒ] when after labial sounds.^[4]