Cañari–Puruhá languages
| Cañari–Puruhá | |
|---|---|
| Geographic distribution | Ecuadoran Andes |
| Linguistic classification | Barbacoan? Chimúan?
|
| Subdivisions | |
| Language codes | |
| Glottolog | None |
Cañari (Cañar, Kanyari) and Puruhá (Puruguay, Puruwá) are two poorly-attested extinct languages of the Marañón River basin in Ecuador that are difficult to classify. Puruhá is scarcely attested, and Cañari is known primarily from placenames. Loukotka (1968) suggests they may have been related to Mochica (Yunga) in a family called Chimuan, followed by Kaufman (1994), but Adelaar (2004:397) thinks it is more likely that they were Barbacoan languages. (See extinct languages of the Marañón River basin.)