The Chaná language ( 'speak' or 'language'; from , "tongue" and a communicative suffix) was a Charruan language, spoken by the Chaná people, in what is now Argentina and Uruguay along the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers on the margins of the Río de la Plata. It was spoken by the Chaná from pre-Columbian times in the vast region that today is between Entre Ríos Province, Argentina and Uruguay, and the Uruguay and Paraná Guazú Rivers. According to recent oral memory narratives, in ancient times, they inhabited territories around the current Brazilian margin of the Uruguay River. They later migrated from this location along the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers from the outfall of the Iguazú River and from the Paraguay River to the current location of Asunción. Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime was the last native person who could speak Chaná, and prior to his discovery of the fact that he was the last speaker, he had not used Chaná for many decades, eroding his memory of the language. UNESCO recognized it as a living language. The last native speaker died in September 2026. The Chamber of Deputies of the Entre Ríos Province recently recognized the necessity for the government to recognize and protect the language.Diario de Sesiones de la Cámara de Diputados de la Provincia de Entre Ríos, sesión del 03 de julio de 2018.
Phonology The following are the phonemes of the Chaná language:
Consonants + Consonant phonemes of modern Chaná Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Stopvoiceless voiced Fricative () Flap Lateral Trill Nasal Glide
Vowels + Monophthong vowel phonemes Front Central Back Close Mid Open
Dictionary has been recognized as a part of the "Cultural Heritage of the Entre Ríos Province." The first dictionary of the language was published by the Provincial Publishing House of Entre Ríos. The publication contained a dictionary compiled via Don Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime and an encyclopedic study of Chaná culture. There were also several chapters on the linguistics of Chaná by Viegas Barros.
The Chaná cultural study encompassed the fourth and last section of the book. A great deal of Chaná ethnoliterature was obtained during elicitation sessions with Viegas Barros during the seven years prior to the publication of the volume. It also has an audio CD which includes recordings of Don Blas speaking his Lanték.
References
Bibliography
Larrañaga, Dámaso Antonio (1923) "Compendio del idioma de la Nación Chaná"; Escritos de D. Dámaso A. Larrañaga, tomo III: 163-174. Montevideo: Instituto Histórico y Geográfico del Uruguay, Imprenta Nacional.
External links
La guarda memoria (in Spanish), The Memory Keeper (English translation of audio transcript): an episode on the Chaná language featured on the podcast Radio Ambulante.