Yurumanguí language

Yurumanguí
Yurimangí
Spoken in Colombia
Extinct (attested 1768)
Language family
unclassified
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Linguist List qic

Yurumanguí is an extinct language of Colombia. It is known to us only through a short list of words and phrases recorded by Father Christoval Romero and given by him to Captain Sebastián Lanchas de Estrada, who included them in the report of his travels of 1768. Thereafter the language and its speakers disappear from the historical record.

Father Romero's wordlist was discovered in the archives and published, with analysis and commentary, by Rivet (1942), who argued that the language was a member of the Hokan language family. This claim is considered poor and unconvincing; a critique is given by Poser (1992). Loukotka (1968) included it in Chibchan, and Swadesh (1963) saw connections with Opaye and Chamicura (Maipurean). However, it is generally considered unclassifiable due to the paucity of data.

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