Chaná language
The Chaná language is one of the Charruan languages spoken by the Chaná Indians in what is now Argentina and Uruguay along the Uruguay and Paraná Rivers on the margins of the RÃo de la Plata. It was spoken by the Chaná from pre-Columbian times in the vast region that today is between Entre RÃos 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.
UNESCO recognizes it as a living language but also as "extremely endangered" because it has only one native speaker. The Chamber of Deputies of the Entre RÃos Province recently recognized the necessity for the government to recognize and protect the language.
Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime
Blas Wilfredo Omar Jaime, an Argentine, is the only native speaker of Chaná. He is now referred to as Tató Oyendén, or custodian of the ancestral memory.The language, which Blas learned from his ancestors, was considered extinct before he was interviewed by the linguist José Pedro Viegas Barros.. The two men together authored the book "La Lengua Chaná. Patrimonio Cultural de Entre RÃos" published by the official press organ of the provincial government of Entre RÃos. The organ published the book in recognition of "Lanték" to support the cultural patrimony of the province.
Dictionary Viegas-Jaime
"Lanték" has been recognized as a part of the "Cultural Heritage of the Entre RÃos Province." The first dictionary of the language was published by the Provincial Publishing House of Entre RÃos. 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 that of Don Blas speaking his Lanték.
Phonology
The following are the phonemes of the Chaná language:| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | |
| Nasal | Bilabial nasal| | Dental, alveolar and postalveolar nasals| | Palatal nasal| | ||
| Stop | Voiceless bilabial stop| Voiced bilabial stop| | Voiceless dental and alveolar stops| Voiceless dental and alveolar stops| | Voiceless velar stop| Voiced velar stop| | Glottal stop| | |
| Affricate | Voiceless postalveolar affricate| | ||||
| Fricative | Voiceless alveolar fricative| | Voiceless palatal fricative| Voiceless postalveolar affricate| | Voiceless velar fricative| | ||
| Approximant | Voiceless alveolar fricative| | Palatal approximant| | |||
| Lateral | Dental, alveolar and postalveolar lateral approximants| | ||||
| Trill | Dental, alveolar and postalveolar trills| | ||||
| Flap | Dental and alveolar flaps| |
| Front | Central | Back | |
| Close | Close front unrounded vowel| | Close back rounded vowel| | |
| Mid | Mid front unrounded vowel| | Mid back rounded vowel| | |
| Open | Open central unrounded vowel| |