The Haush language (also Manek'enk) was an indigenous language spoken by the

Haush people The Haush or Manek'enk were an indigenous people who lived on the Mitre Peninsula of the Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego. They were related culturally and linguistically to the Ona or Selk'nam people who also lived on the Isla Grande de Tierra ...

and was formerly spoken on the island of

Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

. The Haush were considered the oldest inhabitants of

; they inhabited the far eastern tip of the

Mitre Peninsula Mitre Peninsula is the easternmost part of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, located in the very southeast of the island, with its easternmost point, Cabo San Diego, 29 km northwest of Isla de los Estados, from which it is separated by L ...

. They made regular hunting trips to

Isla de los Estados Isla de los Estados (English: Staten Island, from the Dutch ''Stateneiland'') is an Argentine island that lies off the eastern extremity of Tierra del Fuego, from which it is separated by the Le Maire Strait. It was named after the Netherland ...

. Before 1850, an estimated 300 people spoke Haush. The last speaker of Haush died around 1920 and the language is considered extinct. Haush is considered to be related to the Selknam,

Gününa Yajich Puelche was a language formerly spoken by the Puelche people in the Pampas region of Argentina. The language is also known as ''Gününa Küne'', Gennaken (Guenaken), Northern Tehuelche, ''Gününa Yajich'', Ranquelche, and Pampa. Classificatio ...

, Teushen, and

Tehuelche language Tehuelche (''Aoniken, Inaquen, Gunua-Kena, Gununa-Kena'') is one of the Chonan languages of Patagonia. Its speakers were nomadic hunters who occupied territory in present-day Chile, north of Tierra del Fuego and south of the Mapuche people. It i ...

s, which collectively belong to the Chonan language family.Adelaar and Muysken 556

Notes

References

*Adelaar, Willen F. H. and Pieter Muysken
''The languages of the Andes.''
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haush language Chonan languages Extinct languages of South America Fuegian languages Languages extinct in the 1920s

See also

Notes

References