Guanche
Facts
- Language: Guanche
- Alternate names:
- Language code: gnc
- Language family: Afro-Asiatic, Berber, Unclassified Berber
- Number of speakers: Extinct
- Script:
More information:
Introduction
Guanche is an extinct language, which used to be spoken by the Guanches of the Canary Islands until the 16th or 17th century. It is only known today through a few sentences and individual words.
The name Guanche originally meant "man from Tenerife", and only later did it come to refer to all native inhabitants of the Canary Islands. Although different dialects were spoken across the archipelago, they are all thought to be varieties of the same language.
Archaeological finds on the Canaries include both Libyco-Berber and Punic inscriptions in rock carvings.
The verb
Vacaguaré!
(English: I prefer to die)