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Gaviao do Jiparana Indian Language (Digüt, Ikolen)

Language: Gaviao do Jiparana is a Tupian language of South America, spoken by around 300 people in Brazil. It is a tone language and has primarily SOV word order.

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Names: "Gaviao" is the Portuguese name for the tribe--it is a Portuguese word meaning "hawk." Like other Portuguese names, it was applied by early settlers indiscriminately to multiple unrelated tribes in different locations, which can be a source of confusion today. In this case, the Gavião do Jiparana language (so called after the region where it is spoken) or Gavião do Rondônia (after the Brazilian state) is a Tupian language. It should not be confused with Gavião do Para, which is a language of the Je family spoken in Para more than a thousand miles away. It is not clear why the Portuguese called the Je tribes hawks (perhaps because of their ferocity,) but for the Gaviaos do Jiparan it is a translation of one of their own tribal names, Ikolen (which means "hawk" in their language.) The Ikolen also refer to themselves as Digüt, and alternate spellings of these names have included Ikõro, Ikoro, Ikólóéhj, Digit, or Digut.

Gaviao Language

Gaviao language samples and tools.

Gaviao/Ikolen Culture and History

Information about the Gaviao Indians past and present.

Gaviao Jiparana Language Resources

Gaviao do Jiparana Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions

Language Families of Rondonia:
Map showing the location of the Gavião do Jiparana and related Tupian languages of Brazil.

Gavião do Jiparaná Phonology:
Linguistic chart of phonemes in the Gaviao language.

Digut Language Tree:
Theories about Digut Gaviao's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.

Idioma Gaviao Digüt:
Information about the Gaviao language in Spanish.

Gaviao Papers:
Archive of linguistics papers on Gaviao Do Jiparana, in English and Portuguese.

Gaviao Language Structures:
Gaviao do Jiparana linguistic profile and academic bibliography.

OLAC: Gavião Do Jiparaná:
Reference list of Gaviao language materials.

Endangered Languages Project: Gaviao do Rondonia:
Bibliography of Gaviao language resources.

Literature and Texts in the Gaviao Language

Cantos da Floresta: Musica Ikolen-Gavião:
Sound files of songs in the Ikolen language, with translation into Portuguese.

Gaviao do Rondonia Scripture and Songs:
Translations of Bible passages and hymns into the Gaviao language.

Language Museum: Gavião Do Jiparaná:
Text example from the Gaviao language.

Gaviao Dictionaries and Language Books for Sale
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The Amazonian Languages:
In-depth book about Gaviao and dozens of other Amazonian Indian languages.

Links, References, and Additional Information

  Gavião of Jiparana:
   Wikipedia article on the Gaviao language.
  Povo Ikolen

Os Gaviões:
Information about the Gavioes and their language in Portuguese.

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