Huilliche language

language
name=Huilliche
nativename=Chesungun, chedungun
states=Chile
speakers=2,000
familycolor=American
fam2=Araucanian
iso2=huh|iso3=huh

The Huilliche language (also known as Veliche and Huiliche) is an Araucanian language spoken (as of 1982) by about 2,000 ethnic Huilliche people in Chile. It is spoken in an area south of the area inhabited by the Mapuche, in the nation's Los Lagos and Los Ríos regiones (states); and mountain valleys, between the city of Valdivia and south toward Chiloé Archipelago. Huilliche has a dialect called Tsesungún.

Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche, is closely related to Huilliche, but they are barely understandable to each other. Most Huilliche speakers are older adults because the language is in decline; most ethnic Huilliche people currently speak Spanish as their first language. ^{[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=huh]}

External links

* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=huh Ethnologue]
* [http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/documentation.asp?id=huh SIL International]