Family names

Family names, such as Cam, Hob, Oc~Occ, Sup, Yull are mostly short and monosyllabic, though some involve reduplication, like Pispis or Solsol, or have multiple elements, e.g. Detquisán, Subsolsol, or Visalot. They have been distorted through adaptation to Quechua; for example, the name Surueque or Zuruec became súrix in Quechua. One of the few names which can be identified is Oc or Occ [ox], which according to oral history means 'puma' or 'bear'.^[3]

Toponyms

Chachapoya toponyms ending in -gach(e), -gat(e), -gote are found near water, like in Shíngache and Tóngate. Between the town of Cajamarca and the Marañón river is a similar toponymic element, attested variously as -cat(e), -cot(e), -gat(e), -got(e), with -cat found further across a wider area of northern Peru.^[4] This may be the Cholón word for water; the place name Salcot or Zalcot is found three times in Cajamarca, as well as being the name of a Cholón village meaning 'black water'.^[relevant?]

Jorge Zevallos Quiñones (1966) compiled around one hundred Chachapoya surnames by searching through colonial documents. Subsequently, Gérald Taylor (1990) compared those names obtained by Zevallos Quiñones and compared them with current surnames. This work showed that many colonial names are still used today. As a result of transmigration, surnames of Chachapoya origin are also found in other areas that were part of the Inca Empire, such as Quito, where the surname Yoplachacha is documented among the mitimaes of Chachapoya origin,^[5] which is parallel to the well-known Chachapoya surname Yoplac. Taylor himself notes that many Chachapoya names are monosyllabic (Cam, Hob, Oc∼Occ, Sup, Yull), while others are formed by reduplication of a monosyllabic element (Pispis, Solsol) or are analyzable as combinations of the previous types (Subsolsol).

In these names, voiced stops can appear at the beginning of a word (Det, Buelot, Gaslac), which suggests that there was a phonological opposition between voiceless and voiced consonants (which, for example, do not exist in Quechua or Aymara). In addition, initial consonants can appear in palatalized or velarized forms, such as in Guiop [gʲop] and in the toponym Cuémal [ˈkʷemal] (although in the two previous examples it is possible that the correct interpretation was that the sequences io and ue are rising diphthongs). The only non-rising diphthong that appears with some frequency is uy as in Puyquín. Knowledge through anthroponyms, however, has its limitations, since many of these names were deeply affected by Quechua phonology; thus the name Surueque or Zuruec came to give in Quechua Súrix.

Jairo Valqui (2004, 2011) records 48 toponyms, in the provinces of Chachapoyas and Luya, whose toponymic ending -cat(e) / -gach(e) / -gat(e) / -got(e) / -cach(i) "refers to the 'liquid element'". For example, in Jalca Grande (Chachapoyas), the toponyms Péngote and Tóngache refer to wells, as do the toponyms Gachoc and Cangach located in the Magdalena District. Regarding the reconstructed form of this ending, Valqui leans towards the proto-form -cat [kat], which has in some cases varied to the voiced velar plosive "g" or has been palatalized to "ch" due to assimilation of adjacent sounds.

Regarding the toponymic ending -mal, Valqui records 69 forms in the provinces of Chachapoyas and Luya. As Taylor also related it, this ending refers to 'pampa' (plain). In Jalca Grande, the toponyms Osmal and Yumal are extensions of land. Furthermore, this hypothesis is supported by the possible Cuzqueño motivation in the toponym Chuquibamba ⇐ Chuquipampa, current Chachapoyas District, similar to another one named Chuquimal (Ocumal), where the correspondence and possible Quechua interpretation of [-mal] as [pampa] is found. Also the forms of the following toponyms seem to have undergone the same process: Mitopampa (Tingo) and Mitumal (San Jerónimo) or Cochapampa, in Cajamarquilla (Pataz) and Cochamal (Rodríguez de Mendoza). Valqui proposes words of Chacha origin, such as "lope", a fruit with the appearance of a large bean that is eaten boiled accompanying meals. Its genetic affiliation to the Chacha language is supported by the presence of this term in the composition of some local toponyms. For example, the toponyms Lopsho (lop + sho) in the Ocumal District, Lopesol or Lopsol (lop + sol) in the San Isidro de Maino District, Lopecancha (lop(e) + cancha) in the San Juan de Lopecancha District and Lopetranca (lop(e) + tranca) in the La Jalca District".^[6] Another word is "solpe", a carrying item woven in a mesh form that is used to transport agricultural products such as potatoes, corn, beans, wheat, barley; utensils such as pots, jugs, earthenware vessels, etc. Its genetic affiliation is supported by the fact that this denomination is composed of syllables that are found among toponyms and anthroponyms recognized as Chacha; for example, Chiksol (chik + sol) in the Magdalena District, Solmal (sol + mal) in the Colcamar District, Llopsol (llop + sol) in the Santo Tomás District, Solsol (sol + sol) a local surname. Furthermore, in the latest analyses made of the cultural remains found in the mausoleums of the Lake of the Condors or Lake of the Mummies in Leymebamba, solpes over 1000 years old woven from human hair have been found.