Suruí de Rondônia

Indigenous Groups
Apalai
Apinayé
Apurinã
Arara do Pará
Asurini do Tocantins
Asurini do Xingu
Atroari
Banawá
Bororo
Caiuá
Canela
Cinta Larga
Deni
Fulniô
Guajajara
Guarani-Mbyá
Hixkaryana
Hupda
Ikpeng
Jamamadi
Jarawara
Juma
Kaapor
Kadiwéu
Kaingang
Kamayurá
Karajá
Karipuna do Amapá
Karitiana
Kaxaxari
Kayapó
Mamaindé
Munduruku
Nadëb
Nambikuara
Palikur
Paresi
Paumari
Rikbaktsa
Suruí de Rondônia
Suyá
Tenharim
Terena
Waiãpi
Waurá
Xavante

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Surui de Rondônia

Basic Data
    Name: Suruí de Rondônia
    Alternative Names: Suruí, Suruí of Rondônia
    Auto-Denomination: Paiter
    Language Classification: Tupi, Mondé, Suruí
    Population: 900
    Location: Rondônia, on the border between Rondônia and Mato Grosso

About the Suruí

The Suruí were first contacted in l969. No one knows how many there were at that time. At least half died from measles, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B during the first five years. The first population count in the ‘70’s showed between 200 and 300 Suruí. In l988 there were about 450. At last count in l999 there were 840.The Suruí population continues to grow since the first years of the contact when they were decimated.

As far as the Surui language status, there are no separate dialects. There are a few slight differences in the pronounciation of a few sounds. This is becoming more pronounced between the young people and the old people. With Portuguese being spoken more and more, there are many borrowed words. The only differences between the sexes in language usage are the kinship terms and bodily function terms.

Bontkes, Carolyn, 1985, Subordinate Clauses in Surui (230 kB), Porto Velho Workpapers: 189-207.

———, 2007, A Prosódia Silábica Surui (in Portuguese, 190 kB), Associação Internacional de Lingüística, Cuiabá, MT.

Bontkes, Willem and Robert A. Dooley, 1985, Verification Particles in Surui (240 kB), Porto Velho Workpapers: 166-188.

van der Meer, Tine, 1982, Phonology of the Suruí Language (Abstract, 34 kB), unpublished Master's dissertation, UNICAMP.

van der Meer, Tine H. 1985, Case Marking in Surui (215 kB), Porto Velho Workpapers: 208-230.