Arawakan Languages

Arawakan Languages

Arawakan (Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper), also known as Maipurean (also Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre), is a language family that spans from the Caribbean and Central America to every country in South America except Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock.

The name Maipure was given to the family by Filippo S. Gilij in 1782, after the Maipure language of Venezuela he used in his comparisons. It was renamed after the culturally more important Arawak language a century later. The term Arawak took over, until its use was extended in North America to the broader Macro-Arawakan proposal, and which time the name Maipurean was resurrected for the core family. See Arawakan vs Maipurean for details.

Read more about Arawakan Languages:  Languages, Arawakan Vs. Maipuran, Characteristics, Some Examples, Geographic Distribution

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