Apart from extinct varieties generally seen as dialects of Maxakalí,[1] Mason noted resemblances with a few other extinct languages of the area:
Pataxó,
Malalí and
Coropó. However, Coropó is now thought to be a
Purian language. Campbell (1997) therefore lists the Maxakalian languages as:
Maxakalí is a sister of
Krenák and possibly also
Kamakã. Together, they form a Trans-
São Francisco branch within the
Macro-Jê language phylum in Nikulin's (2020) classification.[2]
Ramirez (2015)
Internal classification of the Maxakali languages according to Ramirez, et al. (2015):[3]
Currently,
Maxakali (excluding Old Machacari) is the only living language, while all other languages are extinct.
Pataxó as documented by
Prince Maximilian of Wied-Neuwied (1989: 510–511) in 1816[4] is distinct from Pataxó-Hãhãhãe. Pataxó-Hãhãhãe was spoken into the 20th century and has been documented by Meader (1978: 45–50),[5] Loukotka (1963: 32–33),[6] and Silva & Rodrigues (1982).[7]
Many Maxakalian varieties are attested only from 19th-century word lists, some of which are:[3]
Kumanasho / Cumanaxo – extinct language originally spoken on the
Suaçuí Grande River, state of Minas Gerais, later at the sources of the
Gravatá River, state of Bahia.
Tocoyó – extinct language originally spoken in the valley of the
Araçuaí River and near
Minas Novas de Fanado in the state of Minas Gerais, later on the right bank of the
Jequitinhonha River in the state of Espirito Santo. (Unattested)
Maquinuca – once spoken near the Salto Grande on the
Jequitinhonha River. (Unattested)
^Loukotka, Čestmir. 1963. "Documents et vocabulaires de langues et de dialectes sud-américains", Journal de la Société des Américanistes, Paris, vol. 52, pp. 7–60.
^Silva, Aracy Lopes da & Maria Carolina Young Rodrigues. 1982. Lições de Bahetá: sobre a língua Pataxó-Hãhãhãi. São Paulo: Commissão Pró-Índio de São Paulo.
^Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de. 2000. Viagem pelas províncias do Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte: Editora Itatiaia.
^Martius, Karl Friedrich Philip von. 1863. Glossaria linguarum Brasiliensium: glossarios de diversas lingoas e dialectos, que fallao os Indios no imperio do Brazil. Erlangen: Druck von Jange.
^Saint-Hilaire, Auguste de. 2000. Viagem pelas províncias do Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais. Belo Horizonte: