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 Borôro Maxakalían Kamakã Purían Karirí Krenák Yabutian Rikbaktsa Karajá Ofayé
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 (16 languages in three branches: Kaingáng [18,000 speakers of four languages], and northern and southern Jê languages such as Xavánte [8000 speakers])
• Krenák (Botocudo)
• Borôro
• Kamakã [extinct]
• Karajá
• Karirí [extinct]
• Maxakalían
• Ofayé
• Purían [extinct]
• 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 Je, Krenak (Aimore), Karaja, Maxakali, Ofaie, Rikbaktsa, and Yabutian (Jabuti), with Karaja, Ofaie, Rikbaktsa in a single "Ofaie" branch. Lexical parallels with Kamakanan and Purian have yet to be corroborated with reconstructions. It notes suggestive grammatical similarities with Bororoan, Kariri, and Chiquitano, of the kind also shared with Tupian and Cariban, but little lexical evidence.