Japrería (also known as Yapreria, Motilón, Sabril and Yukpa-Japrería) is a Cariban language of Venezuela. It has been frequently classified as a dialect of neighbouring Yukpa, which it is closely related to.
Classification It is debated whether or not Japreria is a dialect of Yukpa. In anthropology, the Japreria people are treated as one of the subroups of the Yukpa people. The Czech linguist Čestmír Loukotka (1968), Haydée Seijas and Marshall Durbin (1977), and Mosonyi and Mosonyi (2000), all treated Japreria as a dialect of Yukpa. However, the Ministry of Education, in a 1986 article, claimed that the Yukpa could not understand the Japreria.
Phonology + Consonants, citing LabialAlveolarPalatalDorsalGlottalNasalStop/AffricateFricativeLiquid is labiodental, while are bilabial.
+VowelsFrontCentralBackCloseOpen
and are allophones of . , realized as central , has a front allophone .
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Further reading