Culli language

Culli, also spelled Culle, Cullí, or Kulyi,^[1] also called Ilinga,^[2] is a poorly attested extinct language of the Andean highlands of northern Peru. It is the original language of the highlands of La Libertad Region, the south of the Cajamarca Region (Cajabamba), and the north of the Ancash region (Pallasca and Bolognesi^[3]). It is known through two word lists collected while the language was still spoken and through vocabulary loaned into the Spanish spoken in the region.^[4]

NativetoPeru

RegionLa Libertad, Cajamarca (Cajabamba), Ancash (Pallasca)

Extinctmid-20th century
possible speakers in remote villages

Language family

Language isolate
(Hibito–Cholon?
Leco?)

Quick facts Native to, Region ...

Culli
Ilinga
Native to	Peru
Region	La Libertad, Cajamarca (Cajabamba), Ancash (Pallasca)
Extinct	mid-20th century possible speakers in remote villages
Language family	Language isolate (Hibito–Cholon? Leco?)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	cull1235
Culle
Culle is classified as Extinct by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.

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Flores Reyna (1996) reports that Culli was spoken by at least one family in the town of Tauca, Pallasca Province, Ancash region, until the middle of the 20th century. While it appears that Culli has been displaced in its whole range by Spanish, the possibility of speakers remaining in some remote village cannot be ruled out altogether.^[5]

Culli was the language spoken in the territory of at least three pre-Inca cultures or dominions: the kingdom of Konchuko (Conchucos), in the north of the Ancash region; the kingdom of Wamachuko (Huamachuco), in the highlands of La Libertad region; and at least in the southern part of the kingdom of Kuismanko (Cuismanco), in the south of the Cajamarca region.