The Chaná language (autoglossonym: ''Lanték'', that means "''speak"'' or "''language"; and this, from'' ''lan'', "tongue" and ''tek'', a communicative suffix) is one of the

Charruan languages 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. Internal coh ...

spoken by the

Chaná Chana, chhana, or chaná may refer to : Food * Chickpea, known in South Asia as ''chana'' * Chhana, a type of curds from South Asia Places * Chana, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Chana District, Songkhla Province, ...

people in what is now

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

along the

and

Paraná River The Paraná River ( es, Río Paraná, links=no , pt, Rio Paraná, gn, Ysyry Parana) is a river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina for some ."Parana River". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Br ...

s on the margins of the

Río de la Plata The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and f ...

. It was spoken by the

from pre-Columbian times in the vast region that today is between

Entre Ríos Province Entre Ríos (, "Between Rivers") is a central province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires (south), Corrientes (north) and Santa Fe (west), and Uruguay in the east. Its capital is Paraná ...

and

, and the

and

Paraná Guazú Paraná, Paranã or Parana may refer to: Geology * Paraná Basin, a sedimentary basin in South America Places In Argentina *Paraná, Entre Ríos, a city *Paraná Department, a part of Entre Ríos Province * Paraná, Buenos Aires, a settlement ...

Rivers. According to recent oral memory narratives, in ancient times, they inhabited territories around the current

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian margin of the

Uruguay River The Uruguay River ( es, Río Uruguay, ; pt, Rio Uruguai, ) is a major river in South America. It flows from north to south and forms parts of the boundaries of Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, separating some of the Argentine provinces of La M ...

. They later migrated from this location along the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers from the outfall of the

Iguazú River __NOTOC__ The Iguazu River ( pt, Rio Iguaçu, br , es, Río Iguazú} ), also called Rio Iguassu, is a river in Brazil and Argentina. It is an important tributary of the Paraná River. The Iguazu River is long, with a drainage basin of . Cour ...

and from the

Paraguay River The Paraguay River (Río Paraguay in Spanish, Rio Paraguai in Portuguese, Ysyry Paraguái in Guarani) is a major river in south-central South America, running through Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina. It flows about from its headwaters in ...

to the current location of

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay o ...

. UNESCO recognizes it as a

living language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...

but also as ''"extremely endangered"'' because it has only one native speaker. The

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon ...

of the

recently recognized the necessity for the government to recognize and protect the language.

Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime

Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime (Agó Acoé Inó, "dog without owner-" in the Chaná language,

Nogoyá Nogoyá is a city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Entre Ríos Province, Entre Ríos, Argentina. It has 22,824 inhabitants per the , and is the head town of the Nogoyá Department. It lies in the southwest of the province, by the Nogoyá ...

, Entre Rios, ), an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines ...

, is the only native speaker of Chaná. He is now referred to as Tató Oyendén, or custodian of the ancestral memory. The language, which Blas learned from his ancestors, was considered extinct before he was interviewed by the linguist

José Pedro Viegas Barros José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

. The two men together authored the book "La Lengua Chaná. Patrimonio Cultural de Entre Ríos" published by the official press organ of the provincial government of Entre Ríos. The organ published the book in recognition of "Lanték" (the Chaná language) to support the cultural patrimony of the province.

Dictionary by Viegas-Jaime

"Lanték" has been recognized as a part of the "Cultural Heritage of the Entre Ríos Province." The first dictionary of the language was published by the Provincial Publishing House of Entre Ríos. The publication contained a dictionary compiled via Don Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime and an encyclopedic study of Chaná culture. There were also several chapters on the linguistics of Chaná by Viegas Barros. The Chaná cultural study encompassed the fourth and last section of the book. A great deal of Chaná ethnoliterature was obtained during elicitation sessions with Viegas Barros during the seven years prior to the publication of the volume. It also has an audio CD which includes recordings that of Don Blas speaking his ''Lanték''.

Phonology

The following are the phonemes of the Chaná language:

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chana Language Charruan languages Languages of Uruguay Indigenous languages of the South American Cone Chaco linguistic area