Comechingón language

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Wikipedia

Comechingón
Native toArgentina
RegionCordoba Province (Argentina), San Luis Province
EthnicityComechingón
Extinct(date missing)
unclassified (Huarpean?[1]
Cacán?)
  • Comechingón
Dialects
  • Henia
  • Camiare
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone
Pre-contact distribution of Comechingón

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 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

References

  1. 1 2 Canals Frau, Salvador (1944-04-18). "El grupo Huarpe-Comechingón". Anales del Instituto de Etnografía Americana (Año 1944, Tomo 5).
  2. 1 2 3 "Lenguas Comechingona y Sanavirona". pueblosoriginarios.com. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Internet Archive. Los Angeles : University of California, Latin American Center.
  4. ↑ Campbell, Lyle (2024-06-25), "Indigenous Languages of South America", The Indigenous Languages of the Americas (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 182–279, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1, retrieved 2025-05-25
  5. ↑ Álvarez, Luis Rodolfo (December 2003). "6". The aboriginal languages (testimony of our roots). Córdoba, Argentina: Alción Editora. p. 136. OCLC 56013441.
  6. ↑ "The Córdoba tune and its Comechingón origin". La Mañana de Córdoba. July 6, 2011. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
  7. 1 2 Serrano, Antonio (1944). "EL IDIOMA DE LOS COMECHINGONES y SANAVIRONES" (PDF). Boletin de la Academia Argentina de Letras.
  8. ↑ Serrano, Antonio (1945). Los Comechingones (in Spanish). Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. p. 322.