Guaicaro (Guaïcaro) is an extinct, unclassified language of

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and ...

known only from a 19-word list and personal names. The Guaicaro people apparently lived on the

Brunswick Peninsula Brunswick Peninsula () is a large peninsula in Magallanes y la Antártica Region, Patagonia, Chile, at . Geography The Brunswick Peninsula is triangular in shape, joined to the mainland in the north by a wide isthmus. It widens to almost in t ...

, bordering the Tehuelche to their northeast in around Laguna Blanca. The Guaicaros (also rendered ''Guaïkaros, Guaicurúes, Huacurúes'') were apparently the same people known as the '' Huemules'' (''Güemules'') and ''Supalios''.

Classification

It is only known from personal names and a list of 19 words elicited using gestures from the last documented speaker, a medicine man living among the Tehuelche, and published in 1896. Most of the words can be explained as Central Alacaluf or Tawókser (or both), though ''mer'' 'arm' appears to come from

Chon CHON is a mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements in living organisms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. The acronym CHNOPS, which stands for ''c''arbon, ''h''ydrogen, ''n''itrogen, ''o''xygen, ''p''hosphorus, ''s''ulfur, r ...

Vocabulary

Word list of Guaicaro documented by

Ramón Lista Ramón Lista (13 September 1856 – 23 November 1897) was an Argentinian soldier and explorer. He was the second governor of the Territorio Nacional de Santa Cruz, precursor of Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. He was in part responsible for the Sel ...

(1896):Lista, Ramón (1896). Lenguas argentinas: los tehuelches de la Patagonia. ASCA, 42: 35-43. :

References

{{languages of Chile Extinct languages of South America Unclassified languages of South America Alacalufan languages Languages attested from the 19th century Languages extinct in the 20th century