The two Lule-Vilela languages, Lule and Vilela, constitute a small, extinct, distantly related language family of northern Argentina. Terrence Kaufman found the relationship likely, a view with general agreement among major classifiers of South American languages, and Jose Pedro Viegas Barros published additional supporting evidence between 1996 and 2006. Raoul Zamponi has argued instead that Lule and Vilela are each better treated as language isolates, with their similarities owed to contact rather than common descent.
Facts
RegionLule and Vilela are spoken, or were spoken, in northern Argentina. 1 Proto-Language StatusKaufman found a Lule-Vilela relationship likely, with general agreement among major classifiers of South American languages, and Proto-Lule-Vilela has been reconstructed by Viegas Barros (2006); Zamponi (2008) dissents, considering Lule and Vilela each a language isolate with their similarities due to contact. 1 Partially Attested
Speaker CountThe figure of 2 is the count given for Vilela rememberers only (2007); the article gives no comparable figure for Lule, which is believed extinct, so this is not a confirmed total for the whole family. In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Lule-Vilela Languages (Family Article)
Wikipediainfobox-adjacent lead prose, geographic distribution
northern Argentina
infobox, native speakers field, Vilela row
2 rememberers (2007, Vilela)
Classification section
Kaufman found the relationship likely and with general agreement among the major classifiers of South American languages.
View the Source Wikidata: Lule-Vilela
Wikidata Q1504401, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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