Palta language

Palta
Palta
Native to	Ecuador
Region	Loja Province
Ethnicity	Palta people
Era	16th century
Language family	Chicham? Palta;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	None

The Palta language is an extinct language of the Ecuadorian Amazon, formerly spoken by the Palta people.

Classification

Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño (1936) classified it as a Chicham language. Kaufman (1994) states that there is "little resemblance", but Adelaar (2004) finds the connection reasonable. In addition to the four words below are toponyms, which commonly end in -anga, -numa, -namá. The latter two suggest the Chicham locative case suffix -num ~ -nam, and Torero (1993) notes that the last resembles Aguaruna (Chicham) namák(a) 'river' as well.

The Malacato language, spoken to the south of Loja, was found in the same "language complex" as Palta. Mason (1950) also lists Malacata as an alternate name for Palta.

Vocabulary

The variety of Palta spoken at Xoroca is attested by only a few words: yumé 'water', xeme 'maize', capal 'fire', let 'firewood' (Jiménez de la Espada, 1586), and some toponyms.

Bibliography

Jiménez de la Espada, Marcos, ed. (1965 [1586]): Relaciones geográficas de Indias: Perú, 3 vols. Biblioteca de Autores Españoles 183–5. Madrid: Atlas.
Jijón y Caamaño, Jacinto (1936–8): Sebastián de Benalcázar, vol. 1 (1936) Quito: Imprenta del Clero; vol. 2 (1938) Quito: Editorial Ecuatoriana.
Jijón y Caamaño, Jacinto (1940–5): El Ecuador interandino y occidental antes de la conquista castellana, vol. 1 (1940), vol. 2 (1941), vol. 3 (1943), vol. 4 (1945). Quito: Editorial Ecuatoriana (1998 edition, Quito: Abya-Yala).

References

↑ "Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Jolkesky 2016) - Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú". www.etnolinguistica.org. Retrieved 2025-01-25.
↑ Moseley, Christopher; Asher, Ronald E. (1994). Atlas of the world's languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-01925-5.
1 2 Adelaar, Willem F. H.; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-48685-2.
↑ Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South American Indians". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians (PDF). Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.
↑ Campbell, Lyle (2024-06-25), "Indigenous Languages of South America", The Indigenous Languages of the Americas (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 182–279, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1, retrieved 2025-06-08

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[Jolkesky-2016-1] "Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Jolkesky 2016) - Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú". www.etnolinguistica.org. Retrieved 2025-01-25.

[2] Moseley, Christopher; Asher, Ronald E. (1994). Atlas of the world's languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-01925-5.

[:0-3] 1 2 Adelaar, Willem F. H.; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-48685-2.

[Mason-19502-4] Mason, John Alden (1950). "The languages of South American Indians". In Steward, Julian (ed.). Handbook of South American Indians (PDF). Vol. 6. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 143. pp. 157–317.

[5] Campbell, Lyle (2024-06-25), "Indigenous Languages of South America", The Indigenous Languages of the Americas (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 182–279, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0004, ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1, retrieved 2025-06-08