| Chimane | |
|---|---|
| Tsimané, Mosetén, Tsimaneʼ | |
| tsinsimik tsunsi’ĉan | |
| Pronunciation | /tsint'simik/ /tsɨnt'siʔkhan/ |
| Native to | Bolivia |
| Region | western Amazon |
| Ethnicity | Tsimané |
Native speakers | 5,300 (2004)[1] |
Moseten–Chonan?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Bolivia |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | cas |
| Glottolog | mose1249 |
| ELP | Mosetén |
 Mosetén-Chimané | |
 Mosetén is classified as Severely Endangered by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger.  Chimané is classified as Vulnerable by theUNESCOAtlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Chimané (Tsimaneʼ) is a South American language isolate. Some dialects are known asMosetén (Mosetén of Santa Ana, Mosetén of Covendo). Chimane is a language of the western Bolivian lowlands spoken by theTsimane peoples along theBeni River and the region aroundSan Borja in theDepartment of Beni (Bolivia). Sakel (2004)[2] classifies them as two languages for a number of reasons, yet some of the variants of the language are mutually intelligible and they reportedly have no trouble communicating (Ethnologue 16) and were evidently a single language separated recently through cultural contact (Campbell 2000).
The dialects of Tsimaneʼ are in different sociolinguistic situations. Covendo Mosetén has around 600 speakers, while Santa Ana Mosetén only has around 150-200 speakers. Both of these dialects are fading quickly, and almost all speakers of these dialects are bilingual in Spanish. Only older speakers maintain use of the language without Spanish influence. Tsimaneʼ proper, on the other hand, has at least 4,000 speakers, and the number of speakers is growing. In addition, the majority of speakers of Tsimaneʼ proper are monolingual. The Mosetén were in contact with missions for almost 200 years, while the Tsimaneʼ have remained isolated for much longer, thus leading the Tsimaneʼ to preserve their customs and traditions, including language, much more than the Mosetén.[2]
Mosetenan has no obvious relatives among the languages of South America. There is some lexicon shared withPuquina and theUru–Chipaya languages, but these appear to be borrowings.Morris Swadesh suggested aMoseten–Chon relationship, which Suárez provided evidence for in the 1970s, and with whichKaufman (1990) is sympathetic.
Dialects listed byMason (1950):[3]
Tsimane’ /tsi'maneʔ/ and Mosetén /mose'ten/ are self-designations that refer to both the language and ethnic group. Chimanes also refer to their language astsunsi’ĉan /tsɨnt'siʔkhan/ ‘in our (language)’, while Mosetenes also refer to their language astsinsi’ mik /tsint'si mik/ ‘our language’. As a dialect continuum, dialects of Chimane-Mosetén include Covendo Mosetén (500–800 speakers), spoken in the village of Covendo; Santa Ana Mosetén (150–200 speakers); and Chimane (12,500–15,000 speakers). Covendo is a more remote village that is predominantly ethnic Mosetén, while Santa Ana Mosetén (located between Covendo Mosetén and Chimane) is spoken in Santa Ana, which has many Spanish speakers who have moved from other parts of Bolivia. Chimane is still vigorously spoken, while Mosetén is highly endangered.[4]: 303
Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with theUru-Chipaya,Yurakare, andPano language families due to contact.[5]
Tsimaneʼ has 5 vowels:[2]
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | ||
| Close-mid | e | o | |
| Mid | ə | ||
| Open | a |
Tsimaneʼ has 24 consonants:[2]
| Labial | Alveolar | Post-alv./ Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | pal. | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | tʲ | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | dʲ | ||||
| aspirated | pʰ | kʰ | |||||
| Affricate | plain | t͡s | t͡ʃ | ||||
| aspirated | t͡sʰ | t͡ʃʰ | |||||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | h | |||
| Approximant | ʋ | j | |||||
| Trill | r | ||||||
Chimane has been written since 1980 in a Spanish-based alphabet devised by Wayne Gill. It uses the additional letters ṕ, ć, q́u, tś, ćh, mʼ, nʼ, ä. It is widely used in publications and is taught in Chimane schools.[6]
In 1996,Colette Grinevald created an alphabet for Moseten and Chimane which used only those letters found on a Spanish keyboard. It included themultigraphs ph khdh ch chh tsh dh, and was adopted by the Moseten.[6]
Bolivian Law 3603 of 2007 Jan 17 recognizes the rights of the Chimane and Moseten to their language in all aspects of life in Bolivia, including education, and Chimane translation of policy which concerns them, and that written Chimane must use the unique Chimane(-Moseten) alphabet. However, it does not clarify which alphabet this is.[7]
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Mosetene and Chimane.[8]
| gloss | Mosetene | Chimane |
|---|---|---|
| one | irit | íris |
| two | pára | pöre |
| three | chibin | chiːbi |
| tooth | moñín | múdyin |
| tongue | nem | ném |
| hand | uñ | ín |
| woman | pen | pén |
| water | oxñi | oñé |
| fire | tsi | tsí |
| moon | ivua | ihúa |
| maize | tára | tãra |
| jaguar | itsiki | ítsikí |
| house | aka | aká |
| Missions |  | ||||
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