Cañari (Cañar, Kanyari) and Puruhá (Puruguay, Puruwá) are two poorly-attested
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 which have been poorly attested or not attested at all. Those ...
in Ecuador that are difficult to classify. Puruhá is scarcely attested, and Cañari is known primarily from placenames. Loukotka (1968) suggests they may have been related instead to
Mochica (Yunga) in a family called
Chimuan,
but Adelaar (2004:397) thinks it is more likely that they were
Barbacoan languages
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 language ...
. (See
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 which have been poorly attested or not attested at all. Those ...
.)
Varieties
Cañari and Puruhá:
*
Cañari
The Cañari (in Kichwa: Kañari) are an indigenous ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the territory of the modern provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador. They are descended from the independent pre-Columbian tribal confederation of the s ...
- extinct language of
Cañar Province
Cañar () is a province in Ecuador. The capital is Azogues. At the time of census 2010 the province had a population of 225,184. It contains the 16th-century ruins of Ingapirca, the best-known Inca settlement in Ecuador and a product of their c ...
, Ecuador
*
Puruhá or Puruguai - extinct language once spoken in
Chimborazo Province
Chimborazo () is a province in the central Ecuadorian Andes. It is a home to a section of Sangay National Park. The capital is Riobamba. The province contains Chimborazo (6,267 m), Ecuador's highest mountain.
Cantons
The province is divided ...
and
Bolívar Province, Ecuador
"Northern Chimú" varieties listed by Loukotka (1968) are given below. All are unattested except for Huancavilca and Manabí.
*Ayahuaca - extinct language spoken in the Conquest days on the
Quiros River and around the city of
Ayahuaca, department of Piura; now Quechuanized.
*Calva - extinct language once spoken in
Loja Province
Loja Province () is one of 24 provinces in Ecuador and shares its southern border on the west with El Oro Province, on the north with El Azuay, and on the east with Zamora-Chinchipe. Founded on its present site in 1548 by Captain Alonso de Mer ...
, Ecuador, north of the Ayahuaca tribe.
*Tumbi / Tumbez - once spoken on the
Tumbes River
The Tumbes River ( es, Río Tumbes or Río Túmbez in Peru; Río Puyango in Ecuador), is a river in South America. The river's sources are located between Ecuadorian El Oro and Loja provinces. It is the border between El Oro and Loja, and afterw ...
and
Naranjal River,
department of Tumbes, Peru.
*Puná / Lapuna - once spoken on
Puná Island
Puná Island (Spanish: ''Isla Puná''), is an island just off the coast of southern Ecuador at approximately 80 degrees west longitude and 3 degrees south latitude. It is located at the head of the Gulf of Guayaquil, south of the mouth of the G ...
, Ecuador.
*Colonche - once spoken on the river of the same name,
Guayas Province
Guayas () is a coastal province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos, Bolívar, Chimborazo, Cañar, and Azuay; to the north by Los R� ...
, Ecuador.
*Chanduy - once spoken in the Sierra Chanduy,
Guayas Province
Guayas () is a coastal province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos, Bolívar, Chimborazo, Cañar, and Azuay; to the north by Los R� ...
, Ecuador.
*Tacame / Atacamez - once spoken on the Pacific coast of
Esmeralda Province.
*Chongon - once spoken on the
Chongón River, Guayas province.
*Coaque - extinct language once spoken on the coast of Ecuador from Galera to the mouth of the
Jama River.
*Manabí / Manta - extinct language of
Manabí Province.
*Huancavilca - extinct language spoken in
Guayas Province
Guayas () is a coastal province in Ecuador. It is bordered to the west by Manabí, Santa Elena, and the Pacific Ocean (as the Gulf of Guayaquil); to the east by Los Ríos, Bolívar, Chimborazo, Cañar, and Azuay; to the north by Los R� ...
around
Guayaquil
, motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America
, pushpin_re ...
and on the
Daule River
The Daule River is a river in Ecuador, in Guayas Province. At Guayaquil, it joins the Babahoyo River; from that point the confluence becomes the Guayas River.
Cities along the river
* Pichincha, Ecuador
* Balzar
*Colimes
* Palestina
* Santa L ...
and
Yaguachi River.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canari-Puruha Languages
Chimuan languages
Barbacoan languages
Extinct languages of South America
Proposed language families