Sechura language

The Sechura language, also known as Sec, is an extinct language spoken in the Department of Piura of Peru, near the port of Sechura. It appears to have become extinct by the beginning of the 20th century. The only documentation is that of an 1863 word list by Richard Spruce, as well as a word list by Bishop Martínez Compañón (1782–1790).

Classification

Sechura is typically considered a language isolate. However, it shows similarities with neighboring Tallán. This was recognized as early in 1924 by Paul Rivet, and also considered by others such as Čestmír Loukotka and Terrence Kaufman. In comparing word lists from Sechura and Tallán, Torero finds six likely cognates between the two:

However, Glottolog says the data is not compelling.

Vocabulary

The "plan" of Martínez Compañón

Sechura is primarily known from a 43-word list in a document referred to as the "plan" collected by Martínez Compañón between 1782 and 1785. The "plan" is part of a larger work, known as the Codex Martínez Compañón, detailing life in colonial Peru. Notably, the work also contains a number of watercolors, which were captioned by Martínez Compañón's personal secretary Pedro Agustín de Echevarri, who presumably also wrote down the "plan".

There are two copies of the "plan", one held in Bogotá and the other in Madrid. Both copies include 43-word lists for the Quechua, Mochica (Yunga), Sechura, Colán, Catacaos, Culli, Hibito and Cholón languages, as well as Spanish. The Colán and Catacaos languages are generally subsumed under the name Tallán, and they are closely related, probably dialects of a single language. The two versions of the "plan" have certain differences from each other, particularly in the spelling of the transcriptions.

A number of diacritics are employed in the vocabularies. Their meaning is not elaborated upon in the "plan", although certain diacritics are employed in only some of the languages, and are apparently not merely decorative in purpose.

Wordlist

(M) indicates a reading of the Madrid list, and (B) indicates the Bogotá list.

Spruce's 1863 wordlist

British botanist Richard Spruce collected a wordlist of Sechura in 1863. It was identified as Sechura from comparison with the "plan" of Martínez Compañón.

Wordlist

Below is Spruce's 1863 word list as transcribed by Matthias Urban (2015). Some transcriptions are uncertain, with alternative transcriptions following semicolons.

gloss Sechura man recla; reda woman cucatama son or daughter ñosma dog tono hawk kilkil serpent kon’mpar lizard ludac; luctac fish xuma head teuma stomach puesa foot lava eye uchi nose chuna mouth collo hearing tapa; fapa water xoto light yura maize llumash sweet potato chapru road yuvirma come here! xoroc tima; xoroc tema be quiet! neshi come along uchan; uchau no shushca yes yé turkey, buzzard roncho beach coyu roro cotton sono; suno devil ñash good day amatioo how are you? ubrun Cuma face re sea taholma pot pillacala father in law ratichma; rutichma mother in law naminma where is your husband? xamanmi recla here it is cha