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Xerente Indian Language

Language: Xerente is a Jê language of Brazil, spoken by about 1000 people along the Tocantins River. It is closely related to the neighboring Xavánte language, and some consider the two to be dialects of a single language.

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Names: "Xerente" is their name in the language of a neighboring tribe. In their own language, the people call themselves Akwe, which means "Indians," No

wadays, however, it is common for them to use the name Xerente as well, in fact it is a common surname among their tribe. Alternate spellings for these names include Xerénte, Sherente, Cherente, Sherenté, Akwẽ-Xerente, Akwen, Akuen, Akuên, Acuen, Aquen, Akuwẽ, Aquem, Awen, and A'we. Since "A'uwe" has the general meaning of "Indians," forms of this word like Akuen and Akuwe are commonly used to refer to indigenous people of the region in general, particularly the Xavante, Xakriaba and Acroa tribes whose languages are related to Xerente and have similar words themselves.

Xerente Language

Xerente language samples and resources.

Xerente Culture and History

Information and links about the Xerente tribe past and present.

Xerente Language Resources

Our Online Xerente Materials

Xerente Words:
Our list of vocabulary words in the Xerente language, with comparison to words in other Macro-Ge languages.

Books for sale on the Xerentes
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Emprestimos Linguisticos do Portugues em Akwe-Xerente:

Aspectos Morfossintaticos da Lingua Akwe-Xerente:
Linguistics books about Akwe-Xerente in Portuguese.

Xerente Language Lessons and Linguistic Descriptions

Language Map of Brazil:
Map showing where the Xerente and other indigenous Brazilian languages are spoken.

Xerente Phonology:
Linguistic chart of phonemes in the Xerente language.

Xerente:
Wikipedia article on the Xerente language.

Xerente Language Structures:
Xerente linguistic profile and academic bibliography.

Cherente Language Tree:
Theories about Xerente's language relationships compiled by Linguist List.

House of Languages: Akwe-Xerénte
Facts about Xerente language usage.

Xerente Words of Life:
Translations of Bible stories into the Xerente language.

Idioma Sherente:
Information about the Xerente language in Spanish.

Xerente Papers:
Archive of linguistics papers on Xerente, in English and Portuguese.

Links, References, and Additional Information

  Endangered Languages Project: Xerente:
  Bibliography of Xerente language resources.
  OLAC: Xerente:
  Reference list of Xerente language materials.
  Brazilian Culture:
  Information and links about the indigenous people of Brazil.
  Povo Xerente

Os Indios Xerentes:
  Information about the Xerente tribe and their language in Portuguese.
  Xerente (Sherente) People:
  Xerente links pages.

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