Xakriabá (also called Chakriaba, Chikriaba, Shacriaba or Shicriabá) is an extinct or dormant Akuwẽ (Central Jê) language (Jê, Macro-Jê) formerly spoken in Minas Gerais, Brazil by the Xakriabá people, who today speak Portuguese. The language is known through two short wordlists collected by Augustin Saint-Hilaire and Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege. The last confirmed native speaker of the language died in 1864.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

History

Before 1712, Xakriabá was originally spoken along the São Francisco River near São Romão, Minas Gerais (Saint-Hilaire 2000: 340-341). The Xakriabá were then forced to migrate after being defeated by Matias Cardoso de Almeida and other Paulistas from 1690 onwards. In 1819, Saint-Hilaire (1975: 145) noted that the Xakriabá of Triângulo Mineiro region spoke a Xerente dialect.