Chimuan languages

Not to be confused with Uru of Ch'imu language.

Chimuan (also Chimúan) or Yuncan (Yunga–Puruhá, Yunca–Puruhán) is a hypothetical small extinct language family of northern Peru and Ecuador (inter-Andean valley).

Chimúan
Yuncan
(controversial)
Geographic distribution	Peruvian coast
Linguistic classification	Proposed language family
Subdivisions	Mochica (Yunga) Cañar–Puruhá
Language codes
Glottolog	None

Family division

Chimuan consisted of three attested languages:

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

All languages are now extinct.

Campbell (2012) classifies Mochica and Cañar–Puruhá each as separate language families.^[1]

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

Quingnam, possibly the same language as Lengua (Yunga) Pescadora, is sometimes taken to be a dialect of Mochica, but it is unattested, unless a list of numerals discovered in 2010 turns out to be Quingnam or Pescadora as expected. Those numerals are not, however, Mochica.

Mason (1950)

Yunca-Puruhán (Chimuan) internal classification by Mason (1950):^[2]

• 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) also included Atalán, which is no longer considered to be part of the Yunca-Puruhán (Chimuan) family.

Tovar (1961)

Tovar (1961),^[3] partly based on Schmidt (1926),^[4] adds Tallán (Sechura–Catacao) to Chimuan (which he calls Yunga-Puruhá). Tovar's (1961) classification below is cited from Stark (1972).^[5]

• Yunga–Puruhá
  • Northern (Puruha-Cañari)
    • Puruhá
    • Cañari
  • Central (Tallán)
    • Sec
    • Sechura
    • Colán
    • Catacaos
  • Southern
    • Yunga

Proposed external relationships

Main article: Maya–Yunga–Chipayan languages

Stark (1972) proposed a Maya–Yunga–Chipayan macrofamily linking Mayan with Uru–Chipaya and Yunga (Mochica).^[5]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Chimuan languages.^[6]

gloss	Chimú	Eten	Cañari	Puruhá
one	onkó	unik
two	atput	atput		pax
head	lek	xäts	gíchan
hand	möch	metsan
water	leng	xa	kay	la
fire	hog	óx
sun	sheang	sheang	chán
maize	aixa	mang		manga
bird	ñaíñ	ñaíñ		ñay
jaguar	räk	rak	guagal	guagua
fish	shl'ak	t'ak		shl'ak
house	ánik	an	án	án

See also

• Mochica language
• Sechura–Catacao languages