Kukurá language

Kukurá
Kukurá
Created by	Guzmán, a Kainguá interpreter for A. V. Frič
Date	1901
Setting and usage	Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
Purpose	Constructed language Kukurá;
Sources	Guaraní (partially)
Language codes
ISO 639-3	None (mis)
Glottolog	(insufficiently attested or not a distinct language); kuku1286

Kukurá (Cucurá, Kokura) is a spurious language, fabricated by an interpreter in Brazil and supposedly spoken in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

History

When Alberto Vojtěch Frič visited Rio Verde, Brazil, in 1901 he took with him a Kainguá Amerindian called Guzmán who said he spoke the language of the local Chavante people. A word list was subsequently published for the so-called Kukurá language, thought to be an isolate, in 1931.^[1]

In 1932 Curt Nimuendajú, who had visited the Rio Verde in 1909 and 1913, showed that Guzmán's wordlist consisted half of fake words and half of mispronounced Guaraní.^[2] There was no resemblance to the Ofayé language that was actually spoken in the region.^[3] Guzmán had also falsified other vocabularies for which he was the informant.^[4]

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for the spurious language.^[5]

gloss	Kukura
tongue	kasti
stone	tatahü
moon	malahan
house	aul

References

^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1931). "Les Indiens Kukura du río Verde, Matto Grosso, Brésil". Journal de la société des américanistes. 23 (1): 121–125. doi:10.3406/jsa.1931.1087.
^ Nimuendajú, Curt (1932). "A propos des Indiens Kukura du Rio Verde (Brésil)". Journal de la société des américanistes. 24 (1): 187–189.
^ Campbell, Lyle; Grondona, Verónica (2012-01-27). The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide. Walter de Gruyter. p. 133. ISBN 978-3-11-025803-5. Retrieved 2013-04-24.
^ Campbell, L. (2024). "Phantom, False, and Spurious Languages of South America". The Indigenous Languages of the Americas: History and Classification. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1. Retrieved 2025-03-01.
^ Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

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[1] Loukotka, Čestmír (1931). "Les Indiens Kukura du río Verde, Matto Grosso, Brésil". Journal de la société des américanistes. 23 (1): 121–125. doi:10.3406/jsa.1931.1087.

[2] Nimuendajú, Curt (1932). "A propos des Indiens Kukura du Rio Verde (Brésil)". Journal de la société des américanistes. 24 (1): 187–189.

[3] Campbell, Lyle; Grondona, Verónica (2012-01-27). The Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide. Walter de Gruyter. p. 133. ISBN 978-3-11-025803-5. Retrieved 2013-04-24.

[4] Campbell, L. (2024). "Phantom, False, and Spurious Languages of South America". The Indigenous Languages of the Americas: History and Classification. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1. Retrieved 2025-03-01.

[Loukotka-5] Loukotka, Čestmír (1968). Classification of South American Indian languages. Los Angeles: UCLA Latin American Center.

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