Mochica 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.
27-397: 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. The yunga form is mentioned in the work of Fernando de la Carrera , " yunca " is another form mentioned by varieties of Quechua, " muchic "
54-484: A common ancestral language. This is what makes up a language family , which is a set of languages for which sufficient evidence exists to demonstrate that they descend from a single ancestral language and are therefore genetically related. For example, English is related to other Indo-European languages and Mandarin Chinese is related to other Sino-Tibetan languages . By this criterion, each language isolate constitutes
81-867: A dozen sign languages of the hill tribes in Thailand including the Ban Khor Sign Language . These and more are all presumed isolates or small local families, because many deaf communities are made up of people whose hearing parents do not use sign language, and have manifestly, as shown by the language itself, not borrowed their sign language from other deaf communities during the recorded history of these languages. Some languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families because their genetic relationship to other languages has been established. This happened with Japanese and Ryukyuan languages , Korean and Koreanic languages , Atakapa and Akokisa languages , Tol and Jicaque of El Palmar languages, and
108-446: A family of its own. In some situations, a language with no ancestor can arise. This frequently happens with sign languages —most famously in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language , where deaf children with no language were placed together and developed a new language. Caution is required when speaking of extinct languages as language isolates. Despite their great age, Sumerian and Elamite can be safely classified as isolates, as
135-450: A few remaining native speakers, with no new acquisition, highly restricted use, and near-universal multilingualism. "Extinct" languages have no native speakers, but are sufficiently documented to be classified as isolates. With few exceptions, all of Africa's languages have been gathered into four major phyla: Afroasiatic , Niger–Congo , Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan . However, the genetic unity of some language families, like Nilo-Saharan ,
162-521: A language previously considered an isolate may no longer be considered one, as happened with the Yanyuwa language of northern Australia , which has been placed in the Pama–Nyungan family. Since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language is an isolate. A genetic relationship is when two different languages are descended from
189-589: A language to classify it as either a language isolate or as a part of another language family. Unclassified languages are different from language isolates in that they have no demonstrable genetic relationships to other languages due to a lack of sufficient data. In order to be considered a language isolate, a language needs to have sufficient data for comparisons with other languages through methods of historical-comparative linguistics to show that it does not have any genetic relationships. Many extinct languages and living languages today are very poorly attested, and
216-1007: A program to learn this language, in order to preserve the ancient cultural heritage in the area. This program has been well received by people and adopted by many schools, and also have launched other activities such as the development of ceramics, mates, etc. Language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America , Tiwi in Australia and Burushaski in Pakistan are all examples of such languages. The exact number of language isolates
243-613: Is only mentioned by the Augustinian father Antonio de la Calancha in 1638, in 1892 Ernst Middendorf it germanizes as " muchik ", the form " chimu " is a hypothesis on the part of Middendorf in accordance with the knowledge of that time in the 19th century, when he considered Mochica as a language of the Chimos, but which is currently discarded because it is clearly the Quingnam language . An informal group called by linguistics neo-mochica uses
270-659: Is questionable, and so there may be many more language families and isolates than currently accepted. Data for several African languages, like Kwisi , are not sufficient for classification. In addition, Jalaa , Shabo , Laal , Kujargé , and a few other languages within Nilo-Saharan and Afroasiatic -speaking areas may turn out to be isolates upon further investigation. Defaka and Ega are highly divergent languages located within Niger–Congo -speaking areas, and may also possibly be language isolates. Current research considers that
297-522: Is the Nicaraguan Sign Language , a well documented case of what has happened in schools for the deaf in many countries. In Tanzania, for example, there are seven schools for the deaf, each with its own sign language with no known connection to any other language. Sign languages have also developed outside schools, in communities with high incidences of deafness, such as Kata Kolok in Bali, and half
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#1732868912712324-458: Is yet unknown due to insufficient data on several languages. One explanation for the existence of language isolates is that they might be the last remaining member of a larger language family, said language possibly could have had relatives in the past that have since disappeared without being documented leaving it an orphaned language much like the Ket language spoken in central Siberia who belongs to
351-465: The "Papuasphere" centered in New Guinea includes as many as 37 isolates. (The more is known about these languages in the future, the more likely it is for these languages to be later assigned to a known language family.) To these, one must add several isolates found among non- Pama-Nyungan languages of Australia : Quingnam language The Quingnam language was a pre-Columbian language that
378-522: The Xincan Guatemala language family in which linguists have grouped the Chiquimulilla , Guazacapán , Jumaytepeque , and Yupiltepeque languages. Below is a list of known language isolates, arranged by continent, along with notes on possible relations to other languages or language families. The status column indicates the degree of endangerment of the language, according to the definitions of
405-590: The UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger . "Vibrant" languages are those in full use by speakers of every generation, with consistent native acquisition by children. "Vulnerable" languages have a similarly wide base of native speakers, but a restricted use and the long-term risk of language shift . "Endangered" languages are either acquired irregularly or spoken only by older generations. "Moribund" languages have only
