Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Kunza language
open-in-new
<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>The language was spoken in northern Chile, specifically in the Chilean villages of Peine, <a href="/facts/Socaire/uorw6kNM">Socaire</a> (near the <a href="/facts/Salar_de_Atacama/arL97flu">Salar de Atacama</a>), and <a href="/facts/Caspana/oUEE7Xlp">Caspana</a>, and in southern Peru. </p><p>The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although there are reports of some having been found in 1953 according to anthropologists.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> There are 2,000 <a href="/facts/Atacama_people/kv0xX9N6">Atacameños</a> (W. Adelaar). </p><p>Unattested varieties listed by Loukotka (1968): </p> <ul><li>Atacameño of Bolivia – spoken in a small village on the frontier of <a href="/facts/Potos%C3%AD_Department/PgUroM3M">Potosí Department</a>, Bolivia, and <a href="/facts/Antofagasta_Province/3HHGX5df">Antofagasta Province</a> of Chile</li> <li>Lipe (Olipe) – extinct language once spoken south of the <a href="/facts/Salar_de_Uyuni/tMjeKwdM">Salar de Uyuni</a>, <a href="/facts/Potos%C3%AD_Department/PgUroM3M">Potosí Department</a>, Bolivia</li></ul> <p>A revitalization effort was initiated in the 21st century.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="classification">Classification</h2> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Macro-Paesan_languages/oJDVJqCY">Macro-Paesan languages</a></p> <p>Kaufman (1990) found a proposed connection between Kunza and the likewise unclassified <a href="/facts/Kano%C3%AA_language/hF8qTDI8">Kapixaná</a> to be plausible; however, the language was more fully described in 2004, and the general consensus among linguists was that both languages are isolates. </p> <h2 id="language-contact">Language contact</h2> <p>Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the <a href="/facts/Mochika_language/l3QHDE2C">Mochika</a>, <a href="/facts/Kandoshi_language/NrRFgBdo">Kandoshi</a>, <a href="/facts/Jaqi_languages/2gkI9uCo">Jaqi</a>, <a href="/facts/Kechua_languages/XuYYuTkJ">Kechua</a>, <a href="/facts/Mapudungun_languages/rVa7HYTa">Mapudungun</a>, and <a href="/facts/Uru-Chipaya_languages/WFX7SkGs">Uru-Chipaya</a> language families due to contact.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="phonology">Phonology</h2> Consonants<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a><table><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" rowspan="2"></th><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Bilabial_consonant/q2H5MUAe">Bilabial</a></th><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Alveolar_consonant/B6VkW2EX">Alveolar</a></th><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Palatal_consonant/KLcKyXE8">Palatal</a></th><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Velar_consonant/blWClp79">Velar</a></th><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Uvular_consonant/XA5mSSKK">Uvular</a></th><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Glottal_consonant/rMdEdLxH">Glottal</a></th></tr><tr><th>plain</th><th><a href="/facts/Sibilant_consonant/5ejwC21e">sibilant</a></th></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Nasal_consonant/m6D3cVhe">Nasal</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_nasal/1pd7NK2x">m</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_nasal/0CEs8314">n</a></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Stop_consonant/okC9pztc">Stop</a>/<a href="/facts/Affricate/Fn2y7FIA">Affricate</a></th><th>voiceless</th><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_bilabial_plosive/w4M9Igp6">p</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_plosive/1GaDe2Vy">t</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_affricate/YfPyNGjE">t͡s</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_postalveolar_affricate/14FYMJvN">t͡ʃ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_plosive/dDppVb6e">k</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_uvular_plosive/aKeHjs1N">q</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Glottal_stop/Xfqy2ArP">ʔ</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Ejective_consonant/TDKaffPV">ejective</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Bilabial_ejective_stop/xrN47eFU">pʼ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Alveolar_ejective_stop/ea7ahEWx">tʼ</a></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Palato-alveolar_ejective_affricate/TABCQBJI">t͡ʃʼ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Velar_ejective_stop/lNW5fHwr">kʼ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Uvular_ejective_stop/EVYDIWzQ">qʼ</a></td><td></td></tr><tr><th rowspan="2"><a