| Chimúan
Yuncan
|
|
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution: |
Peruvian Andes |
| Genetic classification: |
Chimu-Chipaya ? Chimúan |
| Subdivisions: |
Mochica (Yunga)
Cañari-Puruhá
|
Chimuan (also Chimúan) or Yuncan is a small extinct language family of northern Peru and Ecuador (inter-Andean valley).
Contents |
Chimuan consisted of 3 languages:
All languages are now extinct.
Mochica was one of the major languages of pre-Columbian South America. It was documented by Fernando de la Carrera and Middendorff in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries respectively. It became extinct ca. 1950, although some people remember a few words. Adelaar & Muysken (2004) consider Mochica a language isolate for now.
Cañari and Puruhá are documented with only a few words. These two languages are usually connected with Mochica. However, as their documentation level is so low, it may not be possible to confirm this association. According to Adelaar & Muysken (2004), Jijón y Caamaño's evidence of their relationship is only a single word: Mochica nech "river", Cañari necha.
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