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Chimane language

Language of the western Bolivian lowlands

Chimane
Tsimané, Mosetén, Tsimane'
tsinsimik
Native to	Bolivia
Region	western Amazon
Ethnicity	Tsimané
Native speakers	5,300 (2004)[1]
Language family	Moseten–Chonan? Chimane
Dialects	Tsimane' (90%) Santa Ana Mosetén Covendo Mosetén
Official status
Official language in	Bolivia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	cas
Glottolog	mose1249
ELP	Mosetén

Chimané (Tsimane') is a South American language isolate. Some dialects are known as Mosetén (Mosetén of Santa Ana, Mosetén of Covendo). Chimane is a language of the western Bolivian lowlands spoken by the Tsimane peoples along the Beni River and the region around San Borja in the Department of Beni (Bolivia). Sakel (2004)^[2] classifies them as two languages for a number of reasons, yet some of the variants of the language are mutually intelligible and they reportedly have no trouble communicating (Ethnologue16) and were evidently a single language separated recently through cultural contact (Campbell 2000).

Status[edit]

The dialects of Tsimane' are in different sociolinguistic situations. Covendo Mosetén has around 600 speakers, while Santa Ana Mosetén only has around 150-200 speakers. Both of these dialects are fading quickly, and almost all speakers of these dialects are bilingual in Spanish. Only older speakers maintain use of the language without Spanish influence. Tsimane' proper, on the other hand, has at least 4,000 speakers, and the number of speakers is growing. In addition, the majority of speakers of Tsimane' proper are monolingual. The Mosetén were in contact with missions for almost 200 years, while the Tsimane' have remained isolated for much longer, thus leading the Tsimane' to preserve their customs and traditions, including language, much more than the Mosetén.^[2]

Dialects[edit]

Dialects listed by Mason (1950):^[3]

Tsimane’ /tsi'maneʔ/ and Mosetén /mose'ten/ are self-designations that refer to both the language and ethnic group. Chimanes also refer to their language as tsunsi’ĉan /tsɨnt'siʔkhan/ ‘in our (language)’, while Mosetenes also refer to their language as tsinsi’ mik /tsint'si mik/ ‘our language’. As a dialect continuum, dialects of Chimane-Mosetén include Covendo Mosetén (500–800 speakers), spoken in the village of Covendo; Santa Ana Mosetén (150–200 speakers); and Chimane (12,500–15,000 speakers). Covendo is a more remote village that is predominantly ethnic Mosetén, while Santa Ana Mosetén (located between Covendo Mosetén and Chimane) is spoken in Santa Ana, which has many Spanish speakers who have moved from other parts of Bolivia. Chimane is still vigorously spoken, while Mosetén is highly endangered.^[4]: 303

Classification[edit]

Mosetenan has no obvious relatives among the languages of South America. There is some lexicon shared with Puquina and the Uru–Chipaya languages, but these appear to be borrowings. Morris Swadesh suggested a Moseten–Chon relationship, which Suárez provided evidence for in the 1970s, and with which Kaufman (1990) is sympathetic.

Language contact[edit]

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Uru-Chipaya, Yurakare, and Pano language families due to contact.^[5]

Writing system[edit]

Chimane has been written since 1980 in a Spanish-based alphabet devised by Wayne Gill. It uses the additional letters ṕ, ć, q́u, tś, ćh, mʼ, nʼ, ä. It is widely used in publications and is taught in Chimane schools.^[6]

In 1996, Colette Grinevald created an alphabet for Moseten and Chimane which used only those letters found on a Spanish keyboard. It included the multigraphs ph khdh ch chh tsh dh, and was adopted by the Moseten.^[6]

Bolivian Law 3603 of 2007 Jan 17 recognizes the rights of the Chimane and Moseten to their language in all aspects of life in Bolivia, including education, and Chimane translation of policy which concerns them, and that written Chimane must use the unique Chimane(-Moseten) alphabet. However, it does not clarify which alphabet this is.^[7]

Phonology[edit]

Tsimane' has 5 vowels:^[2]

Tsimane' has 24 consonants:^[2]

Vocabulary[edit]

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Mosetene and Chimane.^[8]

gloss	Mosetene	Chimane
one	irit	íris
two	pára	pöre
three	chibin	chiːbi
tooth	moñín	múdyin
tongue	nem	ném
hand	uñ	ín
woman	pen	pén
water	oxñi	oñé
fire	tsi	tsí
moon	ivua	ihúa
maize	tára	tãra
jaguar	itsiki	ítsikí
house	aka	aká

References[edit]

Notes

Sources

• Adelaar, Wilhem (2004). The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge University Press.
• Sakel, Jeanette (2009). Mosetén y Chimane (Tsimane'). In: Mily Crevels and Pieter Muysken (eds.) Lenguas de Bolivia, vol. I, 333–375. La Paz: Plural editores.
• Sakel, Jeanette (2003). A Grammar of Mosetén (Thesis). University of Nijmegen.

External links[edit]

• ELAR archive of Chimane Documentation Project
• Mosetén (Intercontinental Dictionary Series)