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Macro-Chibchan
Macro-Chibchan is a proposed grouping of the languages of the Lencan, Misumalpan, and Chibchan families into a single large phylum (macrofamily). History The Lencan and Misumalpan languages were once included in the Chibchan family proper, but were excluded pending further evidence as that family became well established. Kaufman (1990) finds the Chibchan–Misumalpan connection convincing, if as yet unsubstantiated, though Campbell (1997) finds it doubtful. The Xincan family was once included in Macro-Chibchan, but this is now doubtful. Constenla (2005) calls this proposed phylum ''Lenmichí'' (Lencan–Misumalpan–Chibchan) and provides 85 cognate sets which exhibit regular sound correspondences among the three families. He suggests that Chocoan may be related as well. Greenberg proposed a broader conception of Macro-Chibchan, one dismissed by linguists working on the families in question. It included Yanomam, Purépecha, and Cuitlatec in addition to Chibchan–Misumalpan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proposed Language Families
The following is a list of language families. It also includes language isolates, unclassified languages and other types. Major language families By number of languages ''Ethnologue'' 24 (2021) lists the following families that contain at least 1% of the 7,139 known languages in the world: # Niger–Congo (1,542 languages) (21.7%) # Austronesian (1,257 languages) (17.7%) # Trans–New Guinea (482 languages) (6.8%) #Sino-Tibetan (455 languages) (6.4%) #Indo-European (448 languages) (6.3%) #Australian 'dubious''(381 languages) (5.4%) #Afro-Asiatic (377 languages) (5.3%) #Nilo-Saharan 'dubious''(206 languages) (2.9%) #Oto-Manguean (178 languages) (2.5%) #Austroasiatic (167 languages) (2.3%) # Tai–Kadai (91 languages) (1.3%) # Dravidian (86 languages) (1.2%) #Tupian (76 languages) (1.1%) ''Glottolog'' 4.6 (2022) lists the following as the largest families, of 8,565 languages: # Atlantic–Congo (1,406 languages) # Austronesian (1,271 languages) # Indo-European (583 languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Misumalpan Languages
The Misumalpan languages (also Misumalpa or Misuluan) are a small family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples on the east coast of Nicaragua and nearby areas. The name "Misumalpan" was devised by John Alden Mason and is composed of syllables from the names of the family's three members Miskito, Sumo languages and Matagalpan. It was first recognized by Walter Lehmann in 1920. While all the languages of the Matagalpan branch are now extinct, the Miskito and Sumu languages are alive and well: Miskito has almost 200,000 speakers and serves as a second language for speakers of other indigenous languages in the Mosquito Coast. According to Hale, most speakers of Sumu also speak Miskito. External relations Kaufman (1990) finds a connection with Macro-Chibchan to be "convincing", but Misumalpan specialist Ken Hale considered a possible connection between Chibchan and Misumalpan to be "too distant to establish".Hale & Salamanca 2001, p. 35 Classification * Miskito – nearly 200, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macro-Chibchan Languages
Macro-Chibchan is a proposed grouping of the languages of the Lencan, Misumalpan, and Chibchan families into a single large phylum (macrofamily). History The Lencan and Misumalpan languages were once included in the Chibchan family proper, but were excluded pending further evidence as that family became well established. Kaufman (1990) finds the Chibchan–Misumalpan connection convincing, if as yet unsubstantiated, though Campbell (1997) finds it doubtful. The Xincan family was once included in Macro-Chibchan, but this is now doubtful. Constenla (2005) calls this proposed phylum ''Lenmichí'' (Lencan–Misumalpan–Chibchan) and provides 85 cognate sets which exhibit regular sound correspondences among the three families. He suggests that Chocoan may be related as well. Greenberg proposed a broader conception of Macro-Chibchan, one dismissed by linguists working on the families in question. It included Yanomam, Purépecha, and Cuitlatec in addition to Chibchan–Misumalpan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lencan Languages
Lencan is a small family of nearly extinct indigenous Mesoamerican languages. Languages There are two attested Lencan languages, both extinct (Campbell 1997:167). * Salvadoran Lencan was spoken in Chilanga and Potó (thus the alternative language name Potón). Lencans had arrived in El Salvador about 2,000 years B.P. and founded the site of Quelepa. One speaker remains. * Honduran Lencan was spoken with minor dialect differences in Intibucá, Opatoro, Guajiquiro, Similatón (modern Cabañas), and Santa Elena. Some phrases survive; it is not known if the entire language still exists. The languages are not closely related; Swadesh (1967) estimated 3,000 years since separation. Arguedas Cortés (1987) reconstructs Proto-Lencan with 12 consonants (including ejectives) and 5 vowels. External relationships The external relationships of the Lencan languages are disputed. Inclusion within Macro-Chibchan has often been proposed; Campbell (1987) reported that he found no solid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chibchan Languages
The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. The name is derived from the name of an extinct language called ''Chibcha'' or ''Muysccubun'', once spoken by the people who lived on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of which the city of Bogotá was the southern capital at the time of the Spanish Conquista. However, genetic and linguistic data now indicate that the original heart of Chibchan languages and Chibchan-speaking peoples might not have been in Colombia, but in the area of the Costa Rica-Panama border, where the greatest variety of Chibchan languages has been identified. External relations A larger family called ''Macro-Chibchan'', which would contain the Misumalpan languages, Xinca, and Lenca, was found convincing by Kaufman (1990). Pache (2018) suggests a dista ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xincan Languages
