Charruan languages
| Charruan | |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity: | Charrúa people |
| Geographic distribution: |
Uruguay and Entre Ríos Province, Argentina |
| Linguistic classification: | Mataco–Guaicuru ?
|
| Subdivisions: | |
 Pre-contact distribution of the Charruan languages
|
|
The Charruan languages are an extinct group of languages once spoken in Uruguay and the Argentine province of Entre Ríos. Recently (2005) a semi-speaker of Chaná language has appeared[1]
Four languages are considered to definitively belong to the Charruan language family:[2]
A number of unattested languages are also presumed to belong to the Charruan family:[2]
- Bohane – spoken near Maldonado, Uruguay
- Calchine – spoken in Santa Fe Province, Argentina, along the Salado River
- Caracañá – spoken along the Caracañá River, Santa Fe
- Chaná-Mbegua or Begua – spoken on the Paraná River between Crespo and Victoria
- Colastiné – spoken in Santa Fe Province near Colastiné
- Corondá – spoken in Coronda, Santa Fe Province
- Guaiquiaré – spoken in Entre Ríos on the Arroyo Guaiquiraré
- Mocoreta or Macurendá or Mocolete – spoken along the Mocoretá River in Entre Ríos
- Pairindi – spoken in Entre Ríos from Corrientes to the Feliciano River
- Timbu – spoken in Gaboto, Santa Fe Province
- Yaro – spoken in Uruguay between the Río Negro and the San Salvador River
Vocabulary Comparison [edit]
The Charruan languages are poorly attested. However, sufficient vocabulary has been gathered for the languages to be compared:[2]
| English | Charrua | Chaná | Güenoa |
|---|---|---|---|
| eye | i-xou | ||
| ear | i-mau | ||
| hand | guar | mbó | |
| water | hué | ||
| sun | dioi | ||
| dog | samayoí | lochan | |
| tree | huok | ||
| one | yú | ugil | yut |
| two | sam | usan | |
| three | detí | detit |
Genetic Relations [edit]
Morris Swadesh includes Charruan along with Matacoan languages, Guaicuruan, and Mascoian within his Macro-Mapuche stock.
Kaufman (1990) suggests that the Guaicuruan–Matacoan–Charruan–Mascoyan–Lule–Vilela proposal deserves to be explored — a grouping which he calls Macro-Waikurúan.[3] Kaufman's (1994) Macro-Waikurúan proposal excludes Lule–Vilela.[4]
References [edit]
- ^ La Nación, "Investigan los orígenes de una extraña lengua indígena" 2005/July/01
- ^ a b c Loukotka, Čestmír (1968), Classification of South American Indian Languages, Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center
- ^ Kaufman, Terrence (1990), "Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more", in Payne, D.L., Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages, Austin: University of Texas Press, pp. 13–67, ISBN 0-292-70414-3
- ^ Kaufman, Terrence (1994), "The native languages of South America", in Mosley, C.; Asher, R.E., Atlas of the world's languages, London: Routledge, pp. 46–76
