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“ISO 639:gta” redirects here. For the language called Gtaʼ, see Gtaʼ language.

Guató (Guató: go-t͡ʃéuvɨ́ i-ótɨ́)[5] is a language isolate[4] spoken by two of the Guató people of Brazil. It has variously been claimed to be of Macro-Jê or isolate affiliation. Guató is a VSO language, has agglutination, and has ergative alignment.[3]

Classification

Kaufman (1990) provisionally classified Guató as a branch of the Macro-Jê languages, but no evidence for this was found by Eduardo Ribeiro. Martins (2011) also suggests a relationship with Macro-Jê.[6] Nikulin (2020) excludes this possibility.[7]

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Bororo, Tupi, and Karib language families due to contact.[8]

Distribution

Today, Guató is spoken in Guató Indigenous Territory and Baía dos Guató Indigenous Territory.[4]

Loukotka (1968) reported that in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, Guató is spoken on the banks of the Paraguay River and up the São Lourenço River, along the Bolivian border.[1] It is also spoken at Uberaba Lake[2] in Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia).

Phonology

Vowels

The Guató vowel system, like that of Macro-Jê languages, collapses a three-way distinction of height in oral vowels to two in nasal vowels.[9][10]

Oral Nasal
Front Central Back Front Central Back
Close i ɨ u ĩ ɨ̃ ũ
Mid e o ẽ ã
Open ɛ a ɔ

Consonants

Labial Denti-
alveolar 		Post-
alveolar 		Velar Labio-
velar 		Glottal
Nasal m n
Plosive voiced b d dʒ ɡ ɡʷ
voiceless p t tʃ k kʷ
Fricative f h
Sonorant w ɾ j

Tone

Guató is a tonal language, possessing a high and low tone.[3]

Vocabulary

For more extensive vocabulary lists of Guató by Palácio (1984)[9][11] and Postigo (2009),[10] see the corresponding Portuguese article.

Numerals

Guató uses a quinary (base-5) system up to 20, where a decimal system is used for large numbers.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Guató at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
  3. ^ a b c d “Guató – Indigenous Peoples in Brazil”. pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved 26 September 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Epps, Patience; Michael, Lev, eds. (2023). Amazonian Languages: Language Isolates. Volume I: Aikanã to Kandozi-Chapra. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110419405. ISBN 978-3-11-041940-5.
  5. ^ Schmidt, Max (2018). Guató: A língua (Schmidt 2018) – Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú. Série Monografias. Translated by Kristina Balykova, preface by Gustavo Godoy and Kristina Balykova. ISBN 978-0-9846008-4-7. ISSN 1946-7095. Retrieved 29 September 2025. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Martins, Andérbio Márcio Silva. 2011. Uma avaliação da hipótese de relações genéticas entre o Guató e o tronco Macro-Jê. Doutorado em Linguística. Universidade de Brasília.
  7. ^ Nikulin, Andrey (2020). Proto-Macro-Jê: um estudo reconstrutivo (PDF) (Thesis). Brasília: Universidade de Brasília.
  8. ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  9. ^ a b Palácio, Adair Pimentel (1984). Guató: a língua dos índios canoeiros do rio Paraguai (PhD thesis) (in Portuguese). Campinas: Universidade Estadual de Campinas.
  10. ^ a b Postigo, Adriana Viana (2009). Fonologia da língua Guató (MA thesis) (in Portuguese). Três Lagoas: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul.
  11. ^ Martins, Andérbio Márcio Silva (2011). Uma avaliação da hipótese de relações genéticas entre o Guató e o tronco Macro-Jê (PhD thesis) (in Portuguese). Universidade de Brasília.

Further reading