Chibchan

[ chib-chuhn ]

noun

1. a family of languages indigenous to Central America, Colombia, and Ecuador.

Chibchan

/ ˈtʃɪbtʃən /

noun

1. a family of Indian languages found in Colombia and elsewhere in South America

adjective

1. belonging or relating to this family of languages

Word History and Origins

Origin of Chibchan¹

First recorded in 1905–10; Chibch(a) + -an

Example Sentences

The new results suggest this migration was critical to spreading farming, such as a scenario in which Chibchan speakers migrated northward with varieties of maize, which they then cultivated and spread in local populations, the authors write.

From New York Times

David Mora-Marín, a linguistic anthropologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an author on the paper, conducted an analysis of early Chibchan and Mayan languages.

From New York Times

But the second group was related genetically to the ancestors of Chibchan speakers living farther south.

From New York Times

This migration of people, who are most closely related to present-day speakers of the Chibchan languages, contributed more than 50 percent of the ancestry of Mayan-speaking peoples today.

From New York Times

He found that a term for maize had diffused from the Chibchan language into Mayan languages, further supporting the idea of a Chibchan origin of maize.

From New York Times