Kunza
Encyclopedia
Kunza Cunza, also known as Likanantaí, Lipe, Ulipe, or Atacameño, is an extinct, unclassified language spoken in the Atacama Desert
of northern Chile
and southern Perú
(specifically in Peine, Socaire
(Salar de Atacama
), and Caspana
) by the Lickan-antay people, who have since shifted to Spanish
.
The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although some have been found since according to anthopologists. There are 2,000 Atacameño
s (W. Adelaar). A dictionary was made for Kunza.
Kaufman (1990) found a proposed connection between Kunza and the likewise unclassified Kapixaná to be plausible; however, when that language was more fully described in 2004, it turned out to be an isolate.
Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, covering a strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. It is, according to NASA, National Geographic and many other publications, the driest desert in the world...
of northern Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
and southern Perú
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
(specifically in Peine, Socaire
Socaire
Socaire is a village located southeast of the town of San Pedro de Atacama, in the San Pedro de Atacama province of Chile's northern Antofagasta Region. It offers views overlooking the Salar de Atacama....
(Salar de Atacama
Salar de Atacama
Salar de Atacama is the largest salt flat in Chile. It is located south of San Pedro de Atacama, is surrounded by mountains and has no drainage outlets. To the east is enclosed by the main chain of the Andes, while to the west lies a secondary mountain range of the Andes called Cordillera de Domeyko...
), and Caspana
Caspana
Caspana is a Chilean village located 85 km northeast of the city of Calama, in the gorge carved by the river that shared its name and that is a tributary of the Salado River. Agricultural terraces form part of the landscape of the area.-References:...
) by the Lickan-antay people, who have since shifted to Spanish
Spanish people
The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....
.
The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although some have been found since according to anthopologists. There are 2,000 Atacameño
Atacameño
The Atacameños are a Native American people who inhabited the Andean portion of the Atacama Desert, mainly in what is today Chile's Antofagasta Region. Their language is known as Kunza....
s (W. Adelaar). A dictionary was made for Kunza.
Kaufman (1990) found a proposed connection between Kunza and the likewise unclassified Kapixaná to be plausible; however, when that language was more fully described in 2004, it turned out to be an isolate.
External links
- Kunza Swadesh vocabulary list (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
- Spanish-Kunza dictionary online
- Kunza @ Ethnologue
- Bibliography about Kunza
- Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: KUNZAhttp://butler.cc.tut.fi/~fabre/BookInternetVersio/Dic=Kunza.pdf