Culle, also spelled Culli, Cullí, or Kulyi, is a poorly attested extinct language of the Andean highlands of northern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is the original language of the highlands of

La Libertad Region La Libertad (; in English language, English: ''The Liberty'') is a Regions of Peru, department and Regional Government of La Libertad, region in northwestern Peru. Formerly it was known as the Department of La Libertad ('). It is bordered by the L ...

, the south of the Cajamarca Region ( Cajabamba), and the north of the

Ancash region Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, ...

( Pallasca and Bolognesi). It is known through various word lists collected while the language was still spoken and through vocabulary loaned into the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

spoken in the region. Flores Reyna (1996) reports that Culli was spoken by at least one family in the town of Tauca, Pallasca Province, Ancash region, until the middle of the 20th century. While it appears that Culli has been displaced in its whole range by Spanish, the possibility of speakers remaining in some remote village cannot be ruled out altogether. Culli was the language spoken in the territory of at least three Pre-Inca cultures or dominions: The kingdom of Konchuko ( Conchucos), in the north of the Ancash region; the kingdom of Wamachuko (

Huamachuco Huamachuco (possibly from Quechuan languages, Quechua ''waman'', falcon or variable hawk, and Kulyi language, Kulyi ''chuco'', earth or land, "land of falcons") is a town in northern Peru and capital of the province Sánchez Carrión Province, ...

), in the highlands of La Libertad region; and Culli was spoken at least in the southern part of the kingdom of Kuismanko (Cuismanco), in the south of the Cajamarca region.

Classification

Because it is poorly attested, it has not been possible to definitively classify Culle. Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with Leco.

Vocabulary

What little is known of the Culle language consists mostly of vocabulary. A sample list of words is given by Loutkotka (1968); some of these are presented here: *ahhi – ''woman'' *pič – ''bird'' *ču – ''head'' *čukuáll – ''heart'' *mai – ''foot'' *koñ, goñ – ''water'' *kumú – ''drink'' *mú – ''fire'' *sú – ''sun'' *múñ – ''moon'' *urú – ''tree'' *usú – ''man'' A more extensive word list from Loukotka (1949) is given below:Loukotka, Čestmír. 1949. Sur Quelques Langues Inconnues de l'Amerique du Sud. ''Lingua Posnaniensis'' I: 53-82. ;Notes *(Sp.) = Spanish loanword (excluded) ;Sources used by Loukotka (1949) *Manuscript by Martínez Compañón from the 1700s *Words collected by Paul Rivet in 1934 from Teodoro Meléndez Gonzales Pallasca,

Department of Ancash Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, a ...

, Peru :

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culle Language Indigenous languages of the Andes Languages of Peru Extinct languages of South America Languages extinct in the 20th century Language isolates of South America