You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Portuguese. (May 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Portuguese article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 463 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Portuguese Wikipedia article at [[:pt:Língua terena]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|pt|Língua terena}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Terêna or Etelena is spoken by 15,000 Brazilians. The language has a dictionary and written grammar. ^[3] Many Terena people have low Portuguese proficiency. It is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul. About 20% are literate in their language, 80% literate in Portuguese.^{[ citation needed]}

Terêna has an active–stative syntax ^[4] and verb-object-subject as default word order. ^[5]

Varieties

Terêna had four varieties: Kinikinao, Terena proper, Guaná, and Chané. These varieties have sometimes been considered to be separate languages. ^[6] Carvalho (2016) has since demonstrated all four to be the same language. ^[7] Only Terena proper is still spoken.

Language contact

Terena originated in the Northwestern Chaco. ^[8] As a result, many Northern Guaicuruan loanwords can be found in Terena. ^[9]

There are also many Tupi-Guarani loanwords in Terena and other southern Arawakan languages. ^[10]

Phonology

Consonants

/w, ʃ, n, l/ may often be heard as [v, tʃ, ɲ, ʎ]. ^[11]

Vowels

[ɨ] is heard as an allophone of /i/. ^[12]

See also

• Terena Sign Language

References