Malibu languages explained

Malibu
Familycolor:	American
Family:	unclassified
Child1:	Malibú
Child2:	Mocana
Glotto:	NA
Glotto2:	mali1242
Glottoname2:	Malibu proper
Glottorefname2:	Malibu
Map:	MalibuLx.png
Mapcaption:	Pre-contact distribution of the Malibu languages

The Malibu languages are a poorly attested group of dead 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.

Classification

The Malibu languages have previously been grouped into a single family with the Chimila language.^[1] However, Chimila is 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]

• Malibú, spoken near the Magdalena River from Tamalameque to Tenerife
• Mocaná, spoken by the Mokaná people in the region east of Cartagena (Rivet 1947b; Simón 1882-1892, vol. 4, p. 298, only two words.)
• Pacabuey, also known as Sompallón or Laguna Malibu, spoken near the Zapatoza lagoon (Unattested.)

To this list, Loukotka adds six more languages, all of which are unattested (excluding Chimila):^[1]

• Papale, spoken on the Fundación River
• Coanoa or Guanoa, spoken on the Cesar River
• Zamirua, spoken on the Ariguaní River
• Cospique, spoken somewhere in the Department of Magdalena
• Mompox, spoken near the city of Santa Cruz de Mompox
• Calamari, spoken along the coast south of Cartagena to Coveñas

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:

• tahana – manzanilla tree
• malibu – chief
• man – small boat
• ytaylaco / yteylaco / yntelas / ytaylas – devil, deity
• entaha / enbutac – cassava

Notes and References

1. Book: Loukotka , Čestmír . Čestmír Loukotka

   . Čestmír Loukotka . Classification of South American Indian Languages . registration . UCLA Latin American Center . 1968 . Los Angeles . 244–5.

2. Book: 2005 . Ethnologue: Languages of the World . 15th . Gordon . Raymond G. . SIL International .
3. Book: Adelaar , Willem F. H. . Pieter C. Muysken. The Languages of the Andes. limited. 2004. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 978-0-521-36275-7. 52.
4. Rivet . Paul . Les indiens Malibú . Journal de la Société des Américanistes de Paris . 36 . 139–144 . 10.3406/jsa.1947.2360 . 1947.