Chachapoya language

Very little about Chachapoya phonology is known. Voiced stops could occur word-initially, as seen in the names , and , suggesting a possible contrast between voiceless and voiced stops, and some consonants seem to be palatalized or velarized, for instance in and the toponym , though this may involve rising diphthongs instead. There seems to be a five-vowel system, . == Proper names ==

Family names Family names, such as , , , , are mostly short and monosyllabic, though some involve reduplication, like or , or have multiple elements, e.g. , , or . They have been distorted through adaptation to Quechua; for example, the name or became in Quechua. One of the few names which can be identified is Oc or Occ , which according to oral history means 'puma' or 'bear'. Toponyms Chachapoya toponyms ending in are found near water, like in and . Between the town of Cajamarca and the Marañón river is a similar toponymic element, attested variously as , with -cat found further across a wider area of northern Peru. This may be the Cholón word for water; the place name Salcot or Zalcot is found three times in Cajamarca, as well as being the name of a Cholón village meaning 'black water'. == See also ==