Malalí language

Malalí is an extinct Maxakalian language of Brazil, formerly spoken in the state of Minas Gerais. Little is known of Malalí other than a few wordlists recorded in the 19th century by European explorers; however, they reveal that Malalí was the most divergent member of the Maxakalían subgroup of the Macro-Jê languages.

Malalí was historically spoken in an area between the Jequitinhonha River, Araçuaí River, and Suaçuí Grande River near Minas Novas, Minas Gerais.^[2]

Two wordlists of Malalí were recorded in the early 19th century by Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied (1826) and Augustin Saint-Hilaire (1830). These form the only contemporary documentation of the language. Both wordlists are of extremely limited quality, however.^[3]

Malalí has been shown to be the most divergent member of the Maxakalían language family. It is conservative compared to other members of the family, displaying certain phonological traits and sharing lexical retentions with Krenák, which have been lost in the other languages.^[3]

Historically, the classification of Malalí was disputed, with scholars such as Rivet^[4] and Loukotka^[5] correctly placing Malalí in the Maxakalían family, while others, such as Curt Nimuendajú, treated it as a distinct language family instead.^[6]

Reconstructed Malali phonemes are as follows.^[3]

[ɲ] occurs as an allophone of /j/ before nasal vowel nuclei.