Geographic
distribution: Peru Glottolog: jiva1245 | Subdivisions: Jivaro
Aguaruna | |
 | ||
Linguistic classification: Macro-Jibaro ?
Jibaroan | ||
Jivaroan (also Hívaro, Jívaro, Jibaroana, Jibaro) is a small language family of northern Peru and eastern Ecuador.
Contents
Family division
Jivaroan consists of 4 languages:
1. Shuar 2. Achuar 3. Awajun 4. HuambisaThis language family is spoken in Amazonas, Cajamarca, Loreto, and San Martin, Peru and the Oriente region of Ecuador.
Genetic relations
The extinct Palta language was classified as Jivaroan by Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño about 1940 and was followed by Čestmír Loukotka. However, only a few words are known, and Kaufman (1994) states that there is "little resemblance".
The most promising external connections are with the Cahuapanan languages and perhaps a few other language isolates in proposals variously called Jívaro-Cahuapana (Hívaro-Kawapánan) (Jorge Suárez and others) or Macro-Jibaro or Macro-Andean (Morris Swadesh and others, with Cahuapanan, Urarina, Puelche, and maybe Huarpe).
The unclassified language Candoshi has also been linked to Jivaroan, as David Payne (1981) provides reconstructions for Proto-Shuar as well as Proto-Shuar-Candoshi. However, more recently, linguists have searched elsewhere for Candoshi's relatives.