Cazcan language explained

Cazcan
Nativename:Caxcan
States:Mexico
Ethnicity:Caxcan
Extinct:17th century?
Familycolor:Uto-Aztecan
Fam1:Uto-Aztecan
Fam2:Corachol?
Iso3:none
Linglist:0w2
Glotto:none

Cazcan, or Caxcan (Kaskán), was the language of the Caxcan, one of the Chichimeca peoples of Mexico. It is known only from a few word lists recorded in the 16th and 17th centuries. The language was definitely part of the Uto-Aztecan family, probably related to Huichol or possibly Southern Tepehuan. There appear to have been dialectal differences between the major Caxcan valleys, and it is likely that several other languages were spoken in Caxcan territory.[1]

Lexicon

Among the few words attested are cazcan "there isn't any" (the response to the first Spanish demand for food), yecotl "quemedor", aguano "war chief".[2]

Notes and References

  1. Frank Gille, 1974. Encyclopedia of Indians of the Americas, volume 2
  2. Robert Barlow & George Smisor, eds. (1943), Faustino Galicia Chimalpopoca, Nombre de Dios, Durango: Two Documents in Náhuatl Concerning Its Foundation: Memorial of the Indians Concerning Their Services, C. 1563; Agreement of the Mexicans and Michoacanos, 1585