Kukurá (Cucurá, Kokura) is a

spurious language Spurious languages are languages that have been reported as existing in reputable works, while other research has reported that the language in question did not exist. Some spurious languages have been proven to not exist. Others have very lit ...

, fabricated by an interpreter in Brazil. Alberto Fric 1901

History

When

Alberto Vojtěch Frič Alberto Vojtěch Frič (, 8 September 1882 Prague – 4 December 1944 Prague) was a famous Czech botanist, ethnographer, writer and explorer. He undertook 8 voyages to America, discovered, described and catalogued many species of cactus ...

visited Rio Verde, Brazil, in 1901 he took with him a Kainguá Amerindian called Guzmán who said he spoke the

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

of the local '' Chavante'' people. A word list was subsequently published for the so-called Kukurá language, thought to be an isolate, in 1931. In 1932

Curt Nimuendajú Curt Unckel Nimuendajú (born Curt Unckel; 18 April 1883 – 10 December 1945) was a German-Brazilian people, Brazilian ethnologist, anthropologist, and writer. His works are fundamental for the understanding of the religion and cosmology of some ...

, who had visited the Rio Verde in 1909 and 1913, showed that Guzmán's wordlist consisted half of fake words and half of mispronounced Guaraní. There was no resemblance to the Ofayé language that was actually spoken in the region. Guzmán had also falsified other vocabularies for which he was the informant.

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the spurious language. :

References

Linguistic hoaxes Languages of Brazil Indigenous languages of South America Spurious languages Constructed languages introduced in the 1900s 1901 in Brazil 1901 introductions {{na-lang-stub