Abstract
The study of onomastics in the south of the modern region of Amazonas in the northeast of Peru has shed light on the existence of a pre-Inca language conventionally named Chacha. Unfortunately, the almost absolute lack of documentary evidence for the existence of this language obscures research on it. This linguistic region, characterised by toponyms carrying -lap , -mal , -gat , -lun , and -wala endings, coincides with the core of expansion of the pre-Inca culture of Chachapoyas. In this article I reanalyse the place names in the region. This study is based on comparative evidence involving Proto-Kawapanan, and Shawi and Shiwilu, its modern descendants from a traditional comparative perspective. I claim that most of the Chachapuya endings, as well as place names like Kuelap< *Kuyalape can be analysed as Kawapanan names. This suggests that either Chachapuya was related to modern Kawapanan languages, or that this was a so far understudied area of intense language contact.
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