| Maipure | |
|---|---|
| Maypure, Mejepure | |
| Native to | Venezuela |
| Region | Orinoco |
| Extinct | late 18th century[citation needed] |
Arawakan
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
qij | |
| Glottolog | maip1246 |
Maipure (Maypure, Mejepure) is an extinct language once spoken along theVentuari,Sipapo, andAutana rivers ofAmazonas and, as alingua franca, in the UpperOrinoco region. It became extinct around the end of the eighteenth century. Zamponi provided a grammatical sketch of the language and furnished a classified word list, based on all of its extant eighteenth century material (mainly from the Italian missionaryFilippo S. Gilij).[1] It is historically important in that it formed the cornerstone of the recognition of theMaipurean (Arawakan) language family.[citation needed]
Kaufman (1994)[full citation needed] gives its closest relatives asYavitero and other languages of the Orinoco branch ofUpper Amazon Arawakan. Aikhenvald places it instead in the Western Nawiki branch.[2][page needed]
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