The Ɨshɨr Language
Ɨshɨr (also known as Chamacoco) is spoken by the Ɨshɨr indigenous people of the Gran Chaco region of northern Paraguay. Ɨshɨr, along with Ayoreo, is part of the Zamucoan language family. There are less than 1,500 speakers of Ɨshɨr and they are mostly located in several communities along the upper Paraguay River, which forms the country’s border with Brazil.

The Ɨshɨr speak their language amongst themselves but face external pressures to rely on Guarani and Spanish in interactions outside the community. Their language is inextricably tied to the land on which they live, and the community members mentioned above, along with other community leaders, are making efforts to preserve the collective fate of their language and culture. This Talking Dictionary is part of the Living Tongues Institute’s ongoing efforts to provide useful resources to the community.

Overview of the Project
Since 2009, Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages has worked closely with Andres Ozuna Ortiz. He is an indigenous Ɨshɨr leader who is fully engaged in language revitalization efforts. He has published books that contain descriptions of myths, tales, and native plant descriptions, with occasional Spanish translations complementing his native tongue. In 2020, he published a bilingual print dictionary, Diccionario Ɨshɨr Ɨbitoso (Chamacoco) - Español  which was edited by Living Tongues Program Director, Anna Luisa Daigneault. The content of the print dictionary will serve as a guideline to update this Ɨshɨr Talking Dictionary in 2020-2021.

Initial Recordings in 2009
The first set of Ɨshɨr words recorded in this Talking Dictionary came from a visit made in May 2009 by the Enduring Voices team from Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages (K. David Harrison, Gregory D. S. Anderson, Anna Luisa Daigneault, Chris Rainier and Alejandro Chaskielberg). In the towns of Karcha Bahlut, Puerto Diana, and Bahia Negra, the team recorded language tokens and interviews with several members of the Ɨshɨr community. Contributors from Puerto Diana included Alvin Paja Balbuena (referred to within the dictionary by the initials "APB"), Gaspar Paja, Críspulo Martínez (Kafotei), and Agnes Peralta. In Karcha Bahlut the team recorded Ɨshɨr schoolteacher Alejo Barras and his sister Evangeline Barras. At the time of recording in 2009, the Ɨshɨr community was in the process of determining a universal orthography for their language, and one was established years later. This electronic dictionary will be updated to include the standardized orthography.

Phonetic Transcriptions
All Ɨshɨr entries in the dictionary were transcribed into the International Phonetic Alphabet by Swarthmore student Charlie Huntington in 2010. These broad transcriptions are provisional and subject to change as more recordings are analyzed, transcribed and cataloged. The transcriptions use the following IPA symbols:

Vowels: ɑ, a, e, ə, ɪ, ɨ, i, ɔ, u, and the following nasalized counterparts: ɑ̃, ã, ẽ, ɪ̃, ɨ̃, ĩ, ɔ̃, ũ.
Consonants: m, n, p, b, t, d, k, g, ʔ, s, z, ʃ, ʒ, ɣ, h, ɹ, r, l, w, tʃ, dʒ

Acknowledgments
We would like to thank all the Ɨshɨr (Chamacoco) language consultants for their cooperation and contributions. The research for this dictionary was made possible by the support and assistance of the National Geographic Enduring Voices Project, the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, and Swarthmore College.