Unity of Language or Dialect

It is well known that the indigenous lan-guage of Huamachuco was Culle (Silva Santiesteban 1986b; Torero 1989). Although the language was spoken into the early years of this century, there are only a few words recorded (Silva Santisteban 1986b). Again, largely based on Cieza's comment, there has been a tendency to consider Culle also to be the indigenous language of Cajamarca (Silva Santesteban 1986b). In fact, there is little evidence to support that view.

The single piece of documentary evidence for Culle being spoken in Cajamarca was published by Jorge Zevallos Quinones (1948; Silva Santisteban 1986b; Torero 1989:224). The document is an expediente from 1774 in which Miguel Sanchez del Arroyo, priest of the town of Ichocan and the Condebamba Valley, states that he understands "la culle por curiosidad e industria y por haver administrado los santos sacramentos entre los que la acostumbran hablar . . .⁽⁹⁾ Ichocan has always pertained to Cajamarca, but in 1774 (and until 1854) the Condebamba Valley was part of the province of Huamachuco (Espinoza 1971:30-31) (Figures 1 and 2). During the same epoch, Martinez Compañon (1978-85 [1789] Volume 2:iv) specifically refers to Culle as "(la) lengua culli de la Provincia de Guamachuco." On the other hand, Culle was still spoken in Pallasca, located in the old province of Conchucos, in 1915 (Rivet 1949).

Linguistically, then, there may be closer connections between Huamachuco and Conchucos (and Huacrachuco). Several years ago, I noticed that the Augustinians (San Pedro 1992 [1560]:205) referred to the earth as "pachamama y chucomama". This led me to question the common derivation of the term chuco from the Quechua for hat or headdress {e.g., Garcilaso 1966 [1609]:476) and consider it instead, along with pus (Martinez Compañon 1978-85 [1789]: Volume 2:iv), to be a Culle word meaning earth or place. As a toponym, the word chuco (or variants) commonly occurs throughout the former province of Huamachuco {i.e., the territory around Otuzco, Santiago de Chuco, Huamachuco, and Cajabamba) (Figure 2). It also occurs in Pataz, Pallasca and Corongo but is rare in the Cajamarca area and largely limited to the southern part of the modem Department of Cajamarca, adjacent to Cajabamba.

Torero (1989:226) has independently recognized the toponymic significance of chuco but has carried his analysis far beyond my own. From a study of documentary sources and, especially, topographic maps (Carta Nacional) he has reconstructed the distributions of several languages or dialects in the northern sierra of Peru. While some, like Den, are based on very little evidence, Culle is represented by a number of different word parts. He arrives at the conclusion that Culle was spoken throughout the province of Huamachuco and into at least part of the province of Conchucos, but that it was not spoken in Cajamarca (Torero 1989:218, 222). He (ibid:244) believes that the language Cieza heard spoken in both Huamachuco and Cajamarca was Quechua IIA (Yungay). A similar, though more geographically limited analysis, suggests the presence of a linguistic boundary between Cajamarca and Huamachuco in the Chicama valley (Krzanowski and Szeminski 1978). Again, as with religious beliefs, there seem to be more similarities in language between Huamachuco and Conchucos than between Huamachuco and Cajamarca.

Notas

He understands Culle because of his curiosity and industry and for having administered the holy sacraments along those who are accustomed to speak it."

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