Tiếng Wichí

Wichí (formerly Mataco; autonymously Wichí Lhamtés "the Wichí speech") is the principal Mataco-Mataguayan language, spoken by ~50,000-60,000 Wichí people across the Gran Chaco region of Argentina, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The Mataco-Mataguayan family is small and isolated within South American linguistics, with Wichí being the largest member alongside Nivaclé, Maká, and Chorote. Linguistically, Wichí has typical Mataco-Mataguayan features: nominative-accusative alignment, classifier-like noun particles, and SVO constituent order with verb-final tendencies. The Wichí community has been active in Argentine indigenous-rights movements since the 1990s, with bilingual education in Salta and Formosa provinces.