Charruan
EthnicityChaná people, Charrúa people, Guenoa people
Geographic
distribution
Argentina (Entre Ríos Province)
Brazil (formerly)
Uruguay (formerly)
Linguistic classificationOne of the world's primary language families
  • Charruan
Subdivisions
Glottologchar1238
Pre-contact distribution of the Charruan languages

The Charruan languages are a language family once spoken in Uruguay and the Argentine province of Entre Ríos. In 2005, a semi-speaker of the Chaná language, Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime, was found in Entre Ríos Province, Argentina.[1]

Internal coherence

Charruan may actually consist of two or three unrelated families according to Nikulin (2019).[2] Nikulin notes that many of the following languages share very few basic vocabulary items with each other.

  1. Chaná as spoken by Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime
  2. Chaná of Larrañaga (1923)[3]
  3. Charrúa of Vilardebó (1842)
  4. Güenoa from a short 18th-century catechesis quoted by Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro[4]

Languages

Four languages are considered to definitively belong to the Charruan language family, basically Chañá (Lanték), Nbeuá, Charrúa and Guenoa.[5]

  • Charruan language family
    • Chaná
      • Lanték Yañá (proper name of Chaná language)
      • Yañá Nbeuá (the wrongly named "Mbeguá", "Beguá", "Chaná-Beguá", etc.)
      • Yañá Ntimpúc (the wrongly named "Timbúes", "Chaná TImbúes", "Timbó", "Chaná timbó", etc.)
    • Charrúa
    • Güenoa

A number of unattested languages are also presumed to belong to the Charruan family:[5]

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.

Vocabulary comparison

The Charruan languages are poorly attested. However, sufficient vocabulary has been gathered for the languages to be compared:[5][6]

English Charrua Chaná Güenoa
me m' mi-tí hum
you m' mutí /em/ baté m
we rampti/ am-ptí rambuí
eye i-hou ocál
ear i-mau / i-man timó
mouth ej hek / obá
hand guar nam
foot / toe atit eté
water hué atá
sun dioi
dog lohán agó
white huok
one u-gil / ngui yut
two sam usan / amá
three detí / datit detit / heít detit
know sepé seker
good / nice bilú oblí / oblé
brother/sister inchalá nchalá
friend huamá uamá
why? / how? retám retanle*
who? ua-reté
past (suf.) ndau / nden edam


Lexical comparison from Nikulin (2019):[2]

glossChana (Jaime)CharrúaChana (Larranaga 1923)Guenoa
weampti / am-, ramptirambui
givearáda.jú
sundioidiói
gonderébajiná 'to walk'do
thouempti em- / m-
onegilí / güiyú ~ yugil: ugil 'único'yut isa 'only one'
whoguareptíguárete
sandlgoríhan
mouthuváejhek
thathuati / huat-
whitenoáhuóc
goodlatár
heartimotécmontéc
comenderéna
notreé=mén
whatr'eca 'what', r'eptiretant 'how many?'
twoamásam ~ sánsan
knowseker, sekér
seesolá 'mirar'
mountainto e
womanadáukái / kái 'female'
Iytí / i- ~ y-
allopá
sleeputaláando diabun 'vamos a dormir'
footvedé veráatit
killña
gonderébajiná 'to walk'do
standreé utalábasquadé 'levantarse'
mouthuváejhek
handnamguar
moonaratáguidai
wateratáhué
noseutíibar
eyeocálijou
eartimóimau
headta ~ ta ug vedéis
hairmoniitaj
fireyogüínit
dogagósamayoí
twoamásam ~ sánsan
onegilí / güiyú ~ yugil: ugil 'único'yut isa 'only one'
personëewuit edam
whoguareptíguárete
dieñahallen
namehapatam 'his name'
weampti / am-, ramptirambui
whatr'eca 'what', r'eptiretant 'how many?'
onegilí / güiyú ~ yugil: ugil 'único'yut isa 'only one'

References

  1. La Nación, "Investigan los orígenes de una extraña lengua indígena". 2005-07-01.
  2. 1 2 Nikulin, Andrey V. 2019. The classification of the languages of the South American Lowlands: State-of-the-art and challenges / Классификация языков востока Южной Америки. Illič-Svityč (Nostratic) Seminar / Ностратический семинар, Higher School of Economics, October 17, 2019.
  3. Larrañaga, Dámaso Antonio. 1923. Compendio del idioma de la nación chaná. In Escritos de D. Dámaso A. Larrañaga, tomo III, 163-174. Montevideo: Instituto Histórico y Geográfico del Uruguay, Imprenta Nacional.
  4. Hervás y Panduro, Lorenzo. 1787. Saggio Pratico delle lingue. (Idea dell'Universo, XXI.) Cesena: Gregorio Biasini all'Insengna di Pallade. 255pp.
  5. 1 2 3 Loukotka, Čestmír (1968), Classification of South American Indian Languages, Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center
  6. This comparison table is a revision by Br. José Damián Torko Gómez, based on the J.C. Sábat Pébet and J.J. Figueira compilation of all terms known of the "Uruguayan" aboriginal languages. Source: https://www.estudioshistoricos-en.edu.uy/assets/080-boletín-histórico-nº-120---123---año-1969.pdf%5B%5D
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