Terena language

Terena is an Arawakan language of the Southern Bolivia-Parana branch of the Maipurean family, spoken by the Terena people of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Approximately 16,000 native speakers were recorded in 2006, though only about 20 percent of speakers are literate in Terena compared with 80 percent literate in Portuguese, and many Terena people have low Portuguese proficiency, reflecting a bilingual community. The language has a published dictionary and written grammar, uses active-stative syntax with a default verb-object-subject word order, and research has shown that its four historically named varieties, Kinikinao, Terena proper, Guana and Chane, actually represent one single language rather than separate ones.