Kawésqar language

Kawésqar (Qawasqar), also known as Alacaluf,^[3] is a critically endangered Alacalufan language spoken in southern Chile by the Kawésqar people. Originally part of a small family,^[4] only the northern language remains. In 2009, only a handful of elderly people spoke the language, most of whom lived on Wellington Island off the southwest coast of Chile.^[2]

Kawésqar
Alacaluf
Kawésqar, Qawasqar
Native to	Chile
Region	Channel Region, western Patagonia, Wellington Island off south Chilean coast, 49° south, with centre in Villa Puerto Edén.
Ethnicity	2,600 Alacaluf people (2002 census)[1]
Native speakers	10 (2019)[2]
Language family	Alacalufan Kawésqar
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	alc
Glottolog	qawa1238
ELP	Kawésqar
Kawésqar is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open	æ	a

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ŋ
Plosive	Plain	p	t	t͡ɕ	k	q	ʔ
	Ejective	pʼ	tʼ	t͡ɕʼ	kʼ
Fricative		f	s		x		h
Tap / flap			ɾ
Trill			r
Approximant		w	l	j

Alphabet

The alphabet in use has the following letters: a, æ, c, cꞌ, e, f, h, i, j, k, kꞌ, l, m, n, o, p, pꞌ, q, r, rr, s, t, tꞌ, u, w, x. However, differences are reported between dialects, and some sounds are not represented.

Morphology and syntax

Kawésqar has a complex system of grammatical tense, which includes a basic morphological contrast between future, present, immediate past, recent past, distant past, and mythological past events.

See also

• Kawésqar people
• List of endangered languages in South America

Bibliography

• Aguilera Faúndez, Oscar (1978). Léxico Kawesqar-Español, Español-Kawesqar. Boletín de filología (Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras) 29.
• Aguilera Faúndez, Oscar (2001): Gramática de la lengua kawésqar. Temuco: Corporación de Desarrollo Indígena.
• Clairis, Christos (1987): El qawasqar. Lingüística fueguina. Teoría y descripción. Valdivia: Universidad Austral de Chile [Anejo de Estudios Filológicos 12].
• Adelaar, Willem & Muysken, Pieter C. 2004. The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.