Culli language
| Culli | |
|---|---|
| Ilinga | |
| Native to | Peru |
| Region | La Libertad, Cajamarca (Cajabamba), Ancash (Pallasca) |
| Extinct | mid-20th century possible speakers in remote villages |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | cull1235 |
Culle | |
Culle is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger. | |
Culli, also spelled Culle, Cullí, or Kulyi,[1] also called Ilinga,[2] is a poorly attested extinct language of the Andean highlands of northern Peru. It is the original language of the highlands of La Libertad Region, the south of the Cajamarca Region (Cajabamba), and the north of the Ancash region (Pallasca and Bolognesi[3]). It is known through two word lists collected while the language was still spoken and through vocabulary loaned into the Spanish spoken in the region.[4]
Flores Reyna (1996) reports that Culli was spoken by at least one family in the town of Tauca, Pallasca Province, Ancash region, until the middle of the 20th century. While it appears that Culli has been displaced in its whole range by Spanish, the possibility of speakers remaining in some remote village cannot be ruled out altogether.[5]
Culli was the language spoken in the territory of at least three pre-Inca cultures or dominions: the kingdom of Konchuko (Conchucos), in the north of the Ancash region; the kingdom of Wamachuko (Huamachuco), in the highlands of La Libertad region; and Culli was spoken at least in the southern part of the kingdom of Kuismanko (Cuismanco), in the south of the Cajamarca region.
Classification
Because it is poorly attested, it has not been possible to definitively classify Culli. It is typically considered a language isolate.[6][7]
Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with Leco.[8]
Vocabulary
What little is known of the Culli language consists solely of vocabulary.[9]
- Manuscript by Martínez Compañón from the 1700s[10]
- Words collected by Paul Rivet in 1934 from a 1915 wordlist recorded by priest of Cabana[2] Teodoro Meléndez Gonzales of Pallasca, Department of Ancash, Peru
The following wordlist from the "plan" is taken from the Madrid manuscript.
| English gloss (translated) |
Culli (Martínez Compañón) | Culli (Gonzales) | comparisons |
|---|---|---|---|
| animal | animal | ||
| tree | urù | ||
| drink | cumù | Kolan: cũm | |
| candle | nina | Kechua: nina | |
| wood | guro | ||
| firewood | pišoče | ||
| hat | muntua | ||
| dog | korep | ||
| sky | cielo | ||
| heart | čukuáll | ||
| body | cuerpu | ||
| neck | uro | ||
| blanket | maiko | ||
| pain | pillach | ||
| water | coñ | goñ | |
| stars | chuip | Sechura: chúpchúp | |
| woman | ahhi | ||
| fire | mú | ||
| daughter | ahhi ogǒll | cf. ahhi 'woman' | |
| son | usu ogǒll | cf. usú 'man' | |
| flower | chuchú | Hibito: chukchum | |
| river | uram | ||
| brother | quimit | ||
| fruit | huačohu | ||
| happy | cuhi | ||
| grass | paihač | Chimú [Mochica]: pey | |
| man | usú | Katakao: aszat | |
| moon | mùñ | ||
| hand | pui | ||
| eat | miù | ||
| bread eater | huiku-vana | ||
| sea | quidā | ||
| mother | mamǎ | Kechua: mama | |
| dead | coní | ||
| hey! | čo | ||
| bird | pichuñ | pičon | Kechua: pisku |
| waves | còñpulcasù | cf. coñ 'water' | |
| bone | mosčár | ||
| bread | vana | ||
| father | quinù | ||
| foot | mai | ||
| cry | ačasù | Hibito: atzakem | |
| rain | čau | ||
| fish | challuǎ | Kechua: challua | |
| chicken | guallpe | Kechua: atahuallpa | |
| branch | urù saĝ̌ars | ||
| laugh | canquiù | ||
| sandals | maivil | cf. mai 'foot' | |
| sister | cañi | ||
| sun | sú | ||
| earth | pús | ||
| head | ču | ||
| trunk | mučh-kusǧá | ||
| wind | llucá | ||
| belly | odre |
References
- ^ Moseley, Christopher; Asher, Ronald E. (1994). Atlas of the world's languages. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-01925-5.
- ^ a b Urban, Matthias (2024-12-31), Urban, Matthias (ed.), "Small and extinct languages of Northern Peru", The Oxford Guide to the Languages of the Central Andes (1 ed.), Oxford University PressOxford, pp. 419–437, doi:10.1093/oso/9780198849926.003.0014, ISBN 978-0-19-884992-6, retrieved 2026-02-02
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.
- ^ Adelaar, William F.H.; Pieter C. Muysken (2004). The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 401–405. ISBN 0-521-36275-X.
- ^ Adelaar, Willem F. H. (1988-01-01), Jansen; van der Loo; Manning (eds.), "Search for the Culli Language", Continuity and Identity in Native America, BRILL, pp. 111–131, doi:10.1163/9789004660656_009, ISBN 978-90-04-66065-6, retrieved 2025-10-26
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link) - ^ Campbell, Lyle (2024). The indigenous languages of the Americas: history and classification. Oxford scholarship online. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1.
- ^ "Glottolog 5.2 - Culli". glottolog.org. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
- ^ Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2016). Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas (Ph.D. dissertation) (2 ed.). Brasília: University of Brasília.
- ^ Loukotka, Čestmír. 1949. Sur Quelques Langues Inconnues de l'Amerique du Sud. Lingua Posnaniensis I: 53-82.
- ^ Martínez de Compañón, Baltasar Jaime (1782–1785). "PLAN que contiene 43. vozes Castellanas traducidas ãlas õcho lenguas que hablan los Yndios de la costa, Sierras, y Montañas del Obp̃do. de Trugillo del Perù". Trujillo del Perú en el siglo XVIII. Madrid.
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