Puinave-Maku is a proposed language family linking the Puinave language and the Nukak-Kakwa languages to the already-live Nadahup family. Paul Rivet first proposed the Puinave-Maku hypothesis in 1920, and Joseph Greenberg later grouped it with the Tucano, Katukinan, Waorani and Ticuna languages in a broader Macro-Tukano trunk; Terrence Kaufman has separately proposed adding Katukinan directly to Puinave-Maku itself. Puinave-Maku and the language isolate Maku of Auari are sometimes further connected to the Arutani-Sape languages in a proposed Kalianan branch, a link Kaufman calls promising but still too thinly supported by data to confirm.
Facts
RegionNorthwest Amazon border region of Colombia and Venezuela: the Puinave language is spoken along the Inírida River in Guainía Department, Colombia, and along the Orinoco River on the Colombia-Venezuela border; the related Nukak-Kakwa languages are spoken in the adjoining Guaviare region. 1 Proto-Language StatusA proposed grouping, not a demonstrated family: first suggested by Rivet (1920) and expanded by Greenberg (1987), it has been strongly criticized (Epps 2008) for relying on inaccurate data and unsystematic comparison, with no convincing cognates yet found between the Puinave and Nukak-Kakwa sides of the proposal. No Proto-Puinave-Maku has been reconstructed; some researchers instead treat Puinave as an isolate. 2 In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Puinave Language
Wikimedia FoundationDemographics sectionQuote, Demographics section
There are about 6,800 people in 32 communities along the banks of the Inírida River in Guainía Department, Colombia. Additionally, there are 470 people in 10 communities along the Orinoco River, in the Colombia-Venezuela border region.
2. Wikipedia: Puinave-Maku Languages
Wikimedia Foundationlead sectionQuote, lead section
Puinave-Maku is a proposed language family linking the Puinave and Nukak-Kakwa languages to the Nadahup family.
Wikidata: Puinave-Maku
Wikidata Q17109056, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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