| Caxcan | |
|---|---|
| Cazcan | |
| Native to | Mexico |
| Region | Zacatecas |
| Ethnicity | Caxcan |
| Era | attested 16th-17th centuries |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
0w2 | |
| Glottolog | None |
 Caxcan | |
Caxcan or Cazcan (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, perhaps most closely related to Huichol or Southern Tepehuan. Other hypotheses include a close relationship with Nahuan, and according to José Ignacio Dávila Garibi, the Caxcan language was mutually intelligible with Classical Nahuatl.1: 96 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.2
Lexicon
Among the few words attested are cazcan "there isn't any" (the response to the first Spanish demand for food), yecotl "quemedor", and aguano "war chief".3
References
References
- Ocampo, Daisy (2023). Where we belong: Chemehuevi and Caxcan preservation of sacred mountains. Tucson: The University of Arizona Press. ISBN 978-0-8165-4181-2.
- Frank Gille, 1974. Encyclopedia of Indians of the Americas, volume 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