Macro-Jê languages

Macro-Jê
Macro-Gê
Geographic distribution	Non-coastal parts of Brazil (except in Amazonas, Roraima, Amapá, Acre and Rio de Janeiro), Misiones (Argentina), parts of Paraguay and Bolivia
Linguistic classification	Je–Tupi–Carib? Macro-Jê
Subdivisions	Jê Maxakalían Krenák (Aimore) Yabutian Rikbaktsa Karajá Ofayé ?Borôro ?Kamakã ?Purían ?Karirí
Language codes
Glottolog	nucl1710  (Nuclear Macro-Je)
The Macro-Jê families of Kaufman's conception

Macro-Jê (also spelled Macro-Gê) is a medium-sized language stock in South America, mostly in Brazil but also in small parts of Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia. It is centered on the Jê language family, with all other branches currently being single languages due to recent extinctions. The family was first proposed in 1926, and has undergone moderate modifications since then. Kaufman (1990) finds the proposal "probable".

• Jê
• Jeikó †
• Krenák (Botocudo)
  • Krenak
• Borôroan
  • Bororo
    • Bororo
    • Umotína
  • Otuke †
• Kamakã †
• Karajá
• Karirí †
• Maxakalían
• Ofayé
• Purían †
• Rikbaktsá
• Yabutian [moribund]

Eduardo Ribeiro of the University of Chicago finds no evidence to classify Fulniô (Yatê) and Guató as Macro-Je, pace Kaufman, nor Otí and Chiquitano, pace Greenberg.

These languages share irregular morphology with the Tupi and Carib families, and Rodrigues (2000) and Ribeiro connect them all as a Je–Tupi–Carib family.

Glottolog accepts Jean, Krenak (Aimore), Karaja, Maxakalian, Ofaie, Rikbaktsa, and Yabutian (Jabuti). Lexical parallels with Kamakanan and Purian have yet to be corroborated with reconstructions; the similarities with Purian disappear once Coropo is reclassified as Maxakalian. It notes suggestive grammatical similarities with Bororoan, Kariri, and Chiquitano, of the kind also shared with Tupian and Cariban, but little lexical evidence.