Chimuan is proposed to be consisted of at least three attested languages: •
Chimuan •
Mochica ( Yunga, Chimú) •
Cañari–Puruhá • Cañari ( Cañar, Kanyari) • Puruhá ( Puruwá, Puruguay) All languages are now extinct. Campbell (2012) classifies
Mochica and
Cañari–Puruhá each as separate language families. Mochica was one of the major languages of
pre-Columbian South America. It was documented by Fernando de la Carrera and
Middendorf in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries respectively. It became extinct around 1920, although some people remembered a few words into the late 20th century. Most scholars consider Mochica a
language isolate. Cañari and Puruhá are documented with only a few words. These two languages are usually connected with Mochica. However, as their documentation level is so low, it may not be possible to confirm this association. According to Adelaar & Muysken (2004), Jijón y Caamaño's evidence of their relationship is only a single word: Mochica
nech "river", Cañari
necha; based on similarities with neighboring languages, he finds a
Barbacoan connection more likely.
Quingnam, considered the same language as the
lengua pescadora, was sometimes erroneously taken to be a dialect of Mochica, but it is effectively unattested, excepting a list of numerals discovered in 2010 thought likely to be of Quingnam or Pescadora as expected. These numerals are not, however, Mochica.
Mason (1950) Yunca-Puruhán (Chimuan) internal classification by
Mason (1950): •
Yunca–Puruhán • Yuncan • North group (
Puruhá-Cañari) • Puruhá • Canyari (Cañari) • Manabila (Mantenya) • South group (
Yunca) • Yunga • Morropé • Eten (?) • Chimu • Mochica (Chincha) • Chanco •
Atalán • Wancavilca (Huancavilca) • Mania • Tumbez • Puna • Carake: Apichiki, Cancebi Mason (1950) added
Atalán to the family.
Tovar (1961) Tovar (1961), partly based on Schmidt (1926), adds
Tallán (
Sechura–Catacao) to Chimuan (which he calls
Yunga-Puruhá). Tovar's (1961) classification below is cited from Stark (1972). •
Yunga–Puruhá •
Northern (Puruha-Cañari) •
Puruhá •
Cañari •
Central (
Tallán) •
Sec •
Sechura •
Colán •
Catacaos • Southern •
Yunga ==Proposed external relationships==