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Mochica

Mochica was a language isolate once spoken in Peru.

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Mochica · 8.0°S 79.0°W

An isolate: no relationship to any other known language has been demonstrated.

Mochica (Yunga, Mochica: Muchic, Modern Mochica: Ed muchik) is an extinct and revived language isolate formerly spoken by the Moche and Sican cultures in the departments of Lambayeque and La Libertad, along the Peruvian North Coast, until the 1920s. Documented beginning in the 16th century in various colonial and postcolonial sources, Mochica is characterized by its primarily synthetic morphology, a distinctive consonant system, particularly with its laterals, clitic- rather than affix-based morphosyntax, case stacking, and numeral classifiers derived from nouns. In recent times, there have been initiatives to revive the language, such as teaching it in schools and creating modern learning resources for Mochica.

From Wikipedia · Mochica language · CC BY-SA 4.0

Words in Mochica

MeaningWordRomanization
womanmecherque
nameok*
eyeluty*
earmed*
nosef3un*
tooth3utyaN*
tongueed*
handm3uty*
bloodkul*
boneloti*
kneenoS3un*
breastCiCu*
liverpoC3uk*
waterlà
fireol*
sunLaN*
starConyik*
stonepoN*
mountainLemki*
treenep3ut*
leafxoC*
dogfanu*
fishLak*
lousemox*
oneonäk
twoatput*
Imoi5*
youcaN*
wem3uiC*
drinkman*

* in the simplified ASJP transcription

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Vocabulary

Grammar

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

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Glottolog · moch1259 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · omc