The Haush language (also Manek'enk) was an indigenous language spoken by the Haush people and was formerly spoken on the island of Tierra del Fuego.[1] The Haush were considered the oldest inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego; they inhabited the far eastern tip of the Mitre Peninsula. They made regular hunting trips to Isla de los Estados.

Haush
Manek'enk
RegionArgentina
EthnicityHaush people
Extinctc. 1920
Chonan
  • Chon proper
    • Island Chon
      • Haush
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
qoa
Glottologhaus1240

Before 1850, an estimated 300 people spoke Haush.[2] The last speaker of Haush died around 1920 and the language is considered extinct.[3]

Haush is considered to be related to the Selk'nam, Gününa Yajich, Teushen, and Tehuelche languages, which collectively belong to the Chonan language family.[4]

Vocabulary

edit

Carlo Luigi Spegazzini (1899) cites the following Haush vocabulary.

Words

edit
[5]
Haush English
ča(a)wataʔ small mushroom
se wife
maʔčaju- young man
kotek to whistle
k’ero small hawk
t’elk’en child

Phrases

edit

CER:certitive DEI1:deictic of minimum distance DEI3:deictic of maximum distance INFR:informality positional classifier DISP:displacement positional classifier

anan

canoe

k-as-pe-nk

AN-inside-be(.sitting)-CER.M

naʔ

DEI1

anan k-as-pe-nk naʔ

canoe AN-inside-be(.sitting)-CER.M DEI1

'He is in the canoe.'[6]

hajketa(s)

3

sola-n(k)

be.strong-CER.M

hajketa(s) sola-n(k)

3 be.strong-CER.M

'He is strong.'[6]

asi

INTERR

n

?

a-ma:

DISP-DEI3

čeʔne-s

come-DUB

asi n a-ma: čeʔne-s

INTERR ? DISP-DEI3 come-DUB

'Who's coming?'[6]

a-ma(a)

DISP-DEI3

henk

man

čeʔne-s

come-DUB

a-ma(a) henk čeʔne-s

DISP-DEI3 man come-DUB

'A man comes.'[7]

naʔ

DEI1

pe-j

be(.sitting)-IMP

ma(a)

2

n

?

naʔ pe-j ma(a) n

DEI1 be(.sitting)-IMP 2 ?

'Sit here.'[7]

ma(a)

2

(a)jam-i

light-IMP

so:l

fire

ma(a) (a)jam-i so:l

2 light-IMP fire

'You, light the fire.'[7]

asa ma(a)

why

k-ameč’-i

AN-grab-INF

k’om-nk

AUX.NEG-CER.M

{asa ma(a)} k-ameč’-i k’om-nk

why AN-grab-INF AUX.NEG-CER.M

'Why won't you grab?'[7]

kar

something

k-ʔaj-Ø

AN-give-IMP

o(n)

INFR

a(a)

for

t’a-Ø

eat-INF

kar k-ʔaj-Ø o(n) a(a) t’a-Ø

something AN-give-IMP INFR for eat-INF

'Give me something to eat.'[7]

See also

edit

References

edit

Bibliography

edit
  • Adelaar, Willen F. H.; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36275-7.
  • Furlong, Charles Wellington (December 1915). "The Haush and Ona, Primitive Tribes of Tierra del Fuego". Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Congress of Americanists: 432–444. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
  • Spegazzini, Carlo Lugi (2019). "Un manuscrito de Carlos Spegazzini con datos inéditos sobre la lengua haush" [A Manuscript by Carlos Spegazzini with Unpublished Data on the Haush Language]. Indiana - Estudios Antropológicos Sobre América Latina y el Caribe (in Spanish). 36 (2): 101–128. doi:10.18441/ind.v36i2.101-128.