Jump to content

Main menu Navigation ●Main page ●Contents ●Current events ●Random article ●About Wikipedia ●Contact us ●Donate Contribute ●Help ●Learn to edit ●Community portal ●Recent changes ●Upload file

●Create account ●Log in ●Create account ● Log in Pages for logged out editors learn more ●Contributions ●Talk

(Top) 1 Phonology 2 See also 3 Notes

Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay

●Fiji Hindi ●Piemontèis ●Русский Edit links ●Article ●Talk ●Read ●Edit ●View history Tools Actions ●Read ●Edit ●View history General ●What links here ●Related changes ●Upload file ●Special pages ●Permanent link ●Page information ●Cite this page ●Get shortened URL ●Download QR code ●Wikidata item Print/export ●Download as PDF ●Printable version Appearance From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay
Wiznay
Native to	Argentina
Ethnicity	Wichí
Native speakers	26,500 (2021)^[1]
Language family	Matacoan Wichi language Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`mzh`
Glottolog	`wich1264`
ELP	Wichí (shared)

Wichí Lhamtés GüisnayorWiznay is a Wichí language. Wichí Lhamtés Güisnay had an estimated 15,000 speakers in 1999 in Argentina. The language is centered in the Pilcomayo River region. Other names for the language include Güisnay, Mataco, Mataco Güisnay, Mataco Pilcomayo, and Wichí Lhamtés. A grammar book has been written for the language.^[1]

The Wichí languages are predominantly suffixing and polysynthetic; verbal words have between 2 and 15 morphemes. Alienable and inalienable possession is distinguished. The phonological inventory is large, with simple, glottalized and aspirated stops and sonorants. The number of vowels varies with the language (five or six).

Phonology[edit]

Consonants in the Misión La Paz Wichí dialect^[2]
		Labial	Alveolar			Palatal	Velar			Glottal
		Labial	central	sibilant	lateral	Palatal	plain	labial	pal.	plain	labial
Plosive/ Affricate	plain	p	t	ts			k	kʷ	kʲ	ʔ
Plosive/ Affricate	ejective	pʼ	tʼ	tsʼ			kʼ		kʲʼ
Fricative				s						h	hʷ
Nasal		m	n
Lateral	voiced				l
Lateral	voiceless				l̥
Approximant						j		w

Aspirated sounds [pʰ, tʰ, kʰ~qʰ] only occur as allophones of /p, t, k/.
/k, kʷ, kʼ/ can also have allophones of [q, qʷ, qʼ].
/m, n/ can have allophones [m̥, n̥, n̥ʲ] word-medially, when occurring after /h/. [n̥ʲ] occurs when /i/ is preceding the sequence /nh/.
/h/ can also be heard as [x] word-medially and word-finally.

Vowels in the Misión La Paz Wichí dialect^[2]
	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e		o
Open		a	(ɑ)

/a/ can have an allophone of [ɑ].

Notes[edit]

^ ^a ^b Wichí Lhamtés GüisnayatEthnologue (25th ed., 2022)

^ ^a ^b Zdrojkowski-Avram, Megan L. (2008). A Phonological Description of Wichí: The Dialect of Misión La Paz, Salta, Argentina. Eastern Michigan University.

v t e Mataco–Guaicuru languages
Matacoan	Chorote Iyoʼwujwa Chorote Iyojwaʼja Chorote Maká Nivaclé Wichí Güisnay Nocten Vejoz
Guaicuruan	Abipón Guachí Kadiweu Mocoví Payaguá Pilagá Toba
Mascoian	Angaité Enlhet Enxet Kaskihá Maskoy Sanapaná
Charruan *	Charrúa Chaná Nbeuá Güenoa
Italics indicate extinct languages / * indicates that the inclusion of the language family within Mataco-Guaicuru family is disputed