Achuar-Shiwiar language

Shiwiar is a language spoken by the Achuar people of the Amazonian region of Ecuador. The Achuar people also speak Spanish, Shuar, and Kichwa along with their native language, Shiwiar. While Ecuador's official language is Spanish, the Achuar people along with other indigenous groups have the right to use their own languages in education through the official language policies of Ecuador legalized in Decree No. 000529, Article 27, and the Dirección Nacional de Educación Indígena Intercultural Bilingüe (DINEIIB). ==Phonology==

• are phonetically dental as [, . • Voiceless stops and affricates are usually voiced when they occur after a nasal sound. • When is preceded by a front-high vowel, it is then realized as a palatal fricative . • For some speakers, can be realized as a voiceless velar fricative . • When is followed by a front-high vowel, it is then realized as a labio-dental approximant or a bilabial approximant . • often get realized as [, ] when in unnaccented syllables. • If a low vowel is immediately preceded or followed by a high front vowel, or preceded by a palatalized consonant for example, is sometimes realized as a mid-low or mid front vowel . • In the vicinity of a labio-velar approximant , low vowels are often realized as mid-low back unrounded vowels [, ], whereas high central vowels are often realized as high-mid back unrounded vowels [, ]. • may also be heard as a high back vowel when preceding labial sounds . ==References==