View source for Huilliche language

{{Short description|Araucanian language of Chile}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Huilliche
| nativename       = {{lang|huh|chesungun}}, {{lang|huh|chedungun}}
| states           = [[Chile]]
| ethnicity        = [[Huilliche people]]
| speakers         = A few elderly speakers
| date             = 2012
| ref              = e25
| familycolor      = American
| fam1             = [[Araucanian languages|Araucanian]]
| iso3             = huh
| glotto           = huil1244
| glottorefname    = Huilliche
| region           = [[Los Lagos Region|Los Lagos]], [[Los Ríos Region|Los Ríos]]
| map = Huilliche.png
}}
{{infobox ethnonym|root=willi<br/><small>"south"</small>|person=|people=[[Huilliche people|Huilliche]]|language=Chedungun|country=[[Futahuillimapu]]}}
'''Huilliche''' (which can also be found spelt '''Williche''', '''Huiliche''' or '''Veliche''') is a moribund branch of the [[Araucanian languages|Araucanian language family]]. In 1982 it was spoken by about 2,000 ethnic [[Huilliche]] people in [[Chile]], but now [when?] it is only spoken by a few elderly speakers.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.ethnologue.com/language/huh|title = Huilliche|access-date = 2016-01-21|archive-date = 2021-08-05|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210805184745/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/huh|url-status = live}}</ref> It is spoken in the nation's [[Los Lagos Region|Los Lagos]] and [[Los Ríos Region|Los Ríos]] regions; and mountain valleys, between the city of Valdivia and south toward the [[Chiloé Archipelago]].

{{cladogram|title=Dialect sub-groups
|caption=[[Cladogram]] showing the closeness of Huilliche with Mapuche dialects (I–VII) based on shared features according to Robert A. Croese. Dialect sub-groups are roughly ordered from their geographical distribution from north to south.<ref name=Croese1985>{{cite book |last=Croese |first=Robert A.|editor1-last=Manelis Klein |editor1-first=Harriet|editor2-last=Stark|editor2-first=Louisa R.|date=1985 |title=South American Indian Languages: Retrospect and Prospect |chapter=21. Mapuche Dialect Survey|location=Austin, Texas |publisher=University of Texas Press |pages=784–801 |isbn=0-292-77592-X}}</ref>
|1=
{{clade
|1=
{{clade
|1={{clade
   |1={{clade 
      |1={{clade
          |1=I
          |2=II }}  
      }}
      |2={{clade
          |1={{clade
            |1=III
            |2=IV }}
          |2={{clade
            |1=V
            |2=VI
            |3=VII }} }} }}
   |2=Huilliche
   }}
}}
}}

Huilliche is composed of at least two varieties, called Huillichesungun and Tsesungun by their speakers. Huillichesungun is spoken in Wequetrumao, on the island of Chiloé, and Tsesungun is spoken in Choroy Traiguen, on the coast of Osorno province.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url = http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/dharris2/pdfs/reports/Enduring_Voices-Chile_2011.pdf|title = Enduring Voices in Chile—January 2011|last = Harrison|first = David K.|access-date = 2016-01-21|archive-date = 2021-05-02|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210502223906/http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/dharris2/pdfs/reports/Enduring_Voices-Chile_2011.pdf|url-status = live}}</ref> Huilliche is closely related to [[Mapudungun]], the language of the [[Mapuche]], though more research is needed to determine the degree of mutual intelligibility between the two.

The "Enduring Voices" project of National Geographic reports the following:<blockquote>"They are to some degree hidden within the broader Mapuche ethnic group, yet consider themselves quite distinct in both language and identity [...] Though the two languages [Huillichesungun and Tsesungun] may share as many as 80% of basic words, we confirmed that they differ in their sounds and grammar, as well as in their ethno-linguistic identity [...] Unexpectedly, Tsesungun, though it is geographically closer to Mapudungun, is less similar to it."</blockquote>The Jesuit priest [[Luis de Valdivia]] reported in 1606 that there was linguistic unity in the territory between Coquimbo and Chiloé, from the Pacific to the Andes, and that this was composed of varieties whose differences were mostly in pronunciation and vocabulary. This analysis is supported by researchers at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, such as [[Félix José de Augusta]] or [[Rodolfo Lenz]], and by those in the second half of the 20th century, such as Robert Croese. The latter two noted that Huilliche was the most divergent of the varieties of Araucanian, as did Pilar Álvarez-Santullano, a researcher in the phonology and syntax of Chesungun on the Osorno coast. A 2015 study found that the degree of mutual intelligibility was not possible to evaluate at present given that speakers of Huilliche were too few and with scant linguistic competence, nevertheless with the evidence available authors regarded Huilliche a variety of Mapudungun.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lingüística indígena sudamericana |last=Sadowsky |first=Scott |publisher=Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, [[Universidad de Buenos Aires]] |year=2015 |location=[[Buenos Aires]] |language=Spanish |last2=Aninao |first2=María José |last3=Heggarty |first3=Paul |editor-last=Garay |editor-first=Ana Fernández |chapter=Huilliche: ¿Geolecto del mapudungun o lengua propia? Una mirada desde la fonética y fonología de las consonantes |editor-last2=Regúnaga |editor-first2=María Alejandra}}</ref>

Most Huilliche speakers are older adults, and most ethnic Huilliche speak Spanish as their first language, making both Huilliche varieties highly endangered.

==Phonology==

The phonemic inventory of the Lafkenche dialect is given below.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Consonants <ref name="grammar">{{cite book
| last1 = Sadowsky | first1 = Scott
| last2 = Aninao | first2 = María
| last3 = Cayunao | first3 = María
| last4 = Heggarty | first4 = Paul
| title = Lingüística Indígena Sudamericana
| chapter = Huilliche: ¿Geolecto del Mapudungun o Lengua Propia? Una Mirada desde la Fonética y Fonología de las Consonantes
| date = 2015
| publisher = Universidad de Buenos Aires
| isbn = 978-987-4019-00-4}}</ref>
|-
!
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]/<br>[[Postalveolar]]
! [[Retroflex]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! [[Plosive]]/<br>[[Affricate]]
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t̪}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
| {{IPA link|t͡ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|ʈʂ}}
| {{IPA link|k}}
|-
! [[Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|θ}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
| {{IPA link|ʃ}}
| {{IPA link|ʐ}}
| {{IPA link|ɣ}}
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n̪}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}
|-
! [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
| {{IPA link|l̪}}
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|ʎ}}
|
| 
|-
! [[Semivowel]]
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}}
|
|
|}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Vowels <ref name="grammar" />
|-
!
! Front
! Central
! Back
|-
! High
| {{IPAslink|i}} {{IPAblink|ɪ}}
| {{IPAslink|ɨ}} {{IPAblink|ɘ}}
| {{IPAslink|u}} {{IPAblink|ʊ}}
|-
! Mid
| {{IPAslink|e}} {{IPAblink|ë}}
|
| {{IPAslink|o}} {{IPAblink|ö}}
|-
! Low
|
| {{IPAslink|a}} {{IPAblink|ɐ̝}}
|
|}

== See also ==
* [[Chilote Spanish]]
* [[Languages of Chile]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=huh SIL International]

{{Languages of Chile}}
{{mapuche}}

[[Category:Indigenous languages of the South American Cone]]
[[Category:Languages of Chile]]
[[Category:Mapuche language|.Language]]
[[Category:Huilliche]]
[[Category:Endangered Indigenous languages of the Americas]]
[[Category:Araucanian languages]]


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{{indigenousAmerican-lang-stub}}