Enlhet

Enlhet is a member of the Mascoian language family spoken by about 6,400 people in the Gran Chaco region of Paraguay. In particular, it is spoken in the Presidente Hayes Department in central Paraguay. Enhlet is also known as Eenlhit, Northern Lengua, Vowak or Powok. It is closely related to Enxet (Southern Lengua), which is spoken in the same area.

The Enhlet people were originally semi-nomadic. However, war and disease severely affected their communities in the 1930s, and by the 1950s, they were mostly settled in mission stations, or comunidades (communities), set up by Christian Mennonite missionaries. This lead to a loss of culture and traditions.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, several ways to write Enlhet with the Latin script have been devised by missionaries. They are based on Spanish, English or German spelling conventions.

The Enlhet Institute, Nengvaanemkeskama Nempayvaam Enlhet (NNE - "Growing our language and knowledge"), was founded by Ernesto Unruh and Hannes Kalisch in 1995 to document and preserve the Enhlet language and culture. They proposed an orthography for Enhlet in 1997, and work with the Enlhet Teacher's Association to support the teaching of the language in schools.

Enlhet alphabet

Enlhet alphabet

Download alphabet charts for Enlhet (Excel)

Notes

The sound /k/ is written k before h, qu before e, and c elsewhere.

Sample text

Kenyemkek nek, meesmee·yka’ amyep. Taa’ aptalhnengvaekmo·lh ne·nyekhe vaana Tamamhet apkaay’a taalha. Kel yep-hongvokmook nek nahan apmankok, almeta ha pelhkepkok. Seklha’ apteyapma·lhnek vaana, alyelhvasa·lhne elhkepkok. Taa’ ap keltahanyamakpoo·lhnek a Yaptek.

Source: https://enlhet.org/relatos.html

Links

Information about Enlhet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlhet_language
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idioma_enlhet
https://www.bing.com/ck/
https://enlhet.org/nne_english.html
https://enlhet.org/nne_we_english.html
https://pueblosindigenas.es/lenguas/enlhet/

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created on 25.12.25. Last modified: 25.12.25

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