Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz

Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz is a Mataco-Guaicuru language of Argentina and Bolivia. Speakers are concentrated in northern parts of Chaco, Formosa, Salta, Jujuy Provinces, as well as west of Toba, the upper Bermejo River valley, and Pilcomayo River. The language is also called Mataco Vejoz and Vejos.

Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz
Native toArgentina, Bolivia
EthnicityWichí
Native speakers
31,500 (2021)[1]
Matacoan
Language codes
ISO 639-3wlv
Glottologwich1263
ELPWichí (shared)

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

Consonants in the Chaqueña Wichí dialect[2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
central sibilantlateral
Plosive/
Affricate
plain p t ts q ʔ
aspirated tsʰ
ejective tsʼtʃʼ
Fricative s ɬ χ h
Sonorant voiced m n l jw
voiceless
preglottal ʼm ʼn ʼl ʼj ʼw
Vowels in the Chaqueña Wichí dialect[2]
Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e o
Open a
  • /i/ is heard as [ɪ] after palatal consonants.
  • /e/ is heard as [ɛ] when preceding uvular consonants.
  • /a, o/ sounds can be heard as [ɑ, ɔ] before uvular consonants.
  • /u/ can be heard as [ʊ] in syllable-final position.

See also

Notes

  1. Wichí Lhamtés Vejoz at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) closed access
  2. Nercesian, Verónica (2011). Gramática del Wichí, una lengua chaqueña: Interacción fonología-morfología-sintaxis en el léxico. Universidad de Buenos Aires.


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