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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

• /i/ varies between close front unrounded [i], near-close front unrounded [i̞] and close-mid front unrounded [e].
• /u/ varies between near-close near-front rounded [ʊ] and close-mid back weakly rounded [o̜], with the latter realization being the most usual.
• /ɘ/ varies between mid near-front unrounded [ɛ̽] and close-mid central unrounded [ɘ].
  • /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 [ä] and near-open retracted front [æ̠]. 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].

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 [ŋ].
  • /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 [ʎ̪˔].
• /h/ occurs only in the affirmative interjection .
• /r/ is realized as a flap [ɾ] in the syllable onset and as a trill [r] in the syllable coda.
• /ˀr/ is a glottalized flap [ˀɾ]. Intervocalically, it is realized as a sequence .

References

1. Jebero at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
2. ^ Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013), p. 101.
3. ^ Valenzuela & Gussenhoven (2013), p. 98.
4. ^ 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

• Languages of Peru
• Endangered indigenous languages of the Americas
• Cahuapanan languages