The Araucanian languages are a small language family of indigenous languages of the Americas spoken in central Chile and neighboring areas of Argentina. The living representatives of this family are Mapudungun (ISO 639-3: arn) and Huilliche (ISO 639-3: huh), spoken respectively by the Mapuche and Huilliche people. These are usually considered divergent dialects of a single language isolate.

Demographics

It is estimated that there are approximately 200,000 Mapudungu speakers in Chile and 40,000 speakers in Argentina. Huilliche is the native language of a few thousand Chileans.

Language contact

Jolkesky (2016) notes that there are lexical similarities with the Kunza, Mochika, Uru-Chipaya, Arawak, Pano, Cholon-Hibito, and Kechua language families due to contact.

Internal classification

Mason (1950)

Internal classification of Araucanian languages by Mason (1950):

Jolkesky (2016)

Internal classification by Jolkesky (2016): ( = extinct)

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items for Mapuche (Araucanian) language varieties.