Xakriabá (also called Chakriaba, Chikriaba, Shacriaba or Shicriabá) is a dormant Akuwẽ (Central Jê) language (Jê, Macro-Jê) formerly spoken in Minas Gerais, Brazil by the Xakriabá people, who today speak Portuguese. The language is known through two short wordlists collected by Augustin Saint-Hilaire and Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege.
History Before 1712, Xakriabá was originally spoken along the São Francisco River near São Romão, Minas GeraisRamirez, H., Vegini, V., & França, M. C. V. de. (2015). Koropó, puri, kamakã e outras línguas do Leste Brasileiro. LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas, 15(2), 223 - 277. (Saint-Hilaire 2000: 340–341).Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de. 2000. Viagem pelas províncias do Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte: Editora Itatiaia. The Xakriabá were then forced to migrate after being defeated by and other Paulistas from 1690 onwards. In 1819, Saint-Hilaire (1975: 145)Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de. 1975. Viagem à província de Goiás. Belo Horizonte: Editora Itatiaia. noted that the Xakriabá of Triângulo Mineiro region spoke a Xerente dialect. It was reported that Dejanira Xakriabá, who died in 2007, knew the original language of the Xakriabá. Presently, only a few elders remember some phrases in Xakriabá.
Phonology Vowels FrontCentralBackClosei ĩɨu ũMide ẽəo õOpen-midɛɔOpena ã
/i/ can also be heard as [ɪ] in shortened positions.
Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalStopvoicelessptkvoicedbdFricativevoicelesss(ʃ)hvoicedz(ʒ)NasalmnTapɾApproximantw(j)
[j] is heard from /i/ before other vowels or within diphthongs. [ʃ ʒ] are heard as allophones of /s z/. [tʃ dʒ ɲ] are heard as allophones of /t d n/ when palatalized before /i/. [ɡ] can be heard as an allophone of /k/.
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