Comechingón language

Comechingón is an extinct language, formerly spoken in Argentina by the Comechingón. It is poorly attested, with only a few words known with confidence.^[2] It is believed to be either a member of the Huarpean languages,^[1] or be related to Cacán.^[2] Links have also been made with the supposed language isolate Sanavirón.^[3] The absence of Comechingón language data makes determination of its true linguistic affinity impossible.^[4]

Comechingón
Native to	Argentina
Region	Cordoba Province (Argentina), San Luis Province
Ethnicity	Comechingón
Extinct	(date missing)
Language family	unclassified (Huarpean?[1] Cacán?) Comechingón
Dialects	Henia Camiare
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None
Pre-contact distribution of Comechingón

Comechingón is considered to have two dialects, corresponding to the two subdivisions of the Comechingón people, Henia and Camiare.^[3]

Comechingón is believed to have exerted an influence on the Cordobés Spanish dialect currently found where it once was spoken.^[5][6]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists one vocabulary word for the Henia dialect:^[3]

English	Henia
bird	lemin[a]

The following are some roots without any known meaning:^[7][8]

Henia	Camiare
	canta
	chita
cavi
quili	cala
tala, cala	olma
	chili
	chira
toc, toco[b]	loc, toc
pitin
	pira
canta	canta, cante
pichi
	toc

Some more Comechingón words with meanings:^[2][7]

English	Henia	Camiare
village[c]	henen, henin,[d] hen, pitin
cacique	naguan, acan, nave	nave, navira
fish	lemin	luimin
house	butos
landmark ?	tica
river	san
nipple ?	chi
boulder ?	cara
irrigation ditch	mampa

Notes

1. actually the word for '(caught) fish'
2. because loc toc was a surname in Guaypulo
3. Not in the sense of city, but rather in that of an ayllu.
4. with different dialectal forms