The phonology of the Tapirapé language originated in the
Proto-Tupian language. Among its main features, the presence of
alternation and
vowel nasality processes stand out.
Vowels Differently from most Tupian languages, the Tapirapé people make use of five vowel phonemes, going against the predominant six vowel system in the family. All five vowels have five nasal counterparts.
Oral vowels • The vowel /
ɨ/ is, most of the time, realised as a close central unrounded vowel. Due to the variation in the height of the tongue in the emission of vowel phonemes, this representation also includes the phoneme
ə], which only differs from /
ɨ/ in its height. • The phoneme /e/ represents both
e̞] and
ɛ], depending on the height variation of the tongue in one's mouth. • The vowel /
i/ is realised as a close front unrounded vowel. • Unlike other vowel phonemes, the nature of the vowel /o/ is controversial; it is seen as an interpretation of the vowel , [], and , all of which are rounded and back vowels. The use of the phoneme // as a representative of this set is influenced by the vowel evolution of
Asuríni, a similar language, where the Proto-Tupian phoneme [] was neutralised into [].
Nasal vowels Consonants • Yonne Leite, in his article about the syllabic structure of Tapirapé, mentions that /j/ has five possible allophones:
tʃ],
tʲ],
ɲ], and
j̃]. He says that, in onsets, [tʲ] and [tʃ] appear frequently, while [j] appears in codas and in onsets of posttonic syllables when, in the nucleus of the syllable, the vowel is oral. The palatal nasal and the nasal palatal approximant appear in the codas of a tonic syllable and in the onset of a posttonic syllable when, in the nucleus of the syllable, the vowel is nasal. ==References==