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.

Jebero
Shiwilu
Native to	Peru
Region	Jeberos
Ethnicity	2,500 (2000)
Native speakers	30 (2011)[1]
Language family	Cahuapanan Jebero
Language codes
ISO 639-3	jeb
Glottolog	jebe1250
ELP	Shiwilu[2]

Phonology

Vowels

Monophthongs of Jebero, from Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013:101)

Monophthong phonemes[3]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid		ɘ
Open		a

• /i/ varies between close front unrounded [i], near-close front unrounded [i̞] and close-mid front unrounded [e].[3]
• /u/ varies between near-close near-front rounded [ʊ] and close-mid back weakly rounded [o̜], with the latter realization being the most usual.[3]
• /ɘ/ varies between mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽] and close-mid central unrounded [ɘ].[3]
  • /ɘ/ is shorter than the other vowels, particularly between voiceless consonants.[3]
  • The sequence /ɘn/ is sometimes realized as a syllabic [n̩].[3]
• /a/ varies between open central unrounded [ä] and near-open retracted front [æ̠].[3] The vowel chart in Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013) puts /a/ in the near-open central position [ɐ].
  • In closed syllables, /a/ is realized as open-mid central unrounded [ɜ].[3]

Consonants

Consonant phonemes[4]

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Stop		p	t	tʃ	k	ʔ
Fricative			s	ʃ		(h)
Trill	plain		r
	glottalized		ˀr
Approximant	central	w	ð	j
	lateral		l	ʎ

• /m, p/ are bilabial, whereas /w/ is labialized velar.
• /tʃ/ is an affricate, rather than a plosive.[4] It has nevertheless been placed in the table in that manner to save space.
• /n, t, ð, l/ are laminal denti-alveolar [n̪, t̪, ð̪, l̪].[5]
  • In the syllable coda, /n/ is realized with a wider contact, maximally dentoalveolo-velar [n̪͡ŋ].[5]
  • After /u, a/, the denti-alveolar contact is often not made, which makes /n/ sound more like a velar nasal [ŋ].[5]
  • /ð/ may sometimes sound as if it were a lateral consonant, but it is never realized as lateral.[3]
• /ɲ, ʎ/ are dentoalveolo-palatal [ɲ̪, ʎ̪].[5]
  • /ʎ/ is sometimes realized as a weak fricative [ʎ̪˔].[3]
• /h/ occurs only in the affirmative interjection [ahã].[4]
• /r/ is realized as a flap [ɾ] in the syllable onset and as a trill [r] in the syllable coda.[5]
• /ˀr/ is a glottalized flap [ˀɾ]. Intervocalically, it is realized as a sequence [ɾʔ].[5]

References

1. "Jebero". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
2. Endangered Languages Project data for Shiwilu.
3. Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013), p. 101.
4. Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013), p. 98.
5. Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013), p. 100.

Bibliography

• Valenzuela, Pilar M.; Gussenhoven, Carlos (2013), "Shiwilu (Jebero)" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (1): 97–106, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000370