Kunza language

Kunza
Atacameño
Likanantaí
Native toChile, Peru, Bolivia
RegionAtacama Desert
EthnicityAtacama
Extinctafter 1949
Revival21st century
Language codes
ISO 639-3kuz
Glottologkunz1244

Kunza (Kunza: Likanantaí) is a mostly extinct language isolate spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish. The last speaker was documented in 1949; however, it has since been learned that the language is still spoken in the desert.[1]

Other names and spellings include Cunza, Ckunsa, Likanantaí, Lipe, Ulipe, and Atacameño.

  1. ^ Bartlett, John (October 17, 2024). "In Chile a language on the verge of extinction, stirs into life". NPR.