Chimuan (also Chimúan) or Yuncan (Yunga–Puruhá, Yunca–Puruhán) is a hypothetical small extinct language family of northern Peru and Ecuador in the inter-Andean valley. They are held to comprise the Mochica (Yunga), Cañari–Puruhá, and Huancavilca.

Family division

Chimuan is proposed to be consisted of at least three attested languages:

  • Chimuan Mochica (a.k.a. Yunga, Chimú) Cañari–Puruhá Cañari (a.k.a. Cañar, Kanyari) Puruhá (a.k.a. Puruwá, Puruguay)

All languages are now extinct.

Campbell (2012) classifies Mochica and Cañari–Puruhá each as separate language families.

Mochica was one of the major languages of pre-Columbian South America. It was documented by Fernando de la Carrera and Middendorf in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries respectively. It became extinct around 1920, although some people remembered a few words into the late 20th century. Most scholars consider Mochica a language isolate.

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; based on similarities with neighboring languages, he finds a Barbacoan connection more likely.

Quingnam, considered the same language as the lengua pescadora, was sometimes erroneously taken to be a dialect of Mochica, but it is effectively unattested, excepting a list of numerals discovered in 2010 thought likely to be of Quingnam or Pescadora as expected. These numerals are not, however, Mochica.

Mason (1950)

Yunca-Puruhán (Chimuan) internal classification by Mason (1950):

  • Yunca–Puruhán Yuncan North group (Puruhá-Cañari) Puruhá Canyari (Cañari) Manabila (Mantenya) South group (Yunca) Yunga Morropé Eten (?) Chimu Mochica (Chincha) Chanco Atalán Wancavilca (Huancavilca) Mania Tumbez Puna Carake: Apichiki, Cancebi

Mason (1950) added Atalán to the family.

Tovar (1961)

Tovar (1961), partly based on Schmidt (1926), adds Tallán (Sechura–Catacao) to Chimuan (which he calls Yunga-Puruhá). Tovar's (1961) classification below is cited from Stark (1972).

Proposed external relationships

Stark (1972) proposed a Maya–Yunga–Chipayan macrofamily linking Mayan with Uru–Chipaya and Yunga (Mochica).

See also

Further reading

  • Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press.
  • Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-509427-5.
  • Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the world's languages (pp.46–76). London: Routledge.

External links

  • PROEL: