Querandí language
| Querandí | |
|---|---|
| Didiuhet (?) | |
| Native to | Argentina |
| Region | Patagonian pampas |
| Ethnicity | Querandí etc. |
| Extinct | late 18th century |
| Revival | 2020s |
unclassified ("Het") | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | quer1237 Querandi |
 | |
The Querandí language is an Indigenous language of Argentina believed by some to be a member of the Het language family. It is almost entirely unknown, mainly on the basis of a few phrases and words, as well as on the basis of onomastics.
Classification
[edit]It has been linked with Gününa Küne and Chon, but the lack of material makes confirming such a connection impossible. In particular, only two sentences and a few words recorded by French sailors around 1555 are known from the Querandí language. This evidence is too scarce to be able to conclusively identify a relationship, although on the basis of this little data, Viegas-Barros shows that the language of the Querandíes could have been related to Gününa Küne.[1] It was said in 1637 that Father Alonzo de Barcena has written a book, titled Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua de los Querandíes, about the Querandí language. No trace of this book has been found so far.[2]
Revival
[edit]Based on the limited documentary evidence, the Querandí have begun to revive the use of their language.[2]
Vocabulary
[edit]Loukotka (1968) lists the following vocabulary items for Querandi:[3]
| gloss | Querandí
(Didiuhet) |
|---|---|
| moon | zobá |
| bow | afia |
Querandi zoba '(likely) moon' may be related to Tehuelche sheewen 'sun' or sheewen-on 'moon'
Some maledictions in Querandí are:
Assaganoup o zoba 'the moon will make you regret it'
Caudy caudy vvuahiph gomálat 'Oh traitor, traitor, you must be killed'
References
[edit]- ^ Viegas-Barros, José Pedro (1992). "La familia lingüística tehuelche" [The Tehuelche linguistic family]. Revista Patagónica (in Spanish) (54): 39–46.
- ^ a b Gómez, Guillermo Luciano; Gorbalán, Carla Hebe; Viegas Barros, José Pedro; Domínguez, Luisa; Mauro, Sofía De; Malvestitti, Marisa (2023-09-28). "Ejhu Taluhet bajiná. Caminos colaborativos para la recuperación de la lengua querandí het". Cuadernos de Literatura (21): e2108. doi:10.30972/clt.0216893. ISSN 2684-0499.
- ^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.