Malibu languages

Malibu
Geographic
distribution:		 Department of Magdalena, Colombia
Linguistic classification: unclassified
Subdivisions:
Malibú
Mocana

Pre-contact distribution of the Malibu languages

The Malibu languages are a poorly attested group of extinct languages once spoken along the Magdalena River in Colombia. Material exists only for two of the numerous languages mentioned in the literature: Malibú and Mocana.

Contents

Classification

The Malibu languages have previously been grouped into a single family with the Chimila language.[1] However, Chimila is now now known to be a Chibchan language,[2] and Adelaar & Muysken regard the grouping of Chimila with the Malibu languages as "without any factual basis".[3]

Family Division

Rivet initially listed three Malibu tribes, each with its own language[4]:

To this list, Loukotka adds six more languages (excluding Chimila)[1]:

Vocabulary

Rivet gives a brief list of words from Malibú and Mocana, but does not distinguish the two languages.[4] A selection of these is provided below:

References

  1. ^ a b Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian Languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center. pp. 244–5. 
  2. ^ Gordon, Raymond G., ed (2005). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (15th ed.). SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com 
  3. ^ Adelaar, Willem F. H.; Pieter C. Muysken (2004). The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 52. ISBN 052136275X. 
  4. ^ a b Rivet, Paul (1947). "Les indiens Malibú". Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris 36: 139–144. doi:10.3406/jsa.1947.2360.