Caxcan language
| Caxcan | |
|---|---|
| Cazcan | |
| Native to | Mexico |
| Region | Zacatecas |
| Ethnicity | Caxcan |
| Era | attested 16th-17th centuries |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
0w2 | |
| Glottolog | None |
Caxcan | |
Caxcan or Cazcan (Kaskán) was the language of the Caxcan, one of the Chichimeca peoples of Mexico. It is known only from a few word lists recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries. The language was definitely part of the Uto-Aztecan family, perhaps most closely related to Huichol or Southern Tepehuan. Other hypotheses include a close relationship with Nahuan, and according to José Ignacio Dávila Garibi, the Caxcan language was mutually intelligible with Classical Nahuatl.[1]: 96 There appear to have been dialectal differences between the major Caxcan valleys, and it is likely that several other languages were spoken in Caxcan territory.[2]
Lexicon
Among the few words attested are cazcan "there isn't any" (the response to the first Spanish demand for food), yecotl "quemedor", and aguano "war chief".[3]
See also
References
- ^ Ocampo, Daisy (2023). Where we belong: Chemehuevi and Caxcan preservation of sacred mountains. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-4181-2.
- ^ Frank Gille, 1974. Encyclopedia of Indians of the Americas, volume 2
- ^ Robert Barlow & George Smisor, eds. (1943), Faustino Galicia Chimalpopoca, Nombre de Dios, Durango: Two Documents in Náhuatl Concerning Its Foundation: Memorial of the Indians Concerning Their Services, C. 1563; Agreement of the Mexicans and Michoacanos, 1585