The Alacalufan languages or Kawesqaran languages are a small
language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in h ...
of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
. They have not been definitely linked to any other American language family.
Languages
Early vocabularies show that Alakaluf was three languages, with an extinct Southern Alakaluf (vocabularies in Fitz-Roy 1839 and Hyades & Deniker 1891) and Central Alakaluf (vocabularies in Borgatello 1928, Marcel 1892, and Skottsberg 1913) in addition to the critically endangered northern variety,
Kawésqar.
[Viegas Barros (1990, 2005), cited in Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices]
Based on alleged toponymic evidence, a purported
Kakauhua language
Spurious languages are languages that have been reported as existing in reputable works, while other research has reported that the language in question did not exist. Some spurious languages have been proven to not exist. Others have very li ...
has sometimes been included in the Alacalufan family.
Guaicaro may have been a dialect of Central Alakaluf or Kawesqar.
Mason (1950)
Mason (1950) lists:
*Caucawe (Kaukahue, etc.)
*Enoo (Peshera)
*Lecheyel
*Yekinawe (Yequinahuere, etc.)
*Adwipliin
*Alikulip, Alakaluf, etc.
*Calen
*Taijatof
Chono, Caraica (Karaika), and Poya may also belong.
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.
:
References
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Language families
Languages of Chile