Mapuche Language - Regional Dialects

Regional Dialects

The number of native speakers of Mapundungun is somewhere between 240,000 and 700,000.

Mapudungun has a number of dialects. On the Chilean side of the Andes known as Ngulumapu a number of variations of the Mapuche language are spoken. The Pehuenche dialect is spoken by the Pehuenche living in the Andes Mountains. The Huillice (also Huilliche, Veliche) dialect was spoken south of the Tolten River. It now has several thousand speakers, most of whom speak Spanish as a first language. These speaker live south of the Mapuche in Chile's Valdivian Coastal Range, Osorno Province and on Chiloé Island.

Due to the migration of Mapudungun speaking peoples and the subsequent Araucanization in Argentina, the Pehuenche dialect is spoken in Neuquén (from Valdivia to Neuquén). The Moluche or Nguluche dialect is spoken from the Limay River to Nahuel Huapi Lake. The Huilliche or Veliche dialect is spoken in the Nahuel Huapi Lake region as well, and also in Valdivia, Chile. While the Ranquenche dialect is spoken in the Chalileo Department and General Acha Department in the La Pampa Province, and in the Río Colorado region.