Kawésqar language

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Kawésqar
Spoken in: Chile 
Region: Channel Region, western Patagonia, Wellington Island off south Chilean coast, 49° south, with centre in Puerto Edén.
Total speakers: 22 or fewer
Language family: Alacalufan
 Kawésqar
Language codes
ISO 639-1: none
ISO 639-2: sai
ISO 639-3: alc
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Kawésqar (also known as Qawasqar [ISO 639-3], Alacaluf, Halakwulup, Kaweskar, Alakaluf, Kawaskar, Kawesqar, Qawashqar, Halakwalip, Hekaine, Kaueskar, Aksanás) is an Alacalufan language spoken in southern Chile by the Kawésqar people. Originally there were several distinct dialects. Kakauhua is sometimes listed as a dialect, but is usually listed as a separate language, as in ISO 639-3 and Ethnologue. The language family containing these two languages is known as Alacalufan. Only about 20 speakers remain, half of them on Wellington Island, off the southwestern coast of Chile.

Contents

[edit] Phonology

[edit] Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open æ a

[edit] Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n   ŋ    
Plosive p t ʧ k q ʔ
Ejective pʼ tʼ ʧʼ kʼ    
Fricative f s       h
Rhotic   r - ɾ        
Approximant w l j      

[edit] Writing System

The alphabet in use is as follows [1]: a, æ, c, c', e, f, h, i, j, k, k', l, m, n, o, p, p', q, r, rr, s, t, t', u, w, x. However, there are reported to be differences between dialects, and some sounds that are not represented here.

[edit] Morphology and syntax

Kawésqar has a complex system of grammatical tense, which includes a basic morphological contrast between future, present, immediate past, recent past, distant past, and mythological past events.

[edit] Pronoun

[edit] Noun

[edit] Verb

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography

  • Ethnologue entry for Qawasqar
  • Aguilera Faúndez, Óscar (2001): Gramática de la lengua kawésqar. Temuco: Corporación de Desarrollo Indígena.
  • Clairis, Christos (1987): El qawasqar. Lingüística fueguina. Teoría y descripción. Valdivia: Universidad Austral de Chile [Anejo de Estudios Filológicos 12].
  • Pieter C. Muysken. 2004. The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Languages of Chile

Living languages
Ayacucho Quechua · Central Aymara · Chilean Quechua · Chilean Sign Language · Huilliche · Mapudungun · Quechua · Rapa Nui · German · Spanish

Extinct and endangered languages
Kawésqar/Alacaluf (≤ 22) · Kunza† · Ona/Selknam (1-3) · Tehuelche† · Yaghan (1) ; Cacán†

Language families
Aymaran · Chon · Malayo-Polynesian · Quechuan · Romance
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