Also known as: Qawasqar, Alacalufe
The last surviving Alacalufan language, spoken at Puerto Edén on Wellington Island in the fjords of Chilean Patagonia. The language of the last nomadic canoe peoples of the southern channels; fewer than ten fluent speakers remain.
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Kawésqar is a dialect of the Kawésqar language.
Kawésqar is primarily spoken in Chile.
Kawésqar is part of the Latin America & the Caribbean region on DialectAtlas.
Yes — Kawésqar is also referred to as Qawasqar, Alacalufe.
Kawésqar is spoken by approximately 8 people.
Kawésqar is critically endangered. Only a small number of mostly elderly speakers remain, and the variety is at imminent risk of being lost.
349 km away
The last spoken Chonan language, of the Patagonian steppe in Santa Cruz province, southern Argentina. Died with Dora Manchado in 2019, taking the Chonan family with it as a living lineage; recorded in her final years by Javier Domingo, building on Ana Fernández Garay's documentation.
794 km away
A language isolate of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, around the Beagle Channel and Navarino Island. Source of the famously untranslatable word mamihlapinatapai; recorded in a 32,000-word missionary dictionary by Thomas Bridges. Died with Cristina Calderón in 2022; heritage revival continues at Puerto Williams.
1,164 km away
The language of the Mapuche people, spoken across south-central Chile and adjacent Argentina. The largest Indigenous language of Chile and one of South America's most documented language isolates.
1,771 km away
The Spanish of Chile. Known for rapid speech, heavy aspiration of /s/, distinct second-person verb forms, and a rich slang lexicon.
2,082 km away
The Spanish of Argentina and Uruguay. Distinctive for its voseo verb forms, the sheísmo / zheísmo realisation of <ll>/<y>, and a strong Italian-influenced intonation.
2,885 km away
The Brazilian Portuguese of Rio Grande do Sul and southern Brazil. Distinct from northern Brazilian varieties, with strong Spanish (Rioplatense) and Italian/German immigrant contact features.