| Arawakan | |
|---|---|
| Maipurean | |
| Geographic distribution | Extant in every country in South America, except for Ecuador, Uruguay and Chile, as well as in Central America. Formerly spoken in the Caribbean. |
| Linguistic classification | Macro-Arawakan ?
|
| Proto-language | Proto-Arawakan |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-5 | awd |
| Glottolog | araw1281 |
 Maipurean languages in South America (Caribbean and Central America not included): North-Maipurean (pale blue) and South-Maipurean (deeper blue). Spots represent location of extant languages, and shadowed areas show probable earlier locations. | |
Arawakan (Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper), also known as Maipurean (also Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branches migrated to Central America and the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, including what is now the Bahamas. Almost all present-day South American countries are known to have been home to speakers of Arawakan languages, the exceptions being Ecuador, Uruguay, and Chile. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical Macro-Arawakan stock.