Kunza language

Last updated
Kunza
Atacameño
Likanantaí
Native to Chile, Peru, Bolivia
Region Atacama Desert
Ethnicity Atacama
Extinct ca. 1950s
Language codes
ISO 639-3 kuz
Glottolog kunz1244

Kunza is an extinct language isolate once spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish. The last speaker was documented in 1949.

Contents

Other names and spellings include Cunza, Likanantaí, Lipe, Ulipe, and Atacameño.

History

The language was spoken in northern Chile, specifically in the Chilean villages of Peine, Socaire (near the Salar de Atacama), and Caspana, and in southern Peru.

The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although some have been found since according to anthropologists.[ clarification needed ] There are 2,000 Atacameños (W. Adelaar).

Unattested varieties listed by Loukotka (1968):

Classification

Kaufman (1990) found a proposed connection between Kunza and the likewise unclassified Kapixaná to be plausible; however, the language was more fully described in 2004, and the general consensus among linguists was that both languages are isolates.[ citation needed ]

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Mochika, Kandoshi, Jaqi, Kechua, Mapudungun, and Uru-Chipaya language families due to contact. [1]

Phonology

Consonants [2]
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
plain sibilant
Nasal m n
Stop/
Affricate
voiceless p t t͡s t͡ʃ k q ʔ
ejective t͡ʃʼ
Fricative voiceless ɬ s x χ h
voiced β ɣ
Approximant l j w
Trill r
Vowels [2]
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ( ə ) o
Open a

See also

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References

  1. Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
  2. 1 2 Adelaar, Willem; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The Languages of the Andes. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 380.