Kawésqar language

Kawésqar (Qawasqar), also known as Alacaluf,^[3] is a critically endangered Alacalufan language spoken in southern Chile by the Kawésqar people. Originally part of a small family,^[4] only the northern language remains. In 2009, only a handful of elderly people spoke the language, most of whom lived on Wellington Island off the southwest coast of Chile.^[2]

Kawésqar
Alacaluf
Kawésqar, Qawasqar
Native to	Chile
Region	Channel Region, western Patagonia, Wellington Island off south Chilean coast, 49° south, with centre in Puerto Edén.
Ethnicity	2,600 Alacaluf people (2002 census)[1]
Native speakers	10 (2019)[2]
Language family	Alacalufan Kawésqar
Language codes
ISO 639-3	alc
Glottolog	qawa1238
ELP	Kawésqar
Kawésqar is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open	æ	a

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	Plain	p	t	t͡ɕ	k	q	ʔ
	Ejective	pʼ	tʼ	t͡ɕʼ	kʼ
Fricative		f	s		x		h
Tap / flap			ɾ
Trill			r
Approximant		w	l	j

Alphabet

The alphabet in use has the following letters: a, æ, c, cꞌ, e, f, h, i, j, k, kꞌ, l, m, n, o, p, pꞌ, q, r, rr, s, t, tꞌ, u, w, x. However, differences are reported between dialects, and some sounds are not represented.

Morphology and syntax

Kawésqar has a complex system of grammatical tense, which includes a basic morphological contrast between future, present, immediate past, recent past, distant past, and mythological past events.

See also

• Alacalufe people
• List of endangered languages in South America
• "Chichili" Love song in Kawésqar

Bibliography

• Aguilera Faúndez, Oscar (1978). Léxico Kawesqar-Español, Español-Kawesqar. Boletín de filología (Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras) 29.
• Aguilera Faúndez, Óscar (2001): Gramática de la lengua kawésqar. Temuco: Corporación de Desarrollo Indígena.
• Clairis, Christos (1987): El qawasqar. Lingüística fueguina. Teoría y descripción. Valdivia: Universidad Austral de Chile [Anejo de Estudios Filológicos 12].
• Adelaar, Willem & Muysken, Pieter C. 2004. The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

References

1. Kawésqar language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. "Kawésqar". www.endangeredlanguages.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-08. Retrieved 2017-01-24.
3. Spelling variants include Kaweskar, Kawaskar, Qawashqar, Kaueskar and Alakaluf, Halakwulup, Halakwalip; other names include Tawókser, Aksanás/Aksana and Hekaine.
4. Hammarström, Harald; Forke, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2020). "Qawasqar". Glottolog 4.3. Archived from the original on 2020-07-18. Retrieved 2020-12-02.

External links

• Qawasqar dictionary online (select simple or advanced browsing)
• Alfabeto Kawésqar
• Kawésqar
• SerIndigena - Territorio Kawesqar
• Kawésqar at the World Atlas of Language Structures Online
• Chilean Languages Collection of Oscar Aguilera and José Tonko - including recordings and transcriptions of stories, myths, and conversations in Kawésqar at AILLA.
• Qawasqar (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)