The Charruan languages are a language family once spoken in Uruguay and the Argentine province of Entre Ríos. In 2005, a semi-speaker of the Chaná language, Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime, was found in Entre Ríos Province, Argentina.La Nación, "Investigan los orígenes de una extraña lengua indígena". 2005-07-01.
Internal coherence Charruan may actually consist of two or three unrelated families according to Nikulin (2019).Nikulin, Andrey V. 2019. The classification of the languages of the South American Lowlands: State-of-the-art and challenges / Классификация языков востока Южной Америки. Illič-Svityč (Nostratic) Seminar / Ностратический семинар, Higher School of Economics, October 17, 2019. Nikulin notes that many of the following languages share very few basic vocabulary items with each other.
Chaná as spoken by Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime Chaná of Larrañaga (1923)Larrañaga, Dámaso Antonio. 1923. Compendio del idioma de la nación chaná. In Escritos de D. Dámaso A. Larrañaga, tomo III, 163-174. Montevideo: Instituto Histórico y Geográfico del Uruguay, Imprenta Nacional. Charrúa of Vilardebó (1842) Güenoa from a short 18th-century catechesis quoted by Lorenzo Hervás y PanduroHervás y Panduro, Lorenzo. 1787. Saggio Pratico delle lingue. (Idea dell'Universo, XXI.) Cesena: Gregorio Biasini all'Insengna di Pallade. 255pp.
Languages Four languages are considered to definitively belong to the Charruan language family, basically Chaná (Lanték), Nbeuá, Charrúa and Guenoa. Nbeuá is thought to be a dialect of Chaná. A fourth language, Balomar, is claimed to exist by Loukotka (1968), but there is no data on it.
Charruan languages Chaná () Chaná proper "Mbeguá", "Beguá", or "Chaná-Beguá" "Timbúes", "Chaná Timbúes", "Timbó", or "Chaná timbó" Charrúa Güenoa (Minuan) Balomar (unattested)
A number of unattested languages are also presumed to belong to the Charruan family:
Bohane – spoken near Maldonado, or Salto, in Uruguay Calchine – spoken in Santa Fe Province, Argentina, along the Salado River Caracañá – spoken along the Caracañá River, Santa Fe Chaná-Mbegua or Begua – spoken on the Paraná River between Crespo and Victoria Colastiné – spoken in Santa Fe Province near Colastiné Corondá – spoken in Coronda, Santa Fe Province Guaiquiaré – spoken in Entre Ríos on the Arroyo Guaiquiraré Mocoreta or Macurendá or Mocolete – spoken along the Mocoretá River in Entre Ríos Province Pairindi – spoken in Entre Ríos from Corrientes to the Feliciano River Timbu – spoken in Gaboto, Santa Fe Province Yaro – spoken in Uruguay between the Río Negro and the San Salvador River
Genetic relations Jorge Suárez includes Charruan with Guaicuruan in a hypothetical Waikuru-Charrúa stock. Morris Swadesh includes Charruan along with Guaicuruan, Matacoan, and Mascoyan within his Macro-Mapuche stock. Both proposals appear to be obsolete.
Proto-language
Consonants +Consonant phonemes of proto-Charruanpttʃt𐞩k(ʔ)(tʰ)kʰbdʒd𐞩g(ꞵ)sʃxhsʲɾl(lʲ)rmnɲwj
Vowels +Vowel phonemes of proto-CharruanFrontCentralBackCloseiuMideoOpena
Vocabulary The Charruan languages are poorly attested. However, sufficient vocabulary has been gathered for the languages to be compared:This comparison table is a revision by Br. José Damián Torko Gómez, based on the J.C. Sábat Pébet and J.J. Figueira compilation of all terms known of the "Uruguayan" aboriginal languages. Source: https://www.estudioshistoricos-en.edu.uy/assets/080-boletín-histórico-nº-120---123---año-1969.pdf
{|class="wikitable sortable" |- !width="75"|English !width="75"|Charrua !width="75"|Chaná !width="75"|Güenoa |- |me |m' |mi-tí |hum |- |you |m' |mutí /em/ baté |m |- |we | |rampti/ am-ptí |rambuí |- |eye |i-hou |ocál
|ear |i-mau / i-man |timó
|mouth |ej |hek / obá
|hand |guar |nam
|foot / toe |atit |eté
|water |hué |atá
|sun | |dioi
|dog |lohán |agó
|white | |huok
|one |yú |u-gil / ngui |yut |- |two |sam |usan / amá
|three |detí / datit |detit / heít |detit |- |know |sepé |seker
|good / nice |bilú |oblí / oblé
|brother/sister |inchalá |nchalá
|friend |huamá |uamá
|why? / how? | |retám |retanle* |- |who? | |ua-reté
|past (suf.) | |ndau / nden |edam
Lexical comparison from Nikulin (2019):
{| class="wikitable sortable" ! gloss !! Chana (Jaime) !! Chana (Larranaga 1923) !! Charrúa !! Guenoa |- | we || || ampti / am-, rampti || || rambui |- | give || ará || da.jú || || |- | sun || dioi || diói || || |- | go || nderé || do || bajiná 'to walk' || |- | thou || || empti em- / m- || || |- | one || gilí / güi || gil: ugil 'único' || yú ~ yu || yut isa 'only one' |- | who || || guareptí || || guárete |- | sand || lgorí || han || || |- | mouth || uvá || hek || ej || |- | that || || huati / huat- || || |- | white || noá || huóc || || |- | good || || latár || || |- | hear || timotéc || montéc || || |- | come || nderé || na || || |- | not || reé || =mén || || |- | what || || r'eca 'what', r'epti || || retant 'how many?' |- | two || amá || san || sam ~ sán || |- | know || || seker, sekér || || |- | see || || solá 'mirar' || || |- | mountain || || to e || || |- | woman || adá || ukái / kái 'female' || || |- | I || || ytí / i- ~ y- || || |- | all || opá || || || |- | sleep || utalá || || ando diabun 'vamos a dormir' || |- | foot || vedé verá || || atit || |- | kill || ña || || aú || |- | go || nderé || do || bajiná 'to walk' || |- | stand || reé utalá || || basquadé 'levantarse' || |- | mouth || uvá || hek || ej || |- | hand || nam || || guar || |- | moon || aratá || || guidai || |- | water || atá || || hué || |- | nose || utí || || ibar || |- | eye || ocál || || ijou || |- | ear || timó || || imau || |- | head || ta ~ ta ug vedé || || is || |- | hair || moni || || itaj || |- | fire || yogüín || || it || |- | dog || agó || || samayoí || |- | two || amá || san || sam ~ sán || |- | one || gilí / güi || gil: ugil 'único' || yú ~ yu || yut isa 'only one' |- | person || || || || ëewuit edam |- | who || || guareptí || || guárete |- | die || ña || || || hallen |- | name || || || || hapatam 'his name' |- | we || || ampti / am-, rampti || || rambui |- | what || || r'eca 'what', r'epti || || retant 'how many?' |- | one || gilí / güi || gil: ugil 'único' || yú ~ yu || yut isa 'only one'
References