href="/facts/Fricative/1FQuuhfX">Fricative</a></th><th>voiceless</th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_lateral_fricative/Vzem3juJ">ɬ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative/WLKtEYDe">s</a></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_velar_fricative/mrKPhobk">x</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_uvular_fricative/gncAMNne">χ</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiceless_glottal_fricative/lfRB7CPW">h</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Voice_(phonetics)/VdqrEGQ3">voiced</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_bilabial_fricative/2ljHM92m">β</a></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_velar_fricative/ESy9fy1G">ɣ</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Approximant/SXrlw7zY">Approximant</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant/dgbHhqeK">l</a></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_palatal_approximant/v0NVCbUh">j</a></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_labial%E2%80%93velar_approximant/HLDqbrvr">w</a></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Trill_consonant/GKS3ga4q">Trill</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Voiced_alveolar_trill/rDplJobc">r</a></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> Vowels<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><table><tbody><tr><th></th><th><a href="/facts/Front_vowel/htKQs3AT">Front</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Central_vowel/IFSaKUe9">Central</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Back_vowel/gyHoGCH0">Back</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Close_vowel/Ne6tHQHR">Close</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">i</a> <a href="/facts/Close_front_unrounded_vowel/rSUdlCPU">iː</a></td><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">u</a> <a href="/facts/Close_back_rounded_vowel/gqlQLfse">uː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Mid_vowel/uzjGLRhf">Mid</a></th><td><a href="/facts/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/e9YNLF97">e</a> <a href="/facts/Close-mid_front_unrounded_vowel/e9YNLF97">eː</a></td><td>(<a href="/facts/Mid_central_vowel/CCx0wYy3">ə</a>)</td><td><a href="/facts/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel/VwS9cKWJ">o</a> <a href="/facts/Close-mid_back_rounded_vowel/VwS9cKWJ">oː</a></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Open_vowel/roS0Y7lA">Open</a></th><td></td><td><a href="/facts/Open_front_unrounded_vowel/s80pvmYh">a</a> <a href="/facts/Open_front_unrounded_vowel/s80pvmYh">aː</a></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Macro-Paesan_languages/oJDVJqCY">Macro-Paesan languages</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121113145613/http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Araucanian_Swadesh_lists">Kunza Swadesh vocabulary list</a> (from Wiktionary's <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists">Swadesh list appendix</a>)</li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20161014063032/http://diccionarios.serindigena.org/index.php?a=index&d=7">Spanish-Kunza dictionary online</a></li> <li><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20091027045422/http://geocities.com/lenguadeatacama/">Bibliography about Kunza</a></li> <li>Alain Fabre, 2005, <i>Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: KUNZA</i><a href="http://www.ling.fi/Entradas%20diccionario/Dic=Kunza.pdf">[1]</a></li> <li><a href="https://ids.clld.org/contributions/308">Kunza</a> (<a href="/facts/Intercontinental_Dictionary_Series/ETr69lkr">Intercontinental Dictionary Series</a>)</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Bartlett, John (October 17, 2024). "In Chile a language on the verge of extinction, stirs into life". NPR. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/10/14/nx-s1-5148780/chile-lost-language-atacama-desert" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/2024/10/14/nx-s1-5148780/chile-lost-language-atacama-desert</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Vaïsse, Emilio F (1896). Glosario de la Lengua Atacameña (PDF). Santiago: Imprenta Cervantes. <a href="https://www.investigacion.patrimoniocultural.gob.cl/sites/www.investigacion.patrimoniocultural.gob.cl/files/2022-01/Recurso%204%20-%20Glosario%20de%20la%20lengua%20Atacame%C3%B1a.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.investigacion.patrimoniocultural.gob.cl/sites/www.investigacion.patrimoniocultural.gob.cl/files/2022-01/Recurso%204%20-%20Glosario%20de%20la%20lengua%20Atacame%C3%B1a.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Miyaoka, Osahito; Sakiyama, Osamu; Krauss, Michael E., eds. (2007). The vanishing languages of the Pacific rim. Oxford linguistics. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 196–197. ISBN 978-0-19-926662-3. OCLC 71004259. <a href="978-0-19-926662-3" target="_blank">978-0-19-926662-3</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Bartlett, John; Dixon, Greg (2024-05-17). "Saving a Language in Chile". State of the World. NPR. Retrieved 2024-05-18. <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/05/17/1196981058/saving-a-language-in-chile" target="_blank">https://www.npr.org/2024/05/17/1196981058/saving-a-language-in-chile</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília. <a href="http://www.etnolinguistica.org/tese:jolkesky-2016-arqueoecolinguistica" target="_blank">http://www.etnolinguistica.org/tese:jolkesky-2016-arqueoecolinguistica</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Adelaar, Willem; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The Languages of the Andes. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 380. <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Adelaar, Willem; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The Languages of the Andes. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 380. <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>