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Language Family

Chiquitano

South American Language Families

Chiquitano, also called Tarapecosi, is a group of closely related linguistic varieties spoken by about 2,400 people, out of an ethnic population of roughly 100,000, in the Santa Cruz Department of eastern Bolivia and in Mato Grosso, Brazil, in municipalities including Cáceres, Porto Esperidão, Pontes e Lacerda and Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade. Chiquitano has usually been treated as a language isolate, but its classification is contested: a 2023 study by Andrey Nikulin argues it is actually a branch of the Macro-Jê family, while earlier proposals connecting it to other stocks have faced methodological criticism, leaving the question unresolved.

Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language Status
Usually treated as a language isolate, though Greenberg linked it to Macro-Je (later questioned on methodological grounds), Kaufman groups it in his unsubstantiated Macro-Je cluster with a possible Bororoan link, Adelaar (2008) classifies it as Macro-Je outright, Nikulin (2020) treats it as a sister of Macro-Je, and Nikulin (2023) reclassifies it as a branch within Macro-Je. 1
Region
Spoken in the central region of Santa Cruz Department in eastern Bolivia and in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil, including the municipalities of Caceres, Porto Esperidiao, Pontes e Lacerda and Vila Bela da Santissima Trindade. 1
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Chiquitano Languages
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Classification section
    Chiquitano is usually considered to be a language isolate. Joseph Greenberg linked it to the Macro-Jê languages in his proposal, but the results of his study have been later questioned due to methodological flaws.
  • Lead paragraph
    Chiquitano (or Tarapecosi) is a group of linguistic varieties, thought to belong to the Macro-Jê languages, spoken in the central region of Santa Cruz Department of eastern Bolivia and the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil.
View the Source
Wikidata: Chiquitano
Wikidata Q140157328, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
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