Paezan (also Páesan, Paezano, Interandine) may be any of several

hypothetical A hypothesis (plural hypotheses) is a proposed explanation for a phenomenon. For a hypothesis to be a scientific hypothesis, the scientific method requires that one can test it. Scientists generally base scientific hypotheses on previous obser ...

or obsolete language-family

proposals Proposal(s) or The Proposal may refer to: * Proposal (business) * Research proposal * Proposal (marriage) * Proposition, a proposal in logic and philosophy Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Proposal'' (album) Films * ''The Proposal'' ...

of Colombia and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

named after the Paez language.

Proposals

Currently, Páez (Nasa Yuwe) is best considered either a

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...

or the only surviving member of an otherwise extinct

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in his ...

(Adelaar & Muysken 2004, Gordon 2005, Matteson 1972, Fabre 2005). It has often been grouped with other languages in a ''Paezan'' family, but several of these proposals are based on a historical error. Even before the discovery of the error, Campbell (1997: 173) stated, "There is no consensus upon Paezan, and opinions vary greatly".

Páez, Panzaleo, Andaquí

One of the most often repeated statements (e.g. Loukota 1968; Kaufman 1990, 1994) is the supposed connection between Páez and the extinct

Panzaleo Panzaleo (''Pansaleo, Quito, Latacunga'') is a poorly attested and unclassified languages, unclassified Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous American language that was spoken in the region of Quito until the 17th century. Attestation Mu ...

(also known as Pansaleo, Latacunga, or Quito), formerly spoken in

highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia * So ...

. However, Panzaleo is poorly

documented A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

and the

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, eviden ...

for this relationship is weak and may be from language contact. Thus, Panzaleo may best be considered an

unclassified Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to know ...

isolate (Adelaar & Muysken 2004: 393-397; Campbell 1997). The Andaquí isolate (also extinct) is often connected with Páez in a Paezan grouping. Documentation is a 20-page list of words and expressions by an anonymous author published in 1928 and another word list collected in 1854 by a priest (Manuel María Albis). There are a number of similarities in vocabulary between Andaquí and Páez, as noted by Jolkesky (2015)Jolkesky, Marcelo. 2015.
Semejanzas léxicas entre el Páez, el Andakí y el Tinígua
'. and others. In other aspects, the differences are greater. Jolkesky (2015) also found lexical similarities with Tinigua.

Páez and Coconucan

The

Coconucan Coconuco, also known as Guambiano and Misak, is a dialect cluster A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but t ...

languages were first grouped together with Páez by Henri Beuchat & Paul Rivet in 1910 (under a larger ''Chibchan'' family, which is considerably more inclusive than the conservative

Chibchan The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Cos ...

recognized today). Curnow (1998) shows this is based on misinterpretation of a ''Moguex''

vocabulary A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within a person's language. A vocabulary, usually developed with age, serves as a useful and fundamental tool for communication and acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive vocabulary is one of the la ...

of Douay (1888), which is a mix of Páez and Guambiano/Totoró. The error has led to subsequent classifiers (e.g. Kaufman 1990, 1994; Campbell 1997;

Greenberg Greenberg is a surname common in North America, with anglicized spelling of the German Grünberg (''green mountain'') or the Jewish Ashkenazi Yiddish Grinberg, an artificial surname.Beider, Alexander (1993). ''A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from ...

1956, 1987; Tovar & Larruceau de Tovar 1984) to group Páez with Guambiano, missing the obvious identification of Coconucan as Barbacoan. Matteson's 1972 comparison of Páez and Guambiano vocabularies show just a 5.2% overlap, less than comparisons between Páez and

Arawak The Arawak are a group of indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. Specifically, the term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to the Lokono of South America and the Taíno, who historically lived in the Greater ...

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

and Proto-

(respectively 17%, 12%, and 14%). Following

linguists Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

such as Matteson (1972), Curnow (1998), Curnow & Liddicoat (1998), and Adelaar & Muysken (2004), the Coconucan languages are now placed under Barbacoan. The question of connections between Páez, Panzaleo, and Andaquí remains open.

More distant relations

Prior to Curnow's correction, the Paez–Coconucan "family" had been connected to various other families. Greenberg included Paezan in a ''

Macro-Chibchan Macro-Chibchan is a proposed grouping of the languages of the Lencan, Misumalpan, and Chibchan families into a single large phylum (macrofamily). History The Lencan and Misumalpan languages were once included in the Chibchan family proper, but ...

