Kalpana Kalpana (Editor)

Cazcan language

Updated on
Edit
Like
Comment
Share on FacebookTweet on TwitterShare on LinkedInShare on Reddit
Native to
  
Mexico

Extinct
  
17th century?

Linguist list
  
0w2

Ethnicity
  
Caxcan

ISO 639-3
  
None (mis)

Language family
  
Uto-Aztecan Corachol? Cazcan

Cazcan, or Caxcan (Kaskán), was the language of the Caxcan, one of the Chichimeca peoples of Mexico. It is known only from a few word lists recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries. The language was definitely part of the Uto-Aztecan family, probably related to Huichol or possibly Southern Tepehuan. There appear to have been dialectical differences between the major Caxcan valleys, and it is likely that several other languages were spoken in Caxcan territory. Some spoke Nahuatl as well.

Among the few words attested are cazcan "there isn't any" (the response to the first Spanish demand for food), yecotl "quemedor", aguano "war chief".

References

Cazcan language Wikipedia