Region Baja California Extinct before 1800 ISO 639-3 None (mis) | Ethnicity Pericú Language family unclassified Glottolog peri1250 | |
 | ||
Pericú is the extinct and essentially unattested language of the Pericú people who lived at the southern tip of Baja California. Jesuit missionaries recognized it as distinct from Waikuri (Guaycura) immediately to the north. It was spoken in the mountainous area around the mission of San José del Cabo, on the southeastern coast from Santiago to La Paz, and on the islands off the east coast as far north as Isla San José.
Contents
Data is extremely limited, amounting to only four words and ten place names.
Classification
Massey (1949) suggested a connection with Waikuri. However, with the benefit of several decades of subsequent research, Laylander (1997) and Zamponi (2004) conclude that the languages were unrelated. The PericÚu may have shared with the Waikuri distinctive physical characteristics such as small bodies and dolichocephalic crania (long-headedness). Those physical characteristics set them apart from most other Native Americans and are consistent with the theory that their language is a language isolate of ancient origin.
Toponyms
Attested toponyms are: