Caranqui language

{{Short description|Extinct language of Ecuador}}

{{Unreferenced|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Caranqui

| altname = Cara, Imbaya (Imbabura)

| nativename =

| region = Ecuador

| ethnicity =

| extinct = 18th century?

| ref =

| familycolor = American

| fam1 = Barbacoan?

| fam2 = Southern?

| iso3 = none

| linglist = qnj

| glotto = imba1237

| glottoname = Imbabura

| glotto2 = kara1506

| glottoname2 = Kara

| states = Cara culture

}}

Caranqui, or Cara (Kara), is an extinct, probably Barbacoan language of Ecuador.

Caranqui was replaced by Quechua, perhaps surviving as late as the 18th century. It seems in turn to have influenced Imbabura Quechua. There are similarities between Caranqui and the Barbacoan languages Pasto and Tsafiki, so Caranqui is often classified as Barbacoan, but the evidence is not conclusive due its poor documentation.