Solano is an unclassified extinct language formerly spoken in northeast Mexico and perhaps also in the neighboring U.S. state of Texas. It is a possible language isolate.

Background

Solano is known only from a 21-word vocabulary list that appears at the end of a 1703–1708 baptism book from the San Francisco Solano Mission, which hosted at least four different peoples, including the Xarame, Payuguan, Papanac, and Siaguan. Supposedly the language is of the Indians of this mission – perhaps the Terocodame band cluster. The Solano peoples are associated with the 18th-century missions near Eagle Pass, Texas.

Word list

The 21 known Solano words, as reproduced in Swanton (1940), are: ! Solano !! English

Lexical comparison

Below is a comparison of selected words from Zamponi (2024). There are no obvious cognates with other neighboring languages. ! language !! father !! four !! meat !! mother !! three !! water