Indian languages * Indian tribes * What's new on our site today!

Bakairi Indian Language (Kurâ)

Language: Bakairi is a Cariban language of South America, spoken by around 800 people in Brazil. Bakairi is an agglutinative language with complex verb morphology. It uses the uncommon OVS word order.

Thanks for your interest in Native American languages!

Sponsored Links




Names: The Bakairi tribe's name for themselves in their own language is Kúra, which means "the people." They also refer to themselves as Bakairi today, although the origins of that name are not known. (It may have been a placename, or a corruption of the word kúra.) Alternate spellings of these names have included Kurâ, Kura', Bakairí, Bacairi, Bacairí, Bacaery, Bakaery, and Bacaeri.


Bakairi Language
Bakairi language samples and resources.

Bakairi Culture and History
Information and links about the Bakairi tribe past and present.

Bakairi Legends
Introduction to the mythology of the Bakairi Indians.



Bakairi Language Resources

Our Online Bakairi Materials

Bakairi Words:
    Our list of vocabulary words in the Bakairi language, with comparison to words in other Cariban languages.
Bakairi Pronunciation Guide:
    How to pronounce Bakairi words.
Bakairi Animal Words:
    Illustrated glossary of animal words in the Bakairi language.
Bakairi Body Parts:
    Online and printable worksheets showing parts of the body in the Bakairi language.
Bakairi Colors:
    Worksheet showing color words in Bakairi.
Bakairi Numbers:
    Worksheet showing how to count in the Bakairi language.

Bakairi Dictionaries and Language Books for Sale
Our organization earns a commission from any book bought through these links

Languages of the Amazon:
    Linguistic information about Bakairi and dozens of other Amazonian languages.
Vocabulário Português-Bakairí:
    Portuguese-Bakairi dictionary.
The Bakairi Indians of Brazil: Politics, Ecology, and Change:
    Interesting ethnography of the Bakairi tribe including some sociolinguistics information.

Bakairi Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions

Tribes of Southern Brazil:
    Map showing where the Bakairi language is spoken.
Omniglot: Bakairi (Kurâ):
    Bakairi alphabet, sample text and links.
Eastern Bakairi * Western Bakairi:
    Linguistic chart of phonemes in two Bakairi dialects.
La Lengua Bacaira:
    Information on Bakairi including a linguistic map of South America. Page in Spanish.
Vocabulário bacairi:
    Bacairi-Portuguese wordlist.
House of Languages: Bacairí
     Information about Bacairí language usage.
Bakairi Papers:
    Archive of linguistics papers on Bakairi, in English and Portuguese.
Bakairi Language Tree:
    Theories about Bakairi's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.
Bakairi Language Structures:
    Bakairi linguistic profile and academic bibliography.
The New Testament in Bakairi: * Bakairi Words of Life:
    Translation of Bible passages into the Bakairi language.

Sponsored Links



Links, References, and Additional Information

Endangered Languages Project: Bakairi:
Bibliography of Bakairi language resources.
  OLAC: Bakairi:
  Reference list of Bakairi language materials.
Os Bakairi * Bacairis:
Information about the Bakairis and their language in Portuguese.
Wikipedia: Bakairi Language:
Encyclopedia articles on the Bakairi language.
Bakairi Resources:
Bakairi links.



Back to our Indian Cultures homepage
Back to the menu of South American Indian tribes
Back to Native American links for kids

Native Languages

Ancient Indian art * Legends about twins * Indian corn * Indian tattoo meaning

Would you like to sponsor our work on the Bakairi Indian language?

Native Languages of the Americas website © 1998-2021 * Contacts and FAQ page