Timotean languages
{{Short description|Language family}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Timótean
|altname=
|region=Venezuela
|familycolor=American
|family=Timotean
|child1=Timote–Cuica
|child2=Mucuchí–Maripú
|glotto=NA
|map=Timote-Cuica languages.png
|mapcaption=Timote and Cuica toponyms
}}
The Timotean languages were spoken in the Venezuelan Andes around what is now Mérida. It is assumed that they are extinct. However, Timote may survive in the so-far unattested Mutú (Loco) language, as this occupies a mountain village (Mutús) within the old Timote state.Lyle Campbell, 2000. American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America.Willem Adelaar with Pieter Muysken, The Languages of the Andes, CUP, 2004:124–125
Genetic relations
There is no apparent connection to the Chibchan, Arawakan, or Cariban families, apart from sporadic resemblances with Paez and some divergent Chibchan languages, so Timotean appears to be an independent family.
Jolkesky (2016) also notes that there are lexical similarities with the Jirajaran languages.{{cite thesis|last=Jolkesky |first=Marcelo Pinho de Valhery |date=2016 |url=http://www.etnolinguistica.org/tese:jolkesky-2016-arqueoecolinguistica |title=Estudo arqueo-ecolinguístico das terras tropicais sul-americanas |type=Ph.D. dissertation |location=Brasília |publisher=University of Brasília |edition=2}}
Languages
There were two closely related languages, each a pair of dialects:
- Timote–Cuica (Miguri, Cuica, "Cicua", spoken by the Timoto–Cuica people)
- Mucuchí–Maripú (Mocochí, Mirripú)
Traditionally, Mucuchí and Mirripú have been classified as dialects of Timote, with Cuica as a distinct language, but the data in Loukotka (1968){{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |author-link=Čestmír Loukotka |title=Classification of South American Indian languages |url=https://archive.org/details/classificationof0007louk |url-access=registration |publisher=UCLA Latin American Center |year=1968 |location=Los Angeles}} indicates that Cuica is a dialect of Timote, and that Mucuchí–Mirripú are a separate language (Kaufman 2007; Campbell 1997, 2012).
Vocabulary
Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Timotean languages.
:
| class="wikitable sortable"
! gloss !! Timote !! Cuica !! Mocochi !! Mirripú |
| one
| kári || karí || karí || karí |
|---|
| two
| gem || xem || xem || xem |
| three
| shuént || shuent || shut || sut |
| head
| ki-kushám || ki-kushan || kisham || |
| ear
| ki-kumeu || ki-kumeu || ti-subú || |
| tooth
| ki-kunñuch || || chi-runch || |
| man
| kiukiai || kiukiai || kaʔak || kage |
| water
| shömpú || shombuch || shimpué || shimpú |
| fire
| shirup || shnopa || churup || chirup |
| sun
| nareúpa || nareupa || umpú || |
| maize
| chxá || chxa || chixsak || chipxak |
| bird
| kiukchú || kchu || || |
| house
| kurakata || kfok || shimanakot || sharakot |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- Fabre: [http://www.ling.fi/Entradas%20diccionario/Dic=Mut%fas.pdf Mutús]
{{Language families}}
{{South American languages}}
Category:Indigenous languages of the Americas
Category:Extinct languages of South America