Kunza language

 ( Indigenous Languages Of The Andes ) 

Kunza () is a mostly extinct language isolate spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people people, who have since shifted to Spanish people. The last speaker was documented in 1949; however, it has since been learned that the language is still spoken in the desert.

Other names and spellings include Cunza, Ckunsa, italic=no, Lipe, Ulipe, and Atacameño. The word Ckunsa means 'our' in Kunza.

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History The language was spoken in northern Chile, specifically in the Chilean villages of Peine, Socaire (near the Salar de Atacama), and Caspana, and in southern Peru.

The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although there are reports of some having been found in 1953 according to anthropologists.

There are 2,000 Atacama people (W. Adelaar).

Unattested varieties listed by Loukotka (1968):

• Atacameño of Bolivia – spoken in a small village on the frontier of Potosí Department, Bolivia, and Antofagasta Province of Chile
• Lipe ( Olipe) – extinct language once spoken south of the Salar de Uyuni, Potosí Department, Bolivia

A revitalization effort was initiated in the 21st century.

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Classification Kaufman (1990) found a proposed connection between Kunza and the likewise unclassified Kapixaná to be plausible; however, the language was more fully described in 2004, and the general consensus among linguists was that both languages are isolates.

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Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Mochika language, Kandoshi, Jaqi languages, Kechua languages, Mapudungun, and Uru-Chipaya language families due to contact.

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Phonology

+Consonants ! colspan="2" rowspan="2"	! rowspan="2"Bilabial ! colspan="2"	Alveolar ! rowspan="2"	Palatal ! rowspan="2"	Velar consonant ! rowspan="2"	Uvular consonant ! rowspan="2"	Glottal

+Vowels ! !Front vowel !Central vowel !Back vowel

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See also

• Macro-Paesan languages

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External links

• Kunza Swadesh vocabulary list (from Wiktionary's Swadesh list appendix)
• Spanish-Kunza dictionary online
• Bibliography about Kunza
• Alain Fabre, 2005, Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos: KUNZA[5]
• Kunza (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)

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