Puelche language

Puelche
Puelche
Gennaken
Gününa Küne
Native to	Argentina
Region	Río Negro
Extinct	1934; with the death of Trruúlmani
Language family	Chonan † ? Puelche–Het † ? Puelche; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	pue
Glottolog	puel1244
ELP	Gününa-Küne
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Puelche was a language formerly spoken by the Puelche people in the Pampas region of Argentina. The language is also known as Gününa Küne, Gennaken (Guenaken), Northern Tehuelche, Gününa Yajich, Ranquelche, and Pampa.

Classification[]

Puelche has long been considered a language isolate. Based on very limited evidence, Viegas Barros (1992) suggests that Puelche might be closely related to the language of the Querandí, one of the Het peoples, and Viegas Barros (2005) that it is related to the Chon languages.^[2] Further afield, inclusion in a putative Macro-Jibaro family has been posited.

Phonology[]

Vowels[]

Puelche has 7 vowels:^[3]

	Front	Back
	Unrounded	Unrounded	Rounded
Close	i	ɯ	u
Close-mid	e	ɤ	o
Open-mid		ʌ
Open	a

A short sounding /e/ is realized as [ɛ].

Consonants[]

Puelche has 25 consonants:^[3]^[4]

		Bilabial	Alveolar	Retroflex	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m	n
Plosive	voiceless	p	t			k	q	ʔ
	ejective	pʼ	tʼ			kʼ	(qʼ)
	voiced	b	d			ɡ
Affricate	voiceless		t͡s	t͡ʂ	t͡ʃ
Affricate	ejective		t͡sʼ	t͡ʂʼ	t͡ʃʼ
Fricative			s	ʂ	ʃ	x		h
Lateral	voiceless		ɬ
Lateral	voiced		l		ʎ
Rhotic	trill		r
Rhotic	tap		ɾ
Semivowel					j	w

It is not clear if there is a uvular ejective stop [qʼ].

Vocabulary[]

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Gennaken.^[5]

gloss	Gennaken
one	chéye
two	päch
ear	chütsk
tooth	xaye
hand	yapal
foot	yapgit
sun	apiúkük
moon	apioxok
dog	dáshü

Bibliography[]

(1983). Nociones de gramática del gününa küne. Paris: French National Centre for Scientific Research.

Adelaar, Willem (2004). The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36275-7.

References[]

^ Puelche at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Campbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.). The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166. ISBN 9783110255133.
^ ^a ^b Casamiquela, Rodolfo M. (1983). Nociones de gramática del gününa küne. Paris: French National Centre for Scientific Research. pp. 34–40.
^ Barros, J. Viegas. Un nuevo análisis fonológico del gününa yajüch. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires
^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

External links[]

Gününa Küne language dictionary online from IDS (select simple or advanced browsing)
WALS: Puelche
Gününa Küne (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)

[e18-1] Puelche at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[Campbell-SAmerica-2] Campbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.). The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166. ISBN 9783110255133.

[:0-3] Casamiquela, Rodolfo M. (1983). Nociones de gramática del gününa küne. Paris: French National Centre for Scientific Research. pp. 34–40.

[4] Barros, J. Viegas. Un nuevo análisis fonológico del gününa yajüch. CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires

[Loukotka-5] Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

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