Traços laringais em Latundê (Nambikwára do Norte)

Abstract

This paper is about the status of laryngeal features in Latundê, a language of the Northern Nambikwára subgroup. Data were collected in the field by the author between the years 1997-2001. The available literature on other languages of the family was also taken into consideration for the analysis. The article is organized in five sections: in the first section, information on the Nambikwára family and the segmental inventories of three languages of the family will be provided; in the second section, the phonological charts (consonants and vowels) of Latundê are presented; in the third section data that demonstrate the realization of laryngeal features in the consonants (glottalization and aspiration) and vowels (creaky voice) of Latundê can be found; considerations on laryngeal variation are provided in the fourth section; in the final section, correspondences between segments with laryngeal features in Latundê and Mamaindê, a closely related Northern Nambikwára language, will be considered. The research shows that in Latundê laryngeal features were neutralized for consonants, while for vowels, creaky voice remained contrastive. Within the Northern Nambikwára branch, the correspondence between Mamaindê and Latundê consonants seems to indicate that the latter language is the most innovative in the process of historical change.