| Wichí | |
|---|---|
_(7742402738).jpg) Sign in Wichí | |
| Geographic distribution | Argentina,Bolivia |
| Linguistic classification | Matacoan
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | wich1261 |
| ELP | Wichí |
TheWichí languages are an indigenous language family spoken by theWichí in northwestern Argentina and far-southeastern Bolivia, part of theMatacoan family. They are also known as Mataco, Wichi, Wichí Lhamtés, Weenhayek, Noctenes, Matahuayo, Matako, Weʃwo. The nameMataco is common but pejorative.
Currently, the Argentine government does not have education in indigenous languages in schools. Because the Wichí have to be fluent in Spanish to access government services, and children are only educated in Spanish, Wichí children only speak Spanish among themselves. This has made all Wichí dialects vulnerable to extinction.[1]
In 2010, the province ofChaco in Argentina declared Wichí as one of four provincial official languages alongside Spanish and the indigenousMoqoit andQom.[2]
The Wichí languages include the following languages:
The ArgentineNational Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) gives a figure of 36,135 Wichí speakers in Argentina.[citation needed]
In Rosario, the third biggest city of Argentina, there is a community of about 10,000Wichí people, all of them fluent in Wichí, and some native speakers. There are a couple of bilingual primary schools.
For Bolivia, Alvarsson estimated between 1,700 and 2,000 speakers in 1988; a census reported 1,912, and Díez Astete & Riester (1996)[3] estimated between 2,300 and 2,600 Weenhayek in sixteen communities.
According to Najlis (1968)[4] and Gordon (2005),[5][pages needed] three main dialects can be distinguished in the Wichí group: southwestern or Vejós (Wehwós), northeastern or Güisnay (Weenhayek) and northwestern or Nocten (Oktenay). Tovar (1981)[6] and other authors claim the existence of only two dialects (northeastern and southwestern), while Braunstein (1992–3)[7] identifies eleven ethnic subgroups.
Wichí languages are predominantlysuffixing andpolysynthetic; verbal words have between 2 and 15 morphemes. Alienable and inalienablepossession is distinguished. The phonological inventory is large, with simple,glottalized andaspiratedstops andsonorants. The number ofvowels varies with dialect (five or six).