Cañari–Puruhá languages

Cañari–Puruhá
Geographic
distribution:		 Ecuadoran Andes
Linguistic classification:

Barbacoan?
Chimúan?

  • Cañari–Puruhá
Subdivisions:
Glottolog: None

Cañari (Cañar, Kanyari) and Puruhá (Puruguay, Puruwá) are two poorly attested extinct languages of the Marañón River basin in Ecuador which are difficult to classify. Puruhá is scarcely attested, and Cañari is known primarily from place names. Loukotka (1968) suggests they may have been related instead to Mochica (Yunga) in a family called Chimuan, though Adelaar (2004:397) thinks it is more likely they were Barbacoan languages. (See extinct languages of the Marañón River basin.)