Definition of Arawakan in English:
Arawakan
adjective
1Relating to the Arawak people.
‘Other Arawakan peoples on the South American mainland were also matrilineal, from Surinam to eastern Peru.’- ‘Many Arawakan languages are now extinct, but a few survive in the former heartland region of the Amazon-Orinoco.’
- ‘Columbus had called the Northern Islanders, Taíno, from the Arawakan word for ‘friendly people’ as contrasted by the hostile Carib.’
- ‘Many communities still speak Arawakan languages in Brazil, and other Arawakan speakers are found in areas such as Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname.’
- ‘Far from being congealed in time, Arawakan sacred landscapes are cultural processes and, as such, are continually under construction.’
2Denoting or belonging to a widely scattered family of languages spoken by the Arawak, most of which are now extinct or nearly so.
‘Fanning out from Hispaniola (modern-day Haiti/Dominican Republic), Spaniards enslaved Arawakan and Taino-speaking ‘Indians ‘for mining and agricultural enterprises.’’- ‘The group is in the Arawakan linguistic family.’
- ‘This Karinya influence comes as a result of interaction between original speakers of an Arawakan language living in the Lesser Antilles and incoming Karina from South America.’
Pronunciation
noun
The Arawakan family of languages.
‘Prior to the arrival of the Portuguese, the native population spoke languages belonging to at least four major language families: Arawakan, Gê, Carib, and Tupi-Guarani.’- ‘Rouse suggests that Arawakan and Cariban are more useful designations for these linguistic stocks.’
- ‘The Tupí-Guaraní family of languages is next to the Arawakan in geographical extent.’
Pronunciation
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