Tenharim (Tenharin) is one of the dialects of the Kawahíva language, one of the Tupian languages and spoken in western Brazil by the Tenharim. It is the only remaining dialect still transmitted to children.
Geographical distribution The Tenharim reside in three Indigenous territories (TIs), Tenharim/Marmelos, Tenharim of Igarapé Preto and Sepoti, within the village of Marmelos, Vila Nova, Bela Vista, Tracoá, Campinho, Taboca, Mafuí, Castanheira Jacuí, Pakyri, and Caranaí in the Brazilian state of Amazonas. Only in Tenharim Marmelos is the language being learned by children as a first language, who attend school and are educated in the Tenharim language; this approach has been described as "successful", though education in Tenharim is restricted to elementary school.
History
Language contact Along with Nheengatu, Tenharim has been proposed to be the source of personal pronouns in the Pirahã language. The idea that Pirahã borrowed its pronoun system from a Tupian language was first brought forward by Brazilian linguist Aryon Rodrigues. +Pirahã and Tenharim pronounsglossPirahãTenharimPhonemicPhoneticPhoneticfirst personsecond person, , , third person , third person femininethird person non-human
Documentation Tenharim, along with other dialects of Kawahíva, was documented by Helen Pease and LaVera Betts, missionaries with the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) from the 1960s to the 1980s. The two produced a pandialectal dictionary of Kawahíva, as well as a number of texts, mainly in Tenharim.
Phonology
Consonants +ConsonantsBilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalObstruentFricativeNasalApproximant
Vowels +VowelsFrontBackunroundedroundedoralnasaloralnasaloralnasalHighNon-high
Notes
References