Querandí language
Indigenous South American language From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Querandí language is an Indigenous language of Argentina believed by some to be a member of the Het language family. It is almost entirely unknown, mainly on the basis of a few phrases and words, as well as on the basis of onomastics.
Classification
It has been linked with Gününa Küne and Chon, 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 Father Alonzo de Barcena has written a book, titled Arte y Vocabulario de la lengua de los Querandíes, about the Querandí language. No trace of this book has been found so far.[2]
Revival
Based on the limited documentary evidence, the Querandí have begun to revive the use of their language.[2]
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following vocabulary items for Querandi:[3]
| gloss | Querandí
(Didiuhet) |
|---|---|
| moon | zobá |
| bow | afia |
Querandi zoba '(likely) moon' may be related to Tehuelche sheewen 'sun' or sheewen-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'
References
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