'' (or ''Chibchan–Paezan'') stock with Barbacoan,

, Chocoan, Jirajaran, and the isolates Betoi, Kamsá (Sibundoy),

Yaruro The Yaruro people (or Pumé, according to their self-determination) are a Circum- Caribbean indigenous people, native to the ecoregion of Llanos in Venezuela, located west of the Orinoco River.

, Esmeraldeño, Mochica,

Cunza Kunza is an extinct language isolate once spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish. The last speaker was documented in 1949. Other names and spellings include ...

(Atacameño), Itonama, and Yurumanguí.

Morris Swadesh Morris Swadesh (; January 22, 1909 – July 20, 1967) was an American linguist who specialized in comparative and historical linguistics. Swadesh was born in Massachusetts to Bessarabian Jewish immigrant parents. He completed bachelor's and mas ...

's ''Paezan'' included Páez, Barbacoan, Coconucan, Andaquí, Cunza, Kapixana, and Mashubí. Kaufman's (1990, 1994) '' Macro-Páesan "cluster"'' proposal included "Paesan" (as explained above)–Barbacoan, Cunza–Kapixana, Betoi, Itonama, and Warao.

References

Bibliography

* Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). ''The languages of the Andes''.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

language surveys. Cambridge University Press. *

Beuchat Beuchat International, better known as Beuchat, is a company that designs, manufactures and markets underwater equipment. It was established in 1934 in Marseille, France, by Georges Beuchat, who descended from a Swiss watchmaking family. Geo ...

, Henri; & Rivet, Paul. (1910). Affinités des langues du sud de la Colombie et du nord de l'Équateur. ''Le Mouséon'', ''11'', 33-68, 141-198. * Branks, Judith; Sánchez, Juan Bautista. (1978). ''The drama of life: A study of life cycle customs among the Guambiano, Colombia, South America'' (pp xii, 107). Summer Institute of Linguistics Museum of Anthropology Publication (No. 4). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics Museum of Anthropology. * Brend, Ruth M. (Ed.). (1985). ''From

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

to discourse: Studies in six Colombian languages'' (p. vi, 133). Language Data, Amerindian Series (No. 9). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. * Campbell, Lyle. (1997). ''American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America''. New York: Oxford University Press. . * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1981). Comparative Chibchan phonology. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Pennsylvania). * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1991). ''Las lenguas del área intermedia: Introducción a su estudio areal''. San José: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica. * Constenla Umaña, Adolfo. (1993). ''La familia chibcha''. In (M. L. Rodríguez de Montes (Ed.), ''Estado actual de la classificación de las lenguas indígenas de Colombia'' (pp. 75–125). Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. * Curnow, Timothy J. (1998). Why Paez is not a Barbacoan language: The nonexistence of "Moguex" and the use of early sources. ''International Journal of American Linguistics'', ''64'' (4), 338-351. * Curnow, Timothy J.; & Liddicoat, Anthony J. (1998). The Barbacoan languages of Colombia and Ecuador. ''Anthropological Linguistics'', ''40'' (3). * Douay, Léon. (1888). Contribution à l'américanisme du Cauca (Colombie). ''Compte-Rendu du Congrès International des Américanistes'', ''7'', 763-786. * Fabre, Alain. (2005). ''Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos''. (To appear). * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1960). General classification of Central and South American languages. In A. Wallace (Ed.), ''Men and cultures: Fifth international congress of anthropological and ethnological sciences (1956)'' (pp. 791–794). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. * Greenberg, Joseph H. (1987). ''Language in the Americas''. Stanford: Stanford University Press. * Heinze, Carol (Ed.). (1978). ''Estudios chibchas 2'' (pp. iv, 140). Serie Sintáctica (No. 9). Bogota: Ministerio de Gobierno and Instituto Lingüístico de Verano. * Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), ''Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages'' (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. . * Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), ''Atlas of the world's languages'' (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge. * Key, Mary R. (1979). ''The grouping of South American languages''. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. * Landaburu, Jon. (1993). Conclusiones del seminario sobre classificación de lenguas indígenas de Colombia. In (M. L. Rodríguez de Montes (Ed.), ''Estado actual de la classificación de las lenguas indígenas de Colombia'' (pp. 313–330). Bogotá: Instituto Caro y Cuervo. * Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). ''Classification of South American Indian languages''. Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California.

External links

* Proel
Sub-tronco Paezano
* Proel

{{South American languages Languages of Colombia Languages of Ecuador Macro-Paesan languages Proposed language families