Pech and the Basic Internal Classification of Chibchan

Abstract

This paper contributes to the basic internal classification of Chibchan. Currently, the most widely accepted hypothesis is that Proto-Chibchan first split into two branches: the ancestor of Pech and the ancestor of all the other Chibchan languages, which are subsumed under the label of Core Chibchan. This paper presents evidence casting doubt on this structure—namely, nine innovations that Pech shares exclusively with Chibchan languages of the Arhuacic subgroup spoken in northern Colombia. These shared innovations are phonological, morphological, and lexical and suggest the existence of a Pech-Arhuacic subgroup. They also suggest that a bifurcation of Proto-Chibchan into the ancestor of Pech and the ancestor of all other Chibchan languages cannot be maintained. This observation has implications for our understanding of migration in the Isthmo-Colombian Area.