Arawakan (
Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper), also known as
Maipurean (also
Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre), is a
language family that developed among ancient
indigenous peoples in South America. Branches migrated to
Central America and the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean and the Atlantic, including what is now called the Bahamas. Only present-day
Ecuador,
Uruguay and
Chile did not have peoples who spoke Arawakan languages. Maipurean may be related to other language families in a hypothetical
Macro-Arawakan stock.