Chibchan

American  

[chib-chuhn] / ˈtʃɪb tʃən /

noun

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

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Chibchan British  

/ ˈtʃɪbtʃən /

noun

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

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adjective

1. belonging or relating to this family of languages

Etymology

Origin of Chibchan

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

Example Sentences

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 • Mar. 22, 2022

That scenario could explain why one early Maya language incorporates a Chibchan word for maize, says linguist and co-author David Mora-Marín of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 22, 2022

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 • Mar. 22, 2022

“It’s clearly a major movement into the Maya region of people related to Chibchan speakers,” Reich says.

From Science Magazine • Mar. 22, 2022

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 • Mar. 22, 2022