The Jê languages (also spelled Gê, Jean, Ye, Gean), or Jê–Kaingang languages, are spoken by the Jê, a group of indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Genetic relations

The Jê family forms the core of the Macro-Jê family. Kaufman (1990) finds the proposal convincing.

Family division

According to Ethnologue (which omits Jeikó), the language family is as follows:

Ramirez (2015)

Internal classification of the Jê languages according to Ramirez, et al. (2015): Ramirez excludes Jaikó as a possibly spurious language.

Nikulin (2020)

According to Nikulin (2020), the internal branching of the Jê language family is as follows: Some sound changes and lexical innovations that define various Jê subgroups:

Varieties

Below is a full list of Jê language varieties listed by Loukotka (1968), including names of unattested varieties.

Vocabulary

Loukotka (1968) lists the following basic vocabulary items.

Proto-language

Nikulin (2020)

Proto-Jê reconstructions by Nikulin (2020): ! gloss !! Proto-Jê For a more complete list of Proto-Jê reconstructions, as well as Proto-Southern Jê reconstructions, see the corresponding Portuguese article.

Ribeiro & van der Voort (2010)

Proto-Jê reconstructions by Ribeiro and van der Voort (2010): ! gloss !! Proto-Jê