Harman Patil (Editor)

Charruan languages

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Ethnicity:
  
Charrúa people

Glottolog:
  
char1238

Charruan languages

Geographic distribution:
  
Uruguay and Entre Ríos Province, Argentina

Linguistic classification:
  
Mataco–Guaicuru ? Charruan

Subdivisions:
  
Balomar Chaná Charrúa Güenoa

The Charruan languages are an extinct group of languages once spoken in Uruguay and the Argentine province of Entre Ríos. In 2005 a semi-speaker of Chaná language was found.

Contents

Four languages are considered to definitively belong to the Charruan language family:

  • Balomar
  • Chaná
  • Charrúa
  • Güenoa

    • A number of unattested languages are also presumed to belong to the Charruan family:

  • Bohane – spoken near Maldonado, Uruguay
  • Calchine – spoken in Santa Fe Province, Argentina, along the Salado River
  • Caracañá – spoken along the Caracañá River, Santa Fe
  • Chaná-Mbegua or Begua – spoken on the Paraná River between Crespo and Victoria
  • Colastiné – spoken in Santa Fe Province near Colastiné
  • Corondá – spoken in Coronda, Santa Fe Province
  • Guaiquiaré – spoken in Entre Ríos on the Arroyo Guaiquiraré
  • Mocoreta or Macurendá or Mocolete – spoken along the Mocoretá River in Entre Ríos
  • Pairindi – spoken in Entre Ríos from Corrientes to the Feliciano River
  • Timbu – spoken in Gaboto, Santa Fe Province
  • Yaro – spoken in Uruguay between the Río Negro and the San Salvador River

    • Vocabulary Comparison

    The Charruan languages are poorly attested. However, sufficient vocabulary has been gathered for the languages to be compared:

    Genetic relations

    Jorge Suárez includes Charruan with Guaicuruan in a hypothetical Waikuru-Charrúa stock. Morris Swadesh includes Charruan along with Guaicuruan, Matacoan, and Mascoyan within his Macro-Mapuche stock. Both proposals appear to be obsolete.

    References

    Charruan languages Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA