Macro-Paesan (also spelled Macro-Paezan) is a proposal linking several small families and
language isolate
Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The nu ...
s of northwest South America. Kaufman (2007) proposes the structure at the right. Paez–Barbacoan is commonly proposed, though Curnow (1998) argued that it (or at least
Paez–
Coconucan) is spurious.
Kunza–
Kapixana was a more provisional suggestion (Kaufman 1990, 1994, 2007; Swadesh 1959), but this connection is not widely accepted. Kunza is now generally considered to be a language isolate.
Jolkesky (2015) proposes lexical evidence linking the
Páez,
Andaqui (Andakí), and
Tinígua languages.
[Jolkesky, Marcelo. 2015. ]
Semejanzas léxicas entre el Páez, el Andakí y el Tinígua
'.
References
*Kaufman, Terrence. 2007. ''Atlas of the World's Languages'', 2nd edition, 62–64. Routledge.
Indigenous languages of South America
Proposed language families
{{SouthAm-stub