Pirahã language
Updated: 12/20/2025, 12:06:08 PM Wikipedia source
Pirahã (also spelled Pirahá, Pirahán), or Múra-Pirahã, is the indigenous language of the Pirahã people of Amazonas, Brazil. The Pirahã live along the Maici River, a tributary of the Amazon River. Pirahã is the only surviving dialect of the Mura language; all others having died out in the last few centuries as most groups of the Mura people have shifted to Portuguese. Due to this, Pirahã can be considered its own language now, as no other Mura dialects have survived. Suspected relatives, such as Matanawi, are also extinct. Pirahã is estimated to have between 250 and 380 speakers. It is not in immediate danger of extinction, as its use is vigorous and the Pirahã community is mostly monolingual. The Pirahã language is the subject of various controversial claims; for example, that it provides evidence against linguistic relativity. The controversy is compounded by the difficulty of learning the language; the number of linguists with field experience in Pirahã is very small.
Infobox
Pronunciation
/ʔàpài̯ˈtʃîːsò/
Native to
Brazil
Region
Maici River
Ethnicity
Pirahã
Native speakers
250–380 (2009)
Language family
Mura Pirahã
Writing system
Latin
ISO 639-3
myp
Glottolog
pira1253
ELP
Pirahã
Tables
· Phonology › Phoneme inventory › Vowels
Close
Close
Col 1
Close
Front
i
Back
o
Open
Open
Col 1
Open
Front
a
| Front | Back | |
| Close | i | o |
| Open | a |
· Phonology › Phoneme inventory › Consonants
Stop
Stop
Col 1
Stop
Col 2
voiceless
Bilabial
p
Alveolar
t
Velar
k
Glottal
ʔ
voiced
voiced
Col 1
voiced
Col 2
b
Bilabial
ɡ
Fricative
Fricative
Col 1
Fricative
Bilabial
s
Velar
h
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Velar | Glottal | ||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ |
| voiced | b | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | s | h | |||
Pirahã consonants with example words · Phonology › Phoneme inventory › Consonants
/p/
/p/
Phoneme
/p/
Phone
[p]
Word
pibaóí "otter"
/t/
/t/
Phoneme
/t/
Phone
[t]
Word
taahoasi "sand"
[tʃ] before /i/
[tʃ] before /i/
Phoneme
[tʃ] before /i/
Phone
tii "residue"
/k/
/k/
Phoneme
/k/
Phone
[k]
Word
kaaxai "macaw"
/ʔ/
/ʔ/
Phoneme
/ʔ/
Phone
[ʔ]
Word
kaaxai "macaw"
/b/
/b/
Phoneme
/b/
Phone
[b]
Word
xísoobái "down (noun)"
[m] initially
[m] initially
Phoneme
[m] initially
Phone
boopai "throat, neck"
/ɡ/
/ɡ/
Phoneme
/ɡ/
Phone
[ɡ]
Word
xopóogií "inga (fruit)"
[n] initially
[n] initially
Phoneme
[n] initially
Phone
gáatahaí "can (noun)"
[ɺ͡ɺ̼] (see below)
[ɺ͡ɺ̼] (see below)
Phoneme
[ɺ͡ɺ̼] (see below)
Phone
toogixi "hoe"
/s/
/s/
Phoneme
/s/
Phone
[s]
Word
sahaxai "should not"
[ʃ] before /i/
[ʃ] before /i/
Phoneme
[ʃ] before /i/
Phone
xísiisí "fat (noun)"
/h/
/h/
Phoneme
/h/
Phone
[h]
Word
xáapahai "bird arrow"
| Phoneme | Phone | Word |
| /p/ | [p] | pibaóí "otter" |
| /t/ | [t] | taahoasi "sand" |
| [tʃ] before /i/ | tii "residue" | |
| /k/ | [k] | kaaxai "macaw" |
| /ʔ/ | [ʔ] | kaaxai "macaw" |
| /b/ | [b] | xísoobái "down (noun)" |
| [m] initially | boopai "throat, neck" | |
| /ɡ/ | [ɡ] | xopóogií "inga (fruit)" |
| [n] initially | gáatahaí "can (noun)" | |
| [ɺ͡ɺ̼] (see below) | toogixi "hoe" | |
| /s/ | [s] | sahaxai "should not" |
| [ʃ] before /i/ | xísiisí "fat (noun)" | |
| /h/ | [h] | xáapahai "bird arrow" |
· Syntax › Pronouns
ti3
ti3
Pirahã
ti3
English
"I"
gi1xai3
gi1xai3
Pirahã
gi1xai3
English
"you" (sing.)
hi3
hi3
Pirahã
hi3
English
"he" (human)
i3
i3
Pirahã
i3
English
"she" (human)
i1k
i1k
Pirahã
i1k
English
"it", "they" (land animals)
si3
si3
Pirahã
si3
English
"it", "they" (water animals)
a3
a3
Pirahã
a3
English
"it", "they" (inanimate objects)
ti3a1ti3so3
ti3a1ti3so3
Pirahã
ti3a1ti3so3
English
"we"
gi1xa3i1ti3so3
gi1xa3i1ti3so3
Pirahã
gi1xa3i1ti3so3
English
"you" (pl.)
hi3ai1ti3so3
hi3ai1ti3so3
Pirahã
hi3ai1ti3so3
English
"they" (human?)
| Pirahã | English |
| ti3 | "I" |
| gi1xai3 | "you" (sing.) |
| hi3 | "he" (human) |
| i3 | "she" (human) |
| i1k | "it", "they" (land animals) |
| si3 | "it", "they" (water animals) |
| a3 | "it", "they" (inanimate objects) |
| ti3a1ti3so3 | "we" |
| gi1xa3i1ti3so3 | "you" (pl.) |
| hi3ai1ti3so3 | "they" (human?) |
· Syntax › Pronouns
1sg
1sg
Pronoun
1sg
Nheengatu
/xe/ [ʃɪ]
Tenharim
[dʒi]
Pirahã
/ti/ [tʃi]
2sg
2sg
Pronoun
2sg
Nheengatu
/ne/
Tenharim
[ne, nde]
Pirahã
/ɡi, ɡixa/ [nɪ, nɪʔa]
3
3
Pronoun
3
Nheengatu
/ahe/; clitic /i-/ [ɪ, e]
Tenharim
[hea] (3fs), [ahe] (3.human)
Pirahã
/hi/ [hɪ]
| Pronoun | Nheengatu | Tenharim | Pirahã |
| 1sg | /xe/ [ʃɪ] | [dʒi] | /ti/ [tʃi] |
| 2sg | /ne/ | [ne, nde] | /ɡi, ɡixa/ [nɪ, nɪʔa] |
| 3 | /ahe/; clitic /i-/ [ɪ, e] | [hea] (3fs), [ahe] (3.human) | /hi/ [hɪ] |
References
- Could also be analysed as 'white' and 'black'.
- Languagehttps://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.404.9474
- Cognitionhttps://archive.today/20130104172416/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T24-4SR081F-2&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=afa3cc0668c467625ea0595f07ec4686
- Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates
- Everett (1986).
- Don't Sleep, there are Snakeshttps://archive.org/details/dontsleeptherear00ever
- Everett 1982, p. 94: "Due to the fact that [l̨̃] is apparently sui generis it was necessary to synthesize various terms
- Everett 1986, p. 316: "Another allophone of g, [ļ̌], has been documented more completely in Everett (1982b). This alloph
- WALS Onlinehttp://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_prh
- Sheldon 1988.
- "Recursion and Human Thought: Why the Pirahã Don't Have Numbers"https://web.archive.org/web/20111017165300/http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/everett07/everett07_index.html
- The Independenthttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/noam-chomsky-you-ask-the-questions-5330371.html
- Languagehttps://doi.org/10.1353%2Flan.0.0104
- "Experimental evidence for complex syntax in Pirahã"http://ling.auf.net/lingBuzz/001095
- PLOS ONEhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4774923
- Current Anthropologyhttps://web.archive.org/web/20070325211641/http://www.pnglanguages.org/americas/brasil/PUBLCNS/ANTHRO/PHGrCult.pdf
- The Grammar of Happinesshttps://web.archive.org/web/20131118143428/http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/141519/the-grammar-of-happiness
- "Linguistics and English Language"https://web.archive.org/web/20060724192816/http://ling.man.ac.uk/info/staff/DE/culturalgrammar.pdf
- "Cultural Constraints on Grammar in Pirahã: A Reply to Nevins, Pesetsky, and Rodrigues"http://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/000427/current.pdf
- John Colapinto (2007), "The Interpreter". The New Yorker, 2007-04-16http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto?currentPage=all
- Languagehttps://doi.org/10.1353%2Flan.0.0140
- Sciencehttps://hal.science/hal-00206219
- "Encyclopedia — Indigenous Peoples of Brazil"https://web.archive.org/web/20080303000433/http://www.socioambiental.org/pib/epienglish/piraha/ling.shtm
- Journal of Linguisticshttp://jan.ucc.nau.edu/nf4/ReviewEverett.pdf
- Linguistic Discoveryhttps://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/955549