Extinct languages of the Marañón River basin


The Marañón River basin, at a low point in the Andes which made it an attractive location for trade between the Inca Empire and the Amazon basin, once harbored numerous languages of the Americas|languages] which have been poorly attested or not attested at all. Those of the middle reaches of the river, above the Amazon basin, were replaced in historical times by Aguaruna, a Jivaroan 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 leaves it unclassified. Bolona is essentially unattested.
North of the basin were Puruhá, Cañar, Panzaleo, Caranqui, and Pasto. 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 finds this more likely than a proposal that Puruhá and Cañar 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, Bagua, Chacha, Copallén, Tabancale, Chirino, and Sácata.

Copallén

Four words are attested from Capallén : quiet 'water', chumac 'maize', olaman 'firewood', ismare 'house'. The word for water resembles the toponymic element -cat, posited to be an otherwise unknown language of the region. However, this is insufficient to identify Copallén as a Cholónan language. It was spoken in villages of Llanque, Las Lomas, and Copallen, department of Cajamarca.

Tabancale

Five words of Tabancale are recorded: yema 'water', moa 'maize', 'firewood', 'fire', tie 'house'. These do not correspond to any known language or family, so Tabancale is unclassified and potentially a language isolate. It was spoken in Aconipa, department of Cajamarca.

Chirino

The Chirino were one of the principal peoples of the area. Based on the four words which were recorded, yungo 'water', yugato 'maize', xumás 'firewood', paxquiro 'grass', their language would appear to be related to Candoshi.

Sácata

Three words of the language of Sácata, apparently that of the Chillao people, are recorded: unga 'water', umague 'maize', chichache 'fire'. Connections have been suggested with Candoshí and Arawakan, but the evidence is insufficient.

Rabona

Rabona, formerly spoken in the district of Santiago de las Montañas in Ecuador, is poorly attested. Based on limited evidence, predominantly plant names, many sources have grouped Rabona with Candoshi-Shapra.

Vocabulary

The following is a vocabulary table for Patagón, Bagua, Chacha, Copallén, Tabancale, Chirino, and Sácata combined from data given in the sections above:
watermaizefirewoodfirehousesheepgrasscome herepuma, bear
Patagóntunáanásviuecoará
Baguatunalanchonacxé
Chacha-gach, -gat, -gote oc, occ
Copallénquiet chumacolamanismare
Tabancaleyemamoaoymelalaque tie
Chirinoyungoyugatoxumáspaxquiro
Sácataungaumague chichache