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In:Language Contact and Change in Mesoamerica and Beyond
Edited by Karen Dakin, Claudia Parodi and Natalie Operstein
[Studies in Language Companion Series 185] 2017
► pp. 319–334

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Chapter 15
Language contact across the Andes

The case of Mochica and Hibito-Cholón

 | Leiden University
Published online: 30 June 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.185.15elo
Abstract
This paper proposes a case for language contact between two genetically unrelated and extinct Andean language groups: Mochica, which was spoken on the northern coast of Peru, and Hibito and Cholón, which were spoken in the Peruvian northern eastern slopes. The analysis offers evidence of both lexical items and morphological structures that support the hypothesis of contact between these languages. After examining possible contexts of interaction, this paper concludes that the correspondences may have been a consequence of language contact associated with intercultural exchange and trade. This study argues for the value of the possible external relations between Mochica and other languages.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Mochica language
  • 3.The Hibito-Cholón linguistic family
  • 4.Shared lexical and grammatical items
    • 4.1Shared lexical items
    • 4.2Shared and reanalyzed numeral classifiers
      • 4.2.1‘Stones’ and ‘eggs’ as counting devices: Shared numeral classifier between Hibito and Cholón
      • 4.2.2Counting “group of tens” with Mochica <pong> and “group of living beings” with Cholón <pon>
      • 4.2.3Counting “tens” with Cholón <lec> and “many tens” with Mochica <palæc>
    • 4.3Nominalizer <-Vc>: Shared morphological evidence between Mochica and Cholón
  • 5.Scenarios of probable contact between Mochica and Cholón
    • 5.1Pre-Hispanic and colonial contact beyond the eastern slopes
    • 5.2The Sicán culture
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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