Tehuelche language


Tehuelche 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 Aonekko 'a'ien.
The decline of the language started with the occupation of Patagonia by the Chilean and Argentinian states. Tehuelche were considerably influenced by other languages and cultures. This allowed the transference of morpho-syntactical elements into Tehuelche. 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.
Although the language is not used on a daily basis, it is still a very important symbol for the group of people who identifies themselves as Tehuelche.
In spite of the death of Dora Manchado in 2019, the language has been documented, recuperated and revitalized by various groups of Aonikenks, with the collaboration of a group of linguists and anthropologists, that have made various studies and academic works about this language.

Classification

Tehuelche belongs to the Chonan family together with Teushen, Selk'nam and Haush. The latter two languages, spoken by tribes in northeast and far northeast Tierra del Fuego, has different statuses of documentation and linguistic revitalization by their corresponding communities.

Dialects

lists dialects as:

Vowels

Tehuelche has 3 vocalic qualities which can be short or long.
FrontCentralBack
Mid
Open

Consonants

Tehuelche has 25 consonantal phonemes. Stops can be plain, glottalized or voiced.

Morphology

Pronoun

Noun

Verb