Extinct languages of northern Peru

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Historically, the region of northern Peru once harbored numerous languages of diverse linguistic affiliations. Most of them are poorly attested or not attested at all.

Those of the middle reaches of the Marañón River, above the Amazon basin, were replaced in historical times by Aguaruna, a Chicham language from the Amazon which is still spoken there. The languages further upriver are difficult to identify, due to lack of data. The region was multilingual at the time of the Conquest, and the people largely switched to Spanish rather than to Quechua, though Quechua also expanded during Colonial times.

In Ecuador, at the province of Loja, were Palta, Malacato, Rabona, Bolona, and Xiroa. Historical sources suggest these were closely related, and there is some evidence that Palta was a Jivaroan language. The name Xiroa may be a variant of Jivaro. Rabona is attested by a few words, some of which seem to be Jivaroan, but others of which appear to be Candoshí; since these are plant names, they say little about the classification of the language, and Adelaar (2004:397) leaves it unclassified. Bolona is essentially unattested.

North of the basin were Puruhá (scarcely attested), Cañari (known primarily from characteristic place names), Panzaleo (sometimes classified as Paezan), Caranqui (until the 18th century, seemingly Barbacoan), and Pasto (Barbacoan). Apart possibly from Panzaleo, these languages have elements in common, such as a final syllable -pud and onsets mwe-, pwe-, bwe-. Those suggest that they may have been related, and possibly were all Barbacoan. Adelaar (2004:397) finds this more likely than a proposal that Puruhá and Cañari were Chimuan languages.

In Peru, and further up in the Andes there were also numerous languages. Apart from Mochica and Cholón, the languages of northern Peru are largely unrecorded; the attested Marañón languages are Patagón (Patagón de Perico), Bagua (Patagón de Bagua), Copallén, Tabancale (Aconipa), Chirino, and Sácata. Three more languages, known as -den, -cat, and Chacha (Chachapoya), are not directly documented but known through characteristic suffixes in proper names, including family names and toponyms.

Attested languages

Unattested languages

Vocabulary

The following is a vocabulary table for Patagón, Bagua, Chacha, Copallén, Tabancale, Chirino, Palta (Xoroca) and Sácata, with Candoshi, proto-Taranoan and proto-Arawakan forms given for comparison, combined from data given in the sections above:

See also

• List of unclassified languages of South America
• List of extinct languages of South America
• List of indigenous languages of South America
• Classification of indigenous languages of the Americas
• Omurano language
• -den language

Notes

References

• Adelaar, Willem F. H; Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge Language Surveys. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-36275-7.
• Jiménez de la Espada, Marcos (1965) [1881–1887]. Relaciones geográficas de Indias: Perú. Madrid.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). Classification of South American Indian Languages, ed. Wilbert, Johannes. Los Angeles: University of California (UCLA), Latin American Center.
• Rivet, Paul. (1934). "Population de la province de Jaén. Equateur." In Congrès international des sciences anthropologiques et ethnologiques: compte-rendu de la première session, pp. 245–7. London: Royal Institute of Anthropology.
• Taylor, Anne Christine. (1999). "The Western Margins of Amazonia from the Early Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century". In Salomon and Schwartz. (1999). The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of South America, part 2, pp. 188–256.. Cambridge University Press,
• Torero Fernández de Córdova, Alfredo A. (1993). "Lenguas del nororiente peruano: la hoya de Jaén en el siglo XVI", Revista Andina 11, 2, pp. 447–72. Cuzco: Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas.
• Urban, Matthias (2024). "Small and extinct languages of Northern Peru". The Oxford Guide to the Languages of the Central Andes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198849926.003.0014. ISBN 978-0-19-884992-6.