Jebero language
Jebero (Chebero, Xebero, Xihuila) is a moribund Amazonian language spoken by the Jebero people of Jeberos, Peru. It is spoken by only a small number of older adults and belongs to the Cahuapanan family together with Chayahuita.
Phonology
Vowels
Monophthongs of Jebero, from
Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013:101)
- /i/ varies between close front unrounded , near-close front unrounded and close-mid front unrounded .
- /u/ varies between near-close near-front rounded and close-mid back weakly rounded , with the latter realization being the most usual.
- /ɘ/ varies between mid near-front unrounded and close-mid central unrounded .
- /ɘ/ is shorter than the other vowels, particularly between voiceless consonants.
- The sequence /ɘn/ is sometimes realized as a syllabic .
- /a/ varies between open central unrounded and near-open retracted front . The vowel chart in Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013) puts /a/ in the near-open central position .
- In closed syllables, /a/ is realized as open-mid central unrounded .
Consonants
- /m, p/ are bilabial, whereas /w/ is labialized velar.
- /tʃ/ is an affricate, rather than a plosive. It has nevertheless been placed in the table in that manner to save space.
- /n, t, ð, l/ are laminal denti-alveolar .
- In the syllable coda, /n/ is realized with a wider contact, maximally dentoalveolo-velar .
- After /u, a/, the denti-alveolar contact is often not made, which makes /n/ sound more like a velar nasal .
- /ð/ may sometimes sound as if it were a lateral consonant, but it is never realized as lateral.
- /ɲ, ʎ/ are dentoalveolo-palatal .
- /ʎ/ is sometimes realized as a weak fricative .
- /h/ occurs only in the affirmative interjection .
- /r/ is realized as a flap in the syllable onset and as a trill in the syllable coda.
- /ˀr/ is a glottalized flap . Intervocalically, it is realized as a sequence .
References
- ^ Jebero at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Bibliography
Monophthongs of Jebero, from Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013:101)