432-456: The artificial form " muchik ", when the most historically used form is " mochica " or " yunga ". Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Trumai , Arawak , Kandoshi , Muniche , Barbakoa , Cholon-Hibito , Kechua , Mapudungun , Kanichana , and Kunza language families due to contact. Jolkesky (2016) also suggests that similarities with Amazonian languages may be due to
459-578: The early migration of Mochica speakers down the Marañón and Solimões . It is proven and accepted by linguists that it was spoken by those of the Sican culture , it is not proven that it was spoken by those of the Moche culture , and it is ruled out that it was spoken by the chimos , since it is proven that they spoke Quingnam . The only varieties are according to each researcher who compiled their vocabulary, so we have
486-673: The fact that they cannot be linked to other languages may be a reflection of our poor knowledge of them. Hattic , Gutian , and Kassite are all considered unclassified languages, but their status is disputed by a minority of linguists. Many extinct languages of the Americas such as Cayuse and Majena may likewise have been isolates. Several unclassified languages could also be language isolates, but linguists cannot be sure of this without sufficient evidence. A number of sign languages have arisen independently, without any ancestral language, and thus are language isolates. The most famous of these
513-969: The language is a single tonada , Tonada del Chimo , preserved in the Codex Martínez Compañón among many watercolours illustrating the life of Chimú people during the 18th century: 1st voice: Ja ya llũnch, ja ya llõch Ja ya llũnch, ja ya lloch [ sic ] In poc cha tanmuisle pecan muisle pecan e necam 2nd voice: Ja ya llũnch, ja ya llõch Ja ya llũnch 1st voice: E menspocehifama le qui ten que consmuiſle Cuerpo lens e menslocunmunom chi perdonar moitin Roc 2nd voice: Ja ya llõch Ja ya llũnh,[sic] ja ya llõch 1st voice: Chondocolo mec checje su chriſto po que si ta mali muis le cuer po[sic] lem. lo quees aoscho perdonar me ñe fe che tas 2nd voice: Ja ya llũnch, ja ya llõch Ja ya llũnch, ja ya llõch Quingnam , possibly
540-455: The language of the conquerors for trade and survival. Below are numerals from an early 17th-century manuscript found at Magdalena de Cao (Quilter et al. 2010, as transcribed by Urban 2019 ). Although the manuscript does not indicate which language the numerals belong to, Quingnam is assumed to be the most likely candidate based on location and other clues: The numerals tau (4), sut (6), canchen (7), and pachac (100) are loanwords from
567-527: The languages are well enough documented that, if modern relatives existed, they would be recognizably related. A language thought to be an isolate may turn out to be related to other languages once enough material is recovered, but this is unlikely for extinct languages whose written records have not been preserved. Many extinct languages are very poorly attested, which may lead to them being considered unclassified languages instead of language isolates. This occurs when linguists do not have enough information on
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#1732868912712594-542: The same as Lengua (Yunga) Pescadora, is sometimes taken to be a dialect, but a list of numerals was discovered in 2010 and is suspected to be Quingnam or Pescadora, not Mochica. It was common in the 19th century to relate Mochica mainly to Mandarin, Japanese and Quechua. Currently it is discarded and is considered an isolated language . A simple way to check this is to use its our fathers for comparative linguistic purposes: The Gestión de Cultura of Morrope in Peru has launched
621-536: The same as Quingnam. A letter found during excavations at Magdalena de Cao Viejo in the El Brujo Archaeological Complex includes a list of decimal numerals which may be Quingnam or Pescadora, but they are not Mochica . The Quingnam language became extinct shortly after the arrival of the conquistadors . The core Chimú city, Chan Chan , was in the vicinity of the new Spanish city of Trujillo and became overwhelmed by it, with people needing to pick up
648-620: The standard to be seen as different languages. Examples include Japanese and Georgian : Japanese is now part of the Japonic language family with the Ryukyuan languages , and Georgian is the main language in the Kartvelian language family. There is a difference between language isolates and unclassified languages , but they can be difficult to differentiate when it comes to classifying extinct languages . If such efforts eventually do prove fruitful,
675-1018: The variety of Ernst Middendorf , Compañon , Bruning , etc. According to the list of the vicar of Reque and author of the aforementioned Art, Fernando de la Carrera, the peoples who in 1644 spoke the Mochica language were as follows: Mochica is typologically different from the other main languages on the west coast of South America , namely the Quechuan languages , Aymara , and the Mapuche language . Further, it contains rare features such as: Some suffixes in Mochica as reconstituted by Hovdhaugen (2004): Some examples of lexical items in Mochica from Hovdhaugen (2004): Possessed and non-possessed nouns in Mochica: Locative forms of Mochica nouns: Quantifiers in Mochica: Mochica numerals: The only surviving song in
702-644: The wider Yeniseian language family, had it been discovered in recent times independently from its now extinct relatives such as Yugh and Kott it would have been classified as an isolate. Another explanation for language isolates is that they arose independently in isolation and thus do not share a common linguistic genesis with any other language but themselves. This explanation mostly applies to sign languages that have developed independently of other spoken or signed languages. Some languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families if some of their dialects are judged to be sufficiently different from
729-819: Was spoken by the Chimú people, who lived in the former territories of the Mochicas: an area north of the Chicama Chao River Valley. At the height of Chimú conquests, the language was spoken extensively from the Jequetepeque River in the north, to the Carabayllo (near present-day Lima ) in the south. Fishermen along the Chimú coast spoke a language called Lengua Pescadora (fisherman language) by Spanish missionaries, and disambiguated as Yunga Pescadora by linguists; this may be
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