Toba-Maskoy language should not be confused with Toba Qom language.
| Maskoy | |
| Nativename: | Toba |
| States: | Paraguay |
| Ethnicity: | (2007) |
| Date: | 2007 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | American |
| Fam1: | Mascoian |
| Iso3: | tmf |
| Glotto: | toba1268 |
| Glottorefname: | Toba-Maskoy |
Maskoy, or Toba-Maskoy, is one of several languages of the Paraguayan Chaco (Particularly in the northern region of Paraguay) called Toba. It is spoken on a reservation near Puerto Victoria. Toba-Maskoy is currently a threatened language at risk of becoming an extinct language, due to the low number of native speakers.
Toba-Maskoy was derived from Paraguay, specifically in the Chaco region of the Alto Paraguay department.[1]
Toba-Maskoy is spoken near Puerto Victoria, in the north of Paraguay.
Though Toba-Maskoy is not the official language of Paraguay, it has a special well known status in the northern part of El Chaco.
Toba Maskoy is one of the five members of the Maskoy linguistic family, the other four include: Angaite, Enxet, Kaskiha, and Sanapan.[2]
It is believed that around 1870 some Toba chiefs immigrated from Argentina escaping constant victimization of their peoples, thus settling in Alto Paraguay. Since that transitional period, the language suffered both linguistically and culturally.[3] To this day it is rare to find grammar or writings in Toba-Maskoy due to a significant loss in the linguistic elements.
The below table shows the Toba number system, which has separate words for
1,2,4
While the number
4
| 1 | nathedac | ||
| 2 | cacyni, nivoca | ||
| 3 | cacaynilia | 2+"lia" | |
| 4 | nalotapegat | "equals" | |
| 5 | nivoca cacainilia | 2+3 | |
| 6 | cacayni cacynilia | 2 x 3 | |
| 7 | nathedac cacayni cacaynilia | 1+(2 x 3) | |
| 8 | nivoca nalotapegat | 2 x 4 | |
| 9 | nivoca nalotapegat nathedac | (2 x 4)+1 | |
| 10 | cacayni nivoca nalotapegat | 2+(2 x 4) |