Araucanian languages explained

Araucanian
Familycolor:American
Glotto:arau1255
Glottorefname:Araucanian

The Araucanian languages are a small language family of indigenous languages of the Americas spoken in central Chile and neighboring areas of Argentina. The living representatives of this family are Mapudungun (ISO 639-3: arn) and Huilliche (ISO 639-3: huh), spoken respectively by the Mapuche and Huilliche people. These are usually considered divergent dialects of a single language isolate.

Demographics

It is estimated that there are approximately 200,000 Mapudungu speakers in Chile and 40,000 speakers in Argentina. Huilliche is the native language of a few thousand Chileans.

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Kunza, Mochika, Uru-Chipaya, Arawak, Pano, Cholon-Hibito, and Kechua language families due to contact.

Internal classification

Mason (1950)

Internal classification of Araucanian languages by Mason (1950):[1]

Jolkesky (2016)

Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016):[2]

(= extinct)

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Mapuche (Araucanian) language varieties.[3]

gloss Mapuche Picunche Pehuenche Huiliche Chilote Ranquelche
onekiñe kiñe kiñe kiñe kenge kiñe
twoepu epue epu epu epo epú
threeküla kela kela kila köla kʔla
headlongko lonko rlonko lonkó
handkúü kuü ghechu keñeu
waterko ko ko ko ku go
sunantu antü ante ante ánte ant'ü
moonkuyen küyén küyen kiyen kién kiyet
maizevoe wa wa waká wa
birdgunún üñem küñüm giñum trarú
dogthehua thewa thewa trehua cheuá
jaguarnahuel nahuel nawel nahuel naue

Further reading

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Mason, John Alden . John Alden Mason . 1950 . The languages of South America . Julian . Steward . Handbook of South American Indians . 6 . 157–317 . Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143 . Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office.
  2. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho De Valhery. 2016. Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas . Ph.D. dissertation, University of Brasília.
  3. Book: Loukotka, Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles.