Iñapari language
Iñapari is a critically endangered indigenous South American language spoken by just four people in Peru along the Las Piedras river near the mouth of the Sabaluyoq river. The language is already extinct in neighboring Bolivia. All five remaining speakers are bilingual in Spanish and none of their children and grandchildren speak the language, which will likely lead to its extinction once the speakers die. The Iñapari language currently has a published dictionary.[2] The Pacaguara (Pacahuara) dialect described by Mercier was at least ethnically distinct. (But see Pacaguara language.) PhonologyAccording to Parker, Iñapari has eleven consonants and six vowels.[2]
The status of the lateral as a phoneme is considered dubious as [l] is found in few words and may be a phonetic variant of /r/. Iñapari's six vowels are /i e a ï o u/, where /ï/ is a high back unrounded vowel. GrammarNounsThe only two features associated with nominals are gender and possession. Nouns are divided into two genders: masculine and feminine. Animate nouns can also take a neutral gender when the actual gender is irrelevant to the utterance. Possession is marked by prefixes and follows the inherent/non-inherent strategy. AdjectivesIt is unclear whether Iñapari has a distinct category of adjectives. Adjectives agree in gender with nominal heads and always follow them. NumeralsOnly 20 cardinal numbers and 2 ordinal numbers are attested. The available data suggest that the number system derives cardinal numbers from body parts. VerbsVerbs agree with subjects and objects through pronominal prefixes and suffixes, respectively. Suffixes also indicate volitional and non-volitional causation. Notes
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