Guaicuruan (Guaykuruan, Waikurúan, Guaycuruano, Guaikurú, Guaicuru, Guaycuruana) is alanguage family spoken in northernArgentina, westernParaguay, andBrazil (Mato Grosso do Sul). The speakers of the languages are often collectively called theGuaycuru peoples. For the most part, the Guaycuruans lived in theGran Chaco and were nomadic and warlike, until finally subdued by the various countries of the region in the 19th century.
There is a clear binary split between Northern Guaicuruan (Kadiwéu) and Southern Guaicuruan according to Nikulin (2019).[1] Guaicuruan/Waikurúan languages are often classified as follows:
Guaicuruan
Northern Guaicuruan
Kadiweu (also known as Caduveo, Kadiwéu, Mbayá-Guaycuru,Mbayá, Guaicurú, Waikurú, Ediu-Adig)
Harriet Klein argues against the assumption that Kadiweu is Guaicuruan. Most others accept the inclusion of Kadiweu into the family. The Guachi were absorbed by the Mbayá. The similarities with the Mbayá language may be due to borrowing rather than a familial relationship.[3]
Toba is spoken in the eastern part of the Chaco and Formosa provinces of Argentina, in southern Paraguay, and in the eastern part of Bolivia; there are approximately 25,000 speakers. The Guaicuruan Toba language here should not be confused with theMascoy language of theMascoyan family which is also calledToba (orToba-Emok,Toba-Maskoy).
Pilagá, with about 4,000 speakers, is spoken in the northeastern part of Chaco province, and in eastern Formosa, Argentina;
Mocoví, with about 7,000 speakers, is spoken in Argentina in the northern part of Santa Fe and southern Chaco provinces.
Abipón, which was spoken in the eastern part of Chaco province, Argentina, is now extinct and was very closely related to the other languages in the southern branch
^abCampbell, Lyle (2012). "Classification of the indigenous languages of South America". In Grondona, Verónica; Campbell, Lyle (eds.).The Indigenous Languages of South America. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 2. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 59–166.ISBN978-3-11-025513-3.
^Steward, Julian H. (1946),Handbook of South American Indians, Volume 1, The Marginal Tribes, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, p. 214
† indicates anextinct language,italics indicates independent status of a language,bold indicates that a language family has at least 6 members, * indicates moribund status
