The Chibchan languages (also known as 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 Muisca , 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.
9-758: A larger family called Macro-Chibchan , which would contain the Misumalpan languages , Xinca , and Lenca , was found convincing by Kaufman (1990). Based primarily on evidence from grammatical morphemes, Pache (2018, 2023) suggests a distant relationship with the Macro-Jê languages . Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Andaki , Barbakoa , Choko , Duho , Paez , Sape , and Taruma language families due to contact. The extinct languages of Antioquia , Old Catío and Nutabe have been shown to be Chibchan (Adelaar & Muysken, 2004:49). The language of
18-576: A Chibchan-Paezan stock with Barbacoan , Chibchan, Chocoan , Jirajaran , and the isolates Betoi , Kamsá ( Sibundoy ), Yaruro , Esmeraldeño , Mochica , Cunza , Itonama , and Yurumanguí . An automated computational analysis ( ASJP 4) by Müller et al. (2013) also found lexical similarities between Chibchan and Misumalpan . However, since the analysis was automatically generated, the grouping could be either due to mutual lexical borrowing or genetic inheritance. Constenla (2005) reconstructed five vowels and eleven consonants for Proto-Lenmichian, with
27-589: A misinterpreted Kuna vocabulary, was actually Chocoan , but there is little evidence. The Cofán language (Kofán, Kofane, A'i) of Ecuador and Colombia has been erroneously included in Chibchan due to borrowed vocabulary. On the basis of shared grammatical innovations, Pache (2023) argues that Pech is most closely related to the Arhuacic languages of northern Colombia, forming a Pech-Arhuacic subgroup. Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016): ( † = extinct) Below
36-435: Is a full list of Chibchan language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties. Pache (2018) is the most recent reconstruction of Proto-Chibchan. Other reconstructions include Holt (1986). Proto-Chibchan reconstructions by Constenla (1981): Proto-Chibchan horticultural vocabulary (Constenla 2012): Proto-Chibchan reconstructions by Pache (2018): Macro-Chibchan Macro-Chibchan
45-628: Is a proposed grouping of the languages of the Lencan , Misumalpan , and Chibchan families into a single large phylum ( macrofamily ). 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
54-627: The Tairona is unattested, apart from a single word, but may well be one of the Arwako languages still spoken in the Santa Marta range. The Zenú a.k.a. Sinú language of northern Colombia is also sometimes included, as are the Malibu languages , though without any factual basis. Adolfo Constenla Umaña argues that Cueva , the extinct dominant language of Pre-Columbian Panama long assumed to be Chibchan based on
63-544: The following reflexes: There are also a series of nasal vowels. Below is a comparison of selected basic vocabulary items. Kunza language Kunza (Kunza: Likanantaí ) is a mostly extinct language isolate spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish . The last speaker was documented in 1949; however, it has since been learned that
72-645: The language is still spoken in the desert. Other names and spellings include Cunza , Ckunsa , Likanantaí , Lipe , Ulipe , and Atacameño . The language was spoken in northern Chile, specifically in the Chilean villages of Peine, Socaire (near the Salar de Atacama ), and Caspana , and in southern Peru. The last Kunza speaker was found in 1949, although some have been found since according to anthropologists. There are 2,000 Atacameños (W. Adelaar). Unattested varieties listed by Loukotka (1968): A revitalization effort
81-629: 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–Xinca–Lenca. Greenberg (1987) included Paezan languages in
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