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Aonikasih, the Aonikenk language, it is related to
the Selk´nam language, both belonging to the Tshon
linguistic branch, which is a different group than that
of the rest of the South American hunter-gatherers.
(According to Roberto Lehmann-Nistche).
The Aonikaish is composed of approximately 25 basic
sounds, six of which are similar to the five Spanish
vowels, plus one that is similar to the German ö.
The scholar Spegazzini (1884) describes Aonikaish as
follows: "They speak with a very thick voice, vibrating
the consonants, very softly, as if they were tired;
the throat is used more, as if they were ventriloquists;
there are few vowels and only the first syllables may
be determined for sure and written, the rest are unintelligible
or semi-mute".
For a speaker of this tongue, as the explorer Lista
was, the Aonikaish not only had a unique voice for every
natural object, it also expresses abstract ideas of
a superior order.
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