Terêna language

Terena may also refer to TERENA
Terêna
Native to Brazil
Native speakers
 16,000  (2006)[1]
Arawakan

  • Southern

    • Bolivia–Parana
      • Terêna
Language codes
ISO 639-2 ter
ISO 639-3 Variously:
ter – Terena
gqn – Kinikinao & Guaná
caj – Chané
Glottolog tere1280[2]

Terêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar. Many Terênan people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul. 20% are literate in their language, 80% literate in Portuguese.

There were once four varieties, Kinikinao, Terena proper, Guaná, and Chané, which are sometimes considered separate languages (Aikhenvald 1999). Only Terena proper is still spoken.

Terêna has an active–stative syntax.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Terena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Kinikinao & Guaná at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Chané at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Terena-Kinikinao-Chane". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. ↑ Aikhenvald, "Arawak", in Dixon & Aikhenvald, eds., The Amazonian Languages, 1999.