Matacoan Languages

The Matacoan languages, also called Mataguayan or Matakoan, are a language family of the Gran Chaco region of northern Argentina, western Paraguay, and southeastern Bolivia. The family comprises four language clusters, Wichi, Chorote, Nivacle, and Maka, of which Wichi and Chorote form a well supported subgroup. The relationship between Maka and Nivacle is debated, since Nivacle also shares features with Chorote and Wichi that cast doubt on a clean Maka-Nivacle grouping, and some researchers propose that Matacoan is itself part of a larger Mataco-Guaicuru grouping, though that broader relationship remains uncertain.