Tehuelche language
| Tehuelche | |
|---|---|
| Patagón | |
| Native to | Argentina |
| Ethnicity | Tehuelche people |
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Native speakers
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At least 1 fluent (2012) |
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Chonan
|
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | tehu1242 |
Map with approximate distributions of languages in Patagonia at the time of the Spanish conquest. Source: W. Adelaar (2004): The Andean Languages, Cambridge University Press.
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Tehuelche (Aoniken, Inaquen, Gunua-Kena, Gununa-Kena) is one of the Chonan languages of Patagonia. Its speakers were nomadic hunters who occupied territory in present-day Chile, north of Tierra del Fuego and south of the Mapuche people. It is also known as Aonikenk or Aonek'o 'ajen.
The decline of the language started with the Araucanization of Patagonia, when many Tehuelche peoples adopted the Mapuche language as their main language. While being quite separate from each other, the Tehuelche were considerably influenced by these two other languages and cultures. This allowed the transference of morpho-syntactical elements into Tehuelche.[1] During the 19th and 20th centuries, Spanish became the dominant language as Argentina and Chile gained independence, and Spanish-speaking settlers took possession of Patagonia.
Tehuelche belongs to the Chonan family together with Teushen, Ona (Selk'nam) and Haush. The latter two languages were spoken by tribes in northeast and far northeast Tierra del Fuego. They are extinct.
Tehuelche has 3 vocalic qualities which can be short or long. (Fernandez 1988: 87-88)
Tehuelche has 25 consonantal phonemes. Stops can be plain, glottalized or voiced. (Fernández 1998: 88-89)
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