Fuegian languages

The term Fuegian languages refers to the indigenous languages historically spoken in Tierra del Fuego by native Americans. (Adelaar and Mysken 552-553) In The Languages of the Andes, Adelaar lists the Fuegian languages as the Kawésqar language, the Ona language and the Yaghan language in addition to Chono, Gününa Yajich (also known as Puelche, and the Tehuelche language. (Adelaar and Mysken 552-553)

Based on current data, these languages are not considered part of the same language family or linguistic area. (Adelaar and Mysken 578) Though possible genetic relationships have been proposed to categorize them, Willem Adelaar and Pieter Muysken emphasize that "more complete descriptions and more detailed comparative studies are needed” before any claim can be made about a genetic relationship. (Adelaar and Mysken 578) The current consensus is that Kawésqar, Yaghan, and Chono are language isolates while Ona (also referred to as Selk'nam) belongs to the Chon languages along with Tehuelche and Gününa Yajich. ("Language Qawasqar") ("Language Yahgan") (Campbell and Grondona 61) ("Family Chon")

Yaghan

Yaghan (also referred to as Yahgan or Yámana, among other names) is a language historically spoken in Chile and Argentina. (“Yámana”) It is considered a language isolate, and part of its own Yámana language family. ("Language Yahgan") Within Chile, it has been found in Patagonia, Isla Navarino, Puerto Williams, and Ukika. (“Yámana”) Within Argentina, it has been found in the “extreme south of Isla Grande” in Tierra del Fuego. (“Yámana”) Yaghan is now extinct in Argentina and is severely threatened in Chile. (“Yámana”) As of 2007, there were two known speakers of Yaghan: Christina Calderón and Emelinda Acuña. (Aguilera 213) There were originally as many as five dialects of Yaghan, but the Yamana people who historically spoke the language have diminished in numbers and shifted to the Spanish language following the arrival of Europeans in Tierra del Fuego. (“Yámana”) (Aguilera 214)

Kawésqar

Kawésqar (also referred to as Qawasqar or Alacaluf, among other names) is a language spoken in Chile, especially in Puerto Edén. (“Qawasqar”) It is also considered a language isolate, and makes up the Alacalufan language family. ("Language Qawasqar") It is close to extinction with “no more than fifteen or sixteen” competent speakers. (Aguilera 208) The Kawesqars, an indigenous population in Chile, have been categorized into groups based on geography but “recognize only a Southern group with linguistic differences.” (Aguilera 208) Example of words in this language (also demonstrating the use of suffixation) are [jéksor], meaning 'see', and [jeksórfqat], meaning 'saw'. (Aguilera 211)

Ona

The Ona language (also referred to as Selk’nam or Shelknam) is an extinct language once spoken in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. ("Ona") The last speakers of this language died in the 1970s. ("Ona") It is considered part of the Chon language family and the Chon Proper genus. ("Language Selknam") Related languages include Tehuelche and Gününa Küne, which are part of the same language family. ("Language Selknam")

Reasons for Decline

Yaghan, Kawésqar, and Ona are all extinct or nearly extinct languages whose numbers of speakers have declined sharply since the nineteenth century. (Aguilera 214) One reason for this decline is the drastic reduction size of the indigenous populations who historically spoke these languages. (Aguilera 214) The Yaghan population, for example, was between 2,500 and 3,000 in the late nineteenth century and plummeted to as low as 40 by 1933 thanks in part to diseases like Smallpox, Whooping-Cough and Typhoid, introduced by incoming Europeans. (Aguilera 214) As these indigenous languages of South America have declined, the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego have come to use Spanish instead. (Aguilera 208) Another reason for the decline of the Fuegian languages is a discriminatory view of the indigenous languages in South America by the non-indigenous population. (Aguilera 208) Kawesqars, for example, “were looked down on, sometimes with aversion” for speaking their so-called “uncivilized” native tongue and many speakers of Kawésqar refuse to speak it in public as a result. (Aguilera 208)

Unifying Linguistic Properties

Though the Fuegian languages are not currently believed to be part of a single linguistic area or language family, there are some properties which appear frequently across the languages. The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide highlights some of the properties believed to apply to the Fuegian languages. They include the presence of “voiced and glottalized consonants” and frequent compounding, reduplication, and suffixation. (Campbell and Grondona 309) Another unifying feature is word order, because all three languages appear to have OV word order, meaning the object comes before the verb. (Campbell and Grondona 309). The Fuegian languages are unified in having infrequent “retroflex articulations,” and rare instances of suppletion. (Adelaar and Mysken 578) A significant obstacle preventing a consensus on any kind of direct relation between the Fuegian languages is a lack of sufficient data. Research on these languages has been limited and is difficult given the minimal number of native speakers remaining.

See also

• Fuegians

External links

• Qawasqar at Ethnologue.com
• Yámana at Ethnologue.com
• Ona at Ethnologue.com
• Family Chon, World Atlas of Language Structures

References

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