Nasal Harmony

Foundations

A nasal sound in a word makes nearby prefixes and endings take a nasal spelling.

How It Works

When a root has a nasal sound, the whole word leans nasal, and you hear it in the pronunciation. The spelling changes only in a few small pieces. Use the left form in an oral word and the right form in a nasal word.

PieceOral wordNasal word
ja- / ña- (we, with you)jaha “we go”ñag̃uahẽ “we arrive”
nd- … -i / n- … -i (no)ndojapói “he does not do it”noñeʼẽi “he does not speak”
-pe / -me (in, at)ógape “at home”tetãme “in the country”
-kuéra / -nguéra (plural)jaguakuéra “dogs”mitãnguéra “children”

Other pieces follow the same idea: nde- / ne- “you”, je- / ñe-, jo- / ño- and mbo- / mo-.

Some speakers do not always use the nasal forms when they talk, and you may hear mitakuéra for mitãnguéra. In writing, use the nasal form.

Examples (5)

  1. Ñag̃uahẽ.

    We (you and I) arrive.

    The nasal root g̃uahẽ turns ja- into ña-.

  2. Che nañeʼẽi guaraníme.

    I do not speak Guarani.

    The nasal root ñeʼẽ gives n- … -i, and the nasal word guaraní takes -me.

  3. Ahase ambue tetãme.

    I want to go to another country.

    The nasal word tetã takes -me instead of -pe.

  4. Ahase che rógape.

    I want to go home.

    The oral word róga takes -pe.

  5. mitãnguéra

    children

    The nasal word mitã takes -nguéra instead of -kuéra.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the oral ending after a nasal word.

    tetãpe
    tetãme

    Tetã is a nasal word, so the ending is -me.

  • Using the oral form of “no” on a nasal word.

    ndoñeʼẽi
    noñeʼẽi

    Ñeʼẽ is a nasal word, so the negative is n- … -i.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Nasal HarmonyFoundations

Learn This First

A nasal sound spreads from nasal vowels and from letters such as nd, so learners need both before they see the spelling changes.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.