| Querandí | |
|---|---|
| Didiuhet (?) | |
| Native to | Argentina |
| Region | Patagonian pampas |
| Ethnicity | Querandí etc. |
| Extinct | late 18th century |
| Revival | 2020s |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | quer1237 Querandi |
 | |
TheQuerandí language is anIndigenous language of Argentina believed by some to be a member of theHet language family. It is almost entirely unknown, mainly on the basis of a few phrases and words, as well as on the basis ofonomastics.
It has been linked withGününa Küne andChon, but the lack of material makes confirming such a connection impossible. In particular, only two sentences and a few words recorded by French sailors around 1555 are known from the Querandí language. This evidence is too scarce to be able to conclusively identify a relationship, although on the basis of this little data, Viegas-Barros shows that the language of the Querandíes could have been related to Gününa Küne.[1] It was said in 1637 that FatherAlonzo de Barcena has written a book, titledArte y Vocabulario de la lengua de los Querandíes, about the Querandí language. No trace of this book has been found so far.[2]
Based on the limited documentary evidence, the Querandí have begun to revive the use of their language.[2]
Loukotka (1968) lists the following vocabulary items for Querandi:[3]
| gloss | Querandí (Didiuhet) |
|---|---|
| moon | zobá |
| bow | afia |
Querandizoba '(likely) moon' may be related to Tehuelchesheewen 'sun' orsheewen-on 'moon'
Some maledictions in Querandí are:
Assaganoup o zoba 'the moon will make you regret it'
Caudy caudy vvuahiph gomálat 'Oh traitor, traitor, you must be killed'