Page Type: languageChamacoco | Ethnologue

CEG ISO 639-3

Chamacoco

A language of Paraguay

ISO 639
ceg
Alternate Names
Ishir, Ishiro, Jeywo
Population
2,000 (Ciucci and Bertinetto 2015).
Location:
Alto Paraguay department: (Tomárãho) Pitiantuta and Puerto María Elena, (Ybytoso) Inihta, Karchabalut, Misión Santa Teresita, Puerto Caballo, Puerto Diana, Puerto Esperanza.
Language Status
5 (Developing). Recognized language (2010, Languages Act, No. 4251, Article 2).
Classification
Zamucoan
Dialects
Tomarãho (Chamacoco Bravo, Tomaraho, Tomaraxo, Tomárãho), Chamacoco Ebitoso (Chamacoco Manso, Ebitoso, Ybytoso, Yshyr Ybytoso). Lexical similarity: 30% with Ayoreo [ayo].
Typology
SVO; prepositions and postpositions; noun head initial, except for determiners and possessors; 2 genders (masculine and feminine); inflectional language; verb affixes mark person, number, and gender; no passives or voice; no tense or aspect; 22 consonants and 16 vowels, including 7 nasal vowels.
Language Use
Vigorous. Home. Used by all. Most also use Spanish [spa] (Ciucci 2016). Some also use Paraguayan Guaraní [gug], but with low proficiency (Crevels 2012). Also use Portuguese [por] (Ciucci 2016).
Language Development
Literacy rate in L1: 50%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%. Taught in primary schools. Literature. Dictionary. Texts. NT: 2001.
Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Chamacoco
Writing
Latin script [Latn].
Other Comments
Christian, traditional religion.

Also Spoken in

Map

Location: Alto Paraguay department: (Tomárãho) Pitiantuta and Puerto María Elena, (Ybytoso) Inihta, Karchabalut, Misión Santa Teresita, Puerto Caballo, Puerto Diana, Puerto Esperanza.