Yaghan language
| Yahgan | |
|---|---|
| Yámana | |
| Háusi Kúta | |
| Native to | Chile and Argentina |
| Region | Tierra del Fuego |
| Ethnicity | 1,700 Yaghan people (2002 census) |
|
Native speakers
|
1 (2013) Last speaker was 85 years old in 2013. |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | |
| Glottolog | yama1264 |
Yagán (originally Yahgan, but also now spelled Yaghan, Jagan, Iakan), also known as Yámana and Háusi Kúta, is one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yagán people. It is regarded as a language isolate, although some linguists have attempted to relate it to Kawésqar and Chon.
Yahgan was also spoken briefly on Keppel Island in the Falkland Islands at a missionary settlement.
Following the death of 84-year-old Emelinda Acuña (1921 – October 12, 2005), only one native speaker remains, Cristina Calderón of Villa Ukika on Navarino Island, Chile. Calderón (often referred to as simply Abuela) is the sister-in-law of Acuña.
There are three analyses of the phonological system of Yahgan, which differ in many details from one another. The oldest analysis is from the 19th century (prephonological era), by Thomas Bridges (1894); from the middle of the 20th century Haudricourt (1952) and Holmer (1953); and towards the end of the 20th century, the last phonological studies were made on this moribund language by Guerra Eissmann (1990), Salas y Valencia (1990), and Aguilera (2000).
All vowels are long in stressed syllables. Vowel /a/ is the most frequent. It may be pronounced as a schwa [ə] in syllables in pretonic or post-tonic position . In final tonic syllables, vowels /i/ and /u/ may become a dipthong. Vowels /i/ and /o/ are very unstable in final unaccented syllable, alternating with /e/ and /u/ respectively.
Yaghan shows a number of sandhi effects on consonants and vowels. For instance, the terminal -i of teki 'to see, recognize' when affixed by -vnnaka 'to have trouble/difficulty doing' becomes -e:- of teke:vnnaka 'have trouble recognizing/seeing'
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