Vilela language

Vilela (Waka, Atalalá, Chulupí~Chunupí) is a moribund language last spoken in the Resistencia area of Argentina and in the eastern Chaco near the Paraguayan border. Dialects were Ocol, Chinipi, Sinipi; only Ocol survives. The Vilela people call themselves Wakambabelte () 'Waka speakers'. There were 2 semispeakers as of 2007.

The last Vilela people were absorbed into the surrounding Toba people and Spanish-speaking townsfolk.

Dialects

Loukotka (1968) lists the following varieties of Vilela.

• Chunupi - formerly spoken on the confluence of the San Francisco River and Bermejo River in the vicinity of La Encrucijada, Valtolema, Ortega, Esquina Grande and Laguna Colma.
• Pasain - formerly spoken in the vicinity of Macapillo, Argentine Chaco.
• Ocole - formerly spoken between Lacangayá and Laguna Colma.
• Omoampa - formerly spoken from Ortega as far as Miraflores.
• Macomita - once spoken west of the Juramento River, province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina.
• Yecoamita - once spoken northwest of the Teuco River, Formosa province.
• Sinipi - formerly spoken on the Bermejo River in the vicinity of Lacangayá.

Phonology

Vilela appears to have the five vowels /a e i o u/ of Spanish and approximately the following consonants:

Notes

References

• Lozano, Elena (1970). Textos Vilelas. La Plata: CEILP.
• Lozano, Elena (1977). Cuentos secretos vilelas: I. La mujer tigre. VICUS Cuadernos. Lingüística, Vol.I: 93-116.
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