The Chonan languages are a family of indigenous American languages which were spoken in
Tierra del Fuego and
Patagonia. Two Chon languages are well attested:
Selk'nam (or Ona), spoken by the people of the same name who occupied territory in the northeast of Tierra del Fuego; and
Tehuelche spoken by the people of the same name who occupied territory north of Tierra del Fuego. The name 'Chon', or ''Tshon'', is a blend of 'Tehuelche' and 'Ona'.
Previous studies
The
Selk'nam people were widely studied by anthropologists such as
Martin Gusinde and
Anne Chapman throughout the 20th century. However, their language went extinct in the 1970s.
History and demographics
The northern Tehuelche were conquered and later assimilated by the
Mapuche during the
Araucanization of Patagonia
The Araucanization of Patagonia ( es, Araucanización de la Patagonia) was the process of the expansion of Mapuche culture, influence, and its Mapudungun language from AraucanÃa across the Andes into the plains of Patagonia. Historians disagree ...
. Some 1.7 million Mapuche continue to live in
Chile and southwest Argentina. Further south they traded peacefully with
y Wladfa, the colony of
Welsh settlers. Some Tehuelche learnt
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
and left their children with the settlers for their education. A solid photographic record was made of this people. However, they were later nearly exterminated in the late 19th-century government-sponsored
genocides of Patagonia. Of some 5000 speakers in 1900, there were about 20 speakers left.
Tehuelche language is now extinct as of 2019.
Classification
The
Haush spoke a language similar to Ona. Some scholars also add to the family the
Teushen language —once spoken by the
Teushen, located between the Tehuelche and Puelche —though it is poorly attested.
Viegas Barros (2005) attempts to demonstrate that
Puelche to the north is related to the Chon languages and would constitute one branch of an extended Chonan family. This proposal has been picked up by
Lyle Campbell.
[Campbell, Lyle. (in preparation) "The classification of South American languages. In Campbell & Grondona (eds.), ''South America''. Mouton de Gruyte]
/ref> Based on the scanty evidence that is available, the Het peoples (or at least the Didiuhet) might be speakers of languages within the proposed Puelche branch.
If this is correct, the Chon family would be as follows:
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the ''Patagon'' (Chonan) languages.
References
External links
*Alain Fabre, 2005, ''Diccionario etnolingüÃstico y guÃa bibliográfica de los pueblos indÃgenas sudamericanos: CHON
{{South American languages
Chonan languages,
Language families
Languages of Argentina
Languages of Chile