Djeoromitxi or Jabutí (Yabuti) is a

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

Yabutian language that is spoken by only about fifty people (though including some children) in

Rondônia Rondônia () is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northern subdivision of the country (central-western part). To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, at the headwaters of the Rio Branco.

Phonology

There is no tonal system in Djeoromitxí and accent is not contrastive.

Morphophonological Morphophonology (also morphophonemics or morphonology) is the branch of linguistics that studies the interaction between morphological and phonological or phonetic processes. Its chief focus is the sound changes that take place in morphemes (mi ...

processes are rare. Syllable structure follows a (C)V pattern.

Consonants

The table below shows the consonant phonemes of Djeoromitxí according to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010). Although Pires (1992) counts /b/ /d/ as distinct phonemes, Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) count them as allophones of /m/ /n/ before oral vowels. According to Pires (1992), [] is an allophone of // before high and medium round vowels, and [] is an allophone of // following the high nasal vowel //. While /ps/ and /bz/ only occur before /i/, they are contrastive with the other bilabial obstruents. According to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010), /k/ is backed to before �and often aspirated before /ə/ and /u/. They state that /p/ is realized as �or ɸbefore back vowels and � When preceded by a personal prefix, or when starting the second element of a compound, /h/ becomes /r/. With some roots, /h/ can become /n/ in a similar manner.

Vowels

The tables below show the vowel phonemes of Djeoromitxí according to Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010). The accounts of Pires (1992) and Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) basically agree on the vowel phonemes. According to Pires (1992), [] is an allophone of // in free variation with [] after //. Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010) state that /ʉ/ is often realized as [ø].

Grammar

Djeoromitxí has nouns, verbs, adverbs and particles, with adjectives treated as intransitive verbs. Its syntax is noun-modifier and SOV or OVS in order. The following examples demonstrate noun-modifier and SOV word order.

Pronouns and person markers

The following table shows Djeoromitxí pronominal forms. The use of the forms is illustrated in the following examples:

References

Citations

Works cited

* *

External links

Djeoromitxi basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Djeoromitxi language Yabutian languages Mamoré–Guaporé linguistic area