Macro-Arawakan languages

Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean centered on the Arawakan languages.^[1] Sometimes, the proposal is called Arawakan, and the central family is called Maipurean.

Macro-Arawakan
Arawakan
(controversial)
Geographic distribution	Widest geographical area of any language group in Latin America, see Geographic distribution.
Linguistic classification	Proposed language family
Subdivisions	Arawakan (Maipurean) ? Guajiboan ? Arawan ? Candoshi-Shapra ? Harákmbut ? Puquina ? Munichi
Language codes
Glottolog	None
Arawakan languages (blue dots), Guajiboan languages (violet dots), and Arauan languages (green dots). Paler areas represent probable extension at the time of contact.

Proposals

Kaufman (1990) includes the following:

• • Arawakan (Maipurean)
  • Arawan
  • Guajiboan
  • Candoshi

Payne (1991) and Derbyshire (1992) have:

• • Arawakan (Maipurean)
  • Arawan
  • Guajiboan
  • Puquina
  • Harakmbet

Jolkesky (2016) argues for the following:

• • Arawakan (Maipurean)
  • Candoshi
  • Puquina
  • Munichi

According to Jolkesky (op. cit., 611-616), the proto-Macro-Arawakan language would have been spoken in the Middle Ucayali River Basin during the beginning of the 2nd millennium BCE, and its speakers would have produced Tutishcainyo pottery in the region.

Martins (2005: 342–370) groups the Arawakan and Nadahup languages together as part of a proposed Makúan-Arawakan (Nadahup-Arawakan) family,^[2] but this proposal has been rejected by Aikhenvald (2006: 237).^[3]

Carvalho (2021) notes that the Arawakan and Arawan families have had significant long-term mutual interaction, but does not consider the two language families to be related. According to Carvalho (2021), the Juruá-Purus linguistic corridor had facilitated the migration of Arawakan speakers to the southern fringes of the Amazon basin.^[4]

Pronouns

Pronominal system of the Macro-Arawakan languages:^[5]

language	I	you (sg)	he/she/it	we	you (pl)	they
Proto-Arawakan	*nu/*ni-	*pɨ-	*tʰu	*wi/*wa-	*hi-	*ra-
Munichi	-nɨ/-ɲɨ	-pɨ	-	-wɨ	-di	-ra ‘3’
Puquina	no, -ni-;	po, -p-, -pi	ʧu, -su-	-	-	-
Candoshi	no	-	su-	ija, iː	si	-
Yanesha'	na, no, ne	pʲa, pʲo, pe	-	ja, jo, je	sa, so, se	-
Aguachile	ni	pi	-	waʔaha	-	-

Lexicon

Several words in the basic lexicon of the Macro-Arawakan languages were pointed out as possible cognates:^[6]

language	father	eye	neck	hair	bone	firewood	dung	sleep	die	house	tooth	stone	water	sky
Proto-Arawakan	*apa	*uke	*ʧano	*si	*napɨ	*tsɨma	*itika	*maka	*kama	*pana, *ponku	*ahtse	*kʰiba	*uni	*enu
Munichi	–	ukɨ (head)	–	uɕi	–	ʧu(-sɨ) ('fire')	kʲa	–	kma	hna	di	–	idɨ	–
Puquina	–	juqe	–	–	–	–	–	miha	–	–	–	–	unu	haniɡo ('high')
Candoshi	apaː	–	ʂano	ʃi	nap	somaː-si ('fire')	ʧikaː	makija	–	paNkoː	nas	–	–	kaniːNta
Yanesha'	apa	–	ʧnoːpʲ	ʃe	napo	ʦoːm	tʲoʔj	-maʔ	ʐomu	pokoːlʲ	ahs	–	onʲ	enet
Aguachile	–	–	asanu	–	–	–	–	–	–	pani(ʃi)	asi	ipa	–	enui