The Chicham languages, also known as Jivaroan (Hívaro, Jívaro, Jibaro) is a small language family of northern Peru and eastern Ecuador.

Family division

Chicham consists of four languages: This language family is spoken in Amazonas, Cajamarca, Loreto, and San Martin, Peru and the Oriente region of Ecuador.

Mason (1950)

Internal classification of the Chicham languages by Mason (1950):

Jolkesky (2016)

Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016): ( = extinct)

Genetic relations

The extinct Palta language was classified as Chicham by Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño about 1940 and was followed by Čestmír Loukotka. However, only a few words are known, and Kaufman (1994) states that there is "little resemblance". The most promising external connections are with the Cahuapanan languages and perhaps a few other language isolates in proposals variously called Jívaro-Cahuapana (Hívaro-Kawapánan) (Jorge Suárez and others) or Macro-Jibaro or Macro-Andean (Morris Swadesh and others, with Cahuapanan, Urarina, Puelche, and maybe Huarpe). The unclassified language Candoshi has also been linked to Chicham, as David Payne (1981) provides reconstructions for Proto-Shuar as well as Proto-Shuar-Candoshi. However, more recently, linguists have searched elsewhere for Candoshi's relatives.

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Quechuan, Kwaza, Taruma, Yanomami, Katukina-Katawixi, Kandoshi, Tupi, and Arawan language families due to contact. This suggests that Chicham had originated further downstream in the Central Amazon region.

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the Chicham languages.

Proto-language

Payne's (1981) Proto-Shuar reconstruction is based on data from Shuar, Achuar, Aguaruna, and Huambisa, while his Proto-Shuar-Candoshi reconstruction also integrates data from Candoshi and Shapra. For reconstructions of Proto-Shuar and Proto-Shuar-Candoshi by Payne (1981), see the corresponding Spanish article.