Kipeá language
# Kipeá language

Kipeá (Quipea), or Kariri, was a Karirian language of Brazil. It is sometimes considered a dialect of a single Kariri language. A short grammatical treatment is available.

## Documentation

Kipeá is well documented by Luiz Mamiani, a Jesuit priest who wrote a grammar and catechism of the Kipeá language during the late 1600s.

## Grammar

The morphology of the Kipeá language is predominantly isolating and analytic, unusual for a language native to the Americas.

## Phonology

Phonology of the Kipeá language:

Consonant sounds :

| | | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | | k | |
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | | ɡ | |
| Nasal | Nasal | m | n | ɲ | | |
| Affricate | voiceless | | t͡s | t͡ʃ | | |
| Affricate | voiced | | d͡z | d͡ʒ | | |
| Fricative | Fricative | | s | | | h |
| Approximant | Approximant | | | j | | |

A voiced plosive [ɡ] can have an allophone of [ŋ].

Vowel/Nasal sounds :

| | Front | Central | Back |
| - | - | - | - |
| High | i | ɨ | u |
| Mid | e ẽ | | o õ |
| Low | | a ã | ɑ̃ |
