Kunza () is a mostly extinct

language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...

spoken in the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert () is a desert plateau located on the Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast of South America, in the north of Chile. Stretching over a strip of land west of the Andes Mountains, it covers an area of , which increases to if the barre ...

of northern

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and southern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

by the Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish. The last speaker was documented in 1949; however, it has since been learned that the language is still spoken in the desert. Other names and spellings include Cunza, Ckunsa, , Lipe, Ulipe, and Atacameño. The word means 'our' in Kunza.

History

The language was spoken in northern Chile, specifically in the Chilean villages of Peine, Socaire (near the

Salar de Atacama Salar de Atacama, located south of San Pedro de Atacama, is the largest Salt pan (geology), salt flat in Chile. It is surrounded by mountains and lacks drainage outlets. To the east, it is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the wes ...

), and Caspana, and in southern Peru. The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although there are reports of some having been found in 1953 according to anthropologists. There are 2,000

Atacameños The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are an Indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia, mainly the Antofagasta Region. According to the Argentinean Census in 201 ...

(W. Adelaar). Unattested varieties listed by Loukotka (1968): *Atacameño of Bolivia – spoken in a small village on the frontier of

Potosí Department Potosí (; Southern Quechua, Quechua: ''P'utuqsi''; Aymara language, Aymara: ''Putusi'') is a Departments of Bolivia, department in southwestern Bolivia. Its area is 118,218 km2 and its population is 856,419 (2024 census). The capital is the ...

, Bolivia, and Antofagasta Province of Chile *Lipe (Olipe) – extinct language once spoken south of the Salar de Uyuni,

, Bolivia A revitalization effort was initiated in the 21st century.

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.

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Mochika, Kandoshi, Jaqi, Kechua,

Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...

, and Uru-Chipaya language families due to contact.

Phonology

References

External links