Apalai
Language Information
Apalaí language is primarily spoken in Brazil, with a small community also located in French Guiana.
: Spoken by approximately 450 people. It serves as a stable first language within its indigenous community and is used in some local schools for instruction.Grammar: It is an agglutinative language (forming words by adding prefixes or suffixes) and features a rare object–verb–subject word order.Literacy & History: Missionaries helped develop a written tradition starting in the late 1960s. Bible translation portions began in the early 1970s, leading to the completion of the full Bible in Apalai in 2017. The name "Apalai" originates from a Tupi-Guarani word meaning "small bow".
: Spoken by approximately 450 people. It serves as a stable first language within its indigenous community and is used in some local schools for instruction.Grammar: It is an agglutinative language (forming words by adding prefixes or suffixes) and features a rare object–verb–subject word order.Literacy & History: Missionaries helped develop a written tradition starting in the late 1960s. Bible translation portions began in the early 1970s, leading to the completion of the full Bible in Apalai in 2017. The name "Apalai" originates from a Tupi-Guarani word meaning "small bow".
- Language Family
- Central South American Indian
- Subgroup
- Cariban