Mapuche language
| Mapudungun | |
|---|---|
| Native to | Chile, Argentina |
| Ethnicity | 600,000 Mapuche (2002) |
|
Native speakers
|
260,000 (2007) |
|
Araucanian
|
|
| Official status | |
|
Official language in
|
Galvarino (Chile) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | mapu1245 |
Core region of mapuche population 2002 by counties.
Orange: rural Mapuche; Dark: urban Mapuche; White: non-Mapuche inhabitants Surfaces of circles are adjusted to 40 inhabitants/km2. |
|
Orange: rural Mapuche; Dark: urban Mapuche; White: non-Mapuche inhabitants
Mapudungun (from mapu 'earth, land' and dungun 'speak, speech') is a language isolate spoken in south-central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from mapu 'earth' and che 'people'). It is also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu. It was formerly known as Araucanian, the name given to the Mapuche by the Spaniards; the Mapuche avoid it as a remnant of Spanish colonialism, and it is considered offensive.
Mapudungun is not an official language of Chile or Argentina and has received virtually no government support throughout its history. It is not used as a language of instruction in either country’s educational system despite the Chilean government's commitment to provide full access to education in Mapuche areas in southern Chile. There is an ongoing political debate over which alphabet to use as the standard alphabet of written Mapudungun. There are approximately 144,000 native speakers in Chile and another 8,400 in west central Argentina. Only 2.4% of urban speakers and 16% of rural speakers use Mapudungun when speaking with children, but only 3.8% of speakers aged 10–19 years in the south of Chile (the language’s stronghold) are "highly competent" in the language.
When the Spanish arrived in Chile, they found four groups of Mapuche speakers in the region of Araucanía, from which the Spanish called them araucanos: the Picunche people (from pikum 'north' and che 'people'), the Huilliche people (from willi 'south'), the Pehuenche people (from pewen "monkey puzzle tree" Araucaria araucana), and the Moluche people (from molu "west"). The Picunche were conquered quite rapidly by the Spanish, whereas the Huilliche were not assimilated until the 18th century. Mapudungun was the only language spoken in central Chile. The sociolinguistic situation of the Mapuche has changed rapidly. Now, nearly all of Mapuche people are bilingual or monolingual in Spanish. The degree of bilingualism depends on the community, participation in Chilean society, and the individual's choice towards the traditional or modern/urban way of life.
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Wikipedia