Tags: Language.
The extinct Palta language of the Ecuadorian Amazon is attested by only a few words: yumé ‘water’ xeme ‘maize’ capal ‘fire’ let ‘wood’ (Jiménez de la Espada 1586) and some toponyms. Based on this Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño (1936) classified it as a Jivaroan language. Kaufman (1994) states that there is little resemblance but Adelaar (2004) finds the connection reasonable. In addition to these four words are toponyms which commonly end in -anga -numa -namá.