Huarpe (''Warpe'') was a small language family of central Argentina (historic
Cuyo Province
The Province of Cuyo was a historical province of Argentina. Created on 14 November 1813 by a decree issued by the Second Triumvirate, it had its capital in Mendoza, and was composed of the territories of the present-day Argentine provinces of ...
) that consisted of at least two closely related languages. They are traditionally considered dialects, and include
Allentiac (Alyentiyak, Huarpe) and
Millcayac (Milykayak). A third, Puntano of
San Luis, was not documented before the languages became extinct.
Kaufman (1994) tentatively linked Huarpe to the
Mura-Matanawi languages in a family he called ''Macro-Warpean''. However, he noted that "no systematic study" had been made, so that it is best to consider them independent families. Swadesh and Suárez both connected Huarpe to
Macro-Jibaro, a possibility that has yet to be investigated.
Varieties
Loukotka (1968)
Varieties classified by Loukotka (1968) as part of the Huarpe language cluster (all unattested unless noted otherwise, i.e. for Chiquiyama and Comechingon):
*Oico / Holcotian - once spoken in
Mendoza Province
Mendoza (), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the r ...
in the
Diamante Valley. (Unattested.)
*Orcoyan / Oscollan - once spoken in the southern regions of
Mendoza Province
Mendoza (), officially the Province of Mendoza, is a province of Argentina, in the western central part of the country in the Cuyo region. It borders San Juan to the north, La Pampa and Neuquén to the south, San Luis to the east, and the r ...
. (Unattested.)
*Chiquiyama - once spoken between the city of
Mendoza and the Barranca River. (documented in Latcham 1927)
*Tuluyame / Puelche algarrobero - once spoken in the ,
Córdoba Province. (Unattested.)
*Michilenge / Puntano - once spoken in the
Conlara Valley,
San Luis Province
San Luis () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina located near the geographical center of the country (on the 32° South parallel). Neighboring provinces are, from the north clockwise, La Rioja Province (Argentina), La Rioja, Córdo ...
. (Unattested.)
*Olongasto - once spoken in
La Rioja Province by the neighbors of the Allentiac tribe. (Unattested.)
*
Comechingon - extinct language once spoken in the
Sierra de Córdoba in
Córdoba Province, Argentina
Córdoba () is a Provinces of Argentina, province of Argentina, located in the center of the country. Its neighboring provinces are (clockwise from the north) Santiago del Estero Province, Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, Buenos ...
(documented in Cafferata 1926; Canals Frau 1944a; Serrano 1944, 1945)
Mason (1950)
Varieties of the ''Huarpe-Comechingon'' linguistic group cited from Canals Frau (1944) by
Mason (1950):
* Huarpe-Comechingon
**
Allentiac (Huarpe of San Juan)
**
Millcayac (Huarpe of Mendocino)
** Puntano Huarpe
** Puelche of Cuyo
** Ancient Pehuenche
** Southern Comechingón (Camiare)
** Northern Comechingón (Henia)
** Olongasta (Southern Rioja) ?
Pericot y Garcia (1936) lists Zoquillam, Tunuyam, Chiquillan, Morcoyam, Diamantino (Oyco), Mentuayn, Chom, Titiyam, Otoyam, Ultuyam, and Cucyam.
* Comechingón varieties
** Comechingón
*** Main
*** Tuya
*** Mundema
*** Cáma
*** Umba
** Michilingwe
** Indama
Phonology
The two languages had apparently similar sound systems, and were not dissimilar from Spanish, at least from the records we have. Barros (2009) reconstructs the consonants as follows:
Allentiac had at least six vowels, written ''a, e, i, o, u, ù''. The ''ù'' is thought to represent the central vowel .
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Huarpean languages.
:
References
*
* Catalina Teresa Michieli, 1990
''Millcayac y Allentiac: Los dialectos del idioma Huarpe''
Lengua Huarpeat pueblosoriginarios.com
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Language families
Indigenous languages of the South American Southern Foothills
Languages of Argentina