Xinca (or ''Xinka'', ''Szinca'') is a small extinct family of Mesoamerican languages, formerly regarded as a single language isolate, once spoken by the indigenous Xinca people in southeastern Guatemala, much of El Salvador, and parts of Honduras. Classification The Xincan languages have no demonstrated affiliations with other language families. Lehmann (1920) tried linking Xincan with Lencan, but the proposal was never demonstrated.Lyle Campbell, 1997. ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America'' An automated computational analysis (ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013)Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Itonama Language
Itonama is a moribund language isolate spoken by the Itonama people in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern Bolivia. Greenberg’s (1987) classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama continues to be considered an isolate or unclassified language. It was spoken on the Itonomas River and Lake in Beni Department. Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Nambikwaran languages due to contact. An automated computational analysis ( ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013)Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yanomam Languages
Yanomaman, also as Yanomam, Yanomáman, Yamomámi, and Yanomamana (also Shamatari, Shirianan), is a family of languages spoken by about 20,000 Yanomami, Yanomami people in southern Venezuela and northwestern Brazil (Roraima, Amazonas State, Brazil, Amazonas). Subdivision Ferreira et al. (2019) Ferreira, Machado & Senra (2019) divide the Yanomaman family into two branches, with six languages in total.Ferreira, Helder Perri; Machado, Ana Maria Antunes; Senra, Estevão Benfica. 2019. As línguas Yanomami no Brasil: diversidade e vitalidade'. São Paulo: Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) and Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). 216pp. # Ninam-Yanomam-Yaroamë #*''Nimam'' #**Ninam language, Ninam (also known as Yanami, Yanami-Ninami) - 900 speakers in Venezuela and Brazil #*''Yanomam-Yaroamë'' #**Waiká language, Yanomám (also known as Waiká) - 6,000 speakers mainly in Venezuela #**Yanomamö language, Yanomamö (also known as Yanomame, Yanomami) - 20,0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbacoan
Barbacoan (also Barbakóan, Barbacoano, Barbacoana) is a language family spoken in Colombia and Ecuador. Genealogical relations The Barbacoan languages may be related to the Páez language. Barbacoan is often connected with the Paezan languages (including Páez); however, Curnow (1998) shows how much of this proposal is based on misinterpretation of an old document of Douay (1888). (See: Paezan languages.) Other more speculative larger groupings involving Barbacoan include the Macro-Paesan "cluster", the Macro-Chibchan stock, and the Chibchan-Paezan stock. Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Atakame, Cholon-Hibito, Kechua, Mochika, Paez, Tukano, Umbra, and Chibchan (especially between Guaymí and Southern Barbacoan branches) language families due to contact. Languages Barbacoan consists of 6 languages: *Northern :* Awan (also known as Awa or Pasto) ::* Awa Pit (also known as Cuaiquer, Coaiquer, Kwaiker, Awá, Awa, Tele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuitlatec Language
Cuitlatec, or Cuitlateco, is an extinct language of Mexico, formerly spoken by an indigenous people known as Cuitlatec. Classification Cuitlatec has not been convincingly classified as belonging to any language family. It is believed to be a language isolate. In their controversial classification of the indigenous languages of the Americas, Greenberg and Ruhlen include Cuitlatec in an expanded Chibchan language family (Macro-Chibchan), along with a variety of other Mesoamerican and South American languages. Escalante Hernández suggests a possible relation to the Uto-Aztecan languages. Geographic distribution Cuitlatec was spoken in the state of Guerrero. By the 1930s, Cuitlatec was spoken only in San Miguel Totolapan. The last speaker of the language, Juana Can, is believed to have died in the 1960s. In 1979, only two elderly women, Florentina Celso and Apolonia Robles, were able to remember about fifty words of the language. Phonology Consonants *The sounds , , , and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paezan Languages
Paezan (also Páesan, Paezano, Interandine) may be any of several hypothetical or obsolete language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language. Proposals Currently, Páez (Nasa Yuwe) is best considered either a language isolate or the only surviving member of an otherwise extinct language family (Adelaar & Muysken 2004, Gordon 2005, Matteson 1972, Fabre 2005). It has often been grouped with other languages in a ''Paezan'' family, but several of these proposals are based on a historical error. Even before the discovery of the error, Campbell (1997: 173) stated, "There is no consensus upon Paezan, and opinions vary greatly". Páez, Panzaleo, Andaquí One of the most often repeated statements (e.g. Loukota 1968; Kaufman 1990, 1994) is the supposed connection between Páez and the extinct Panzaleo (also known as Pansaleo, Latacunga, or Quito), formerly spoken in highlands of Ecuador. However, Panzaleo is poorly documented and the evidence for this rela ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mochica Language
Mochica (also Yunga, Yunca, Chimú, Muchic, Mochika, Muchik, Chimu) is an extinct language formerly spoken along the northwest coast of Peru and in an inland village. First documented in 1607, the language was widely spoken in the area during the 17th century and the early 18th century. By the late 19th century, the language was dying out and spoken only by a few people in the village of Etén, in Chiclayo. It died out as a spoken language around 1920, but certain words and phrases continued to be used until the 1960s. It is best known as the supposed language of the Moche culture, as well as the Chimú culture/Chimor. Classification Mochica is usually considered to be a language isolate, but has also been hypothesized as belonging to a wider Chimuan language family. Stark (1972) proposes a connection with Uru–Chipaya as part of a Maya–Yunga–Chipayan macrofamily hypothesis. Language contact Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Trumai, A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
