Cazcan language explained

Cazcan
Nativename:Caxcan
States:Mexico
Region:Zacatecas
Ethnicity:Caxcan
Familycolor:Uto-Aztecan
Fam1:Uto-Aztecan
Fam2:Corachol?
Iso3:none
Linglist:0w2
Glotto:none
Map:File:ChichimecNations.png
Era:attested 16th-17th centuries

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), Uncoded languages: yecotl "quemedor", aguano "war chief".[2]

See also

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