Wichí Lhamtés Nocten

Wichí Lhamtés Nocten
Wichí Lhamtés Nocten
Weenhayek
Native to	Bolivia, Argentina
Region	Tarija Department (Bolivia), Salta Province (Argentina)
Ethnicity	Wichí
Native speakers	(1,900 cited 1994)
Language family	Matacoan Wichi languages Wichí Lhamtés Nocten; ;
Official status
Official language in	Bolivia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mtp
Glottolog	wich1262
ELP	Wichí (shared)

Wichí Lhamtés Nocten, or Weenhayek, is a Wichí language spoken primarily in Bolivia, as well as in Argentina. The language is also called "Mataco", "Mataco Nocten", Nocten, Noctenes, and Oktenai,^[2] though the name "Mataco" has negative connotations.^[3]

Status

An estimated 1,810 Wichí people spoke Weenhayek in Bolivia as of 1994. An additional 100 people spoke the language in Argentina in 1994.^[2]

Official status

Weenhayek has been one of the 37 official languages of Bolivia since 2009, as outlined by the Constitution of Bolivia.^[4]

Geographical distribution

In Bolivia, the language is spoken in the north-central Tarija Department, southwest of Pilcomayo River, and in Cordillera de Pirapo. In Argentina, it is spoken in from the northern border south to Tartagal, Salta.^[2]

Classification

Weenhayek is one of the Wichí languages, a dialect continuum spoken throughout northern Argentina and southern Bolivia. Wichí is a further member of the Mataguayan language family.^[3]

Phonology

Weenhayek displays marked phonological differences from the other varieties of Wichí.^[5]

Consonants

Consonants of Nocten^[5]
	Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar			Uvular	Glottal
	Labial	central	Palatal	plain	labial	pal.	Uvular	Glottal
Plosive	p	t			kʷ	kʲ	q	ʔ
Affricate		ts
Fricative		s		x	xʷ			h
Lateral		l
Nasal	m	n
Approximant	w		j

/kʲ/, depending on the dialect and/or speaker, may be realized as an affricate [tʃ]. /p, t, kʲ, kʷ, q, ts/ may be aspirated [pʰ, tʰ, kʲʰ, kʷʰ, qʰ, tsʰ] when preceding /h/, or glottalized [pʼ, tʼ, kʲʼ, kʷʼ, qʼ, tsʼ] when preceding /ʔ/. /m, n, l, j, w/ within the position of /ʔ/ are also glottalized as [ʼm, ʼn, ʼl, ʼj, ʼw].^[5]

Vowels

Vowels in Nocten
	Front	Back
Close	i	u
Mid	e	o
Open	a	ɑ

No contrasts between vowels with respect to lip roundedness exist. Vowel length is considered prosodic.^[5]

Phonotactics

CV syllable structure is the most common in Weenhayek. Word-final syllables must end in a consonant, typically with the form CVC.^[5]

Notes

↑ Wichí Lhamtés Nocten at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
1 2 3 "Wichí Lhamtés Nocten." Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 Jan 2012.
1 2 Carol, Javier; Nikulin, Andrey (2024). Carol, Javier (ed.). Historical phonology of Mataguayan. Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.13907413. ISBN 978-3-96110-474-1.
↑ "Justia Bolivia :: Nueva Constitución Política Del Estado > PRIMERA PARTE > TÍTULO I > CAPÍTULO PRIMERO :: Ley de Bolivia". bolivia.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-07.
1 2 3 4 5 Claesson, Kenneth (January 1994). "A Phonological Outline of Mataco-Noctenes". International Journal of American Linguistics. 60 (1): 1–38. doi:10.1086/466216. ISSN 0020-7071.

[e18-1] Wichí Lhamtés Nocten at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[:1-2] 1 2 3 "Wichí Lhamtés Nocten." Ethnologue. Retrieved 30 Jan 2012.

[:3-3] 1 2 Carol, Javier; Nikulin, Andrey (2024). Carol, Javier (ed.). Historical phonology of Mataguayan. Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.13907413. ISBN 978-3-96110-474-1.

[:2-4] "Justia Bolivia :: Nueva Constitución Política Del Estado > PRIMERA PARTE > TÍTULO I > CAPÍTULO PRIMERO :: Ley de Bolivia". bolivia.justia.com. Retrieved 2026-05-07.

[:0-5] 1 2 3 4 5 Claesson, Kenneth (January 1994). "A Phonological Outline of Mataco-Noctenes". International Journal of American Linguistics. 60 (1): 1–38. doi:10.1086/466216. ISSN 0020-7071.

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