Phonology

The Carapana alphabet is based on the phonological system and represents each significant sound in the indigenous language (more or less). This alphabet is composed of the following letters:

a, ã, b, c, d, e, , g, i, ĩ, j, m, n, ñ, o, õ, p, q, r, s, t, u, ũ, ʉ, ʉ̃, w, y.

The letters of the Carapana alphabet are pronounced the same as the phonetic sound of the letters in Spanish, with some exceptions:

–the letter ʉ is pronounced with the tongue between the Spanish i and u, but with the lips semi-open, not rounded, like
the pronunciation of i;
–the letters ã, , ĩ, õ, ũ, and ʉ̃, sound like a, e, i , o, u, and ʉ, but are pronounced with a nasal quality;
–when the letter g precedes a nasal vowel, it is pronounced like the letter n in ‘ganga’;
–the letters m, n and ñ will be followed by a nasal vowel;
–the letter r sounds like, in the majority of the words, the same as the Spanish r, like in the word ‘para’. When the r begins a word and is followed by an oral vowel (non-nasal), or when it occurs in the middle of a word, after any vowels ʉ, a, u, ú, and o, at times the r sounds like the Spanish l, but with one sole rapid vibration of the tongue as when pronouncing the r. When preceded by a nasalized vowel, the r sounds more like an n;
–in some Carapana families, the s is pronounced like ts;
–before vowels i, é, and u, the letter w sounds like the Spanish v in ‘lava’.
Before other vowels, the letter w sounds like the Spanish w.

Graphic representation of nasal sounds

In the majority of cases, the nasalization extends over the whole word from the left to the right, from the root to the final suffix, although it can be blocked by an inherently oral suffix. In other cases, it extends over the word from the left to the right. For this reason, nasalization is marked on all the letters of the word it occurs, whether a nasal consonant m, n, ñ or on a vowel; on the latter, nasalization is shown by a tilde (~) on the vowel (ã, , ĩ, õ, ũ, ʉ̃).
Also, when the letter g is followed by a nasal vowel, the vowel is marked with a tilde, like in mʉgõ ‘tía’ (aunt) y jʉ̃gẽã ‘dioses’ (gods).
The inherently nasal suffixes are also marked the same way. Some of the inherently nasal suffixes are: -cõã ‘perfectivo / énfasis’ (perfective / amphasis; - pãĩ ‘objet plano, delgado’ (flat object, thin); - ‘racimo’ (cluster); -macãã ‘pertenece a’ (pertaining to); y -masĩ ‘habilidad’ (ability); - / -na ‘animado plural’ (animate plural); -wẽẽ ‘objeto como cuerda’ (object like rope).

The dialectal differences respect to tone are small and, for this reason, they are not marked. Nevertheless, the tone is marked in cases where the only difference between the words is the tone, indicated by ´. For example: apéricoataje [àpérìcóátájè] v.i. no venir (not come). ápericoataje [ápèrìcóátájè] v.t. no hacer (not make). ápéricoataje [ápérìcóátájè] v.i. no ir (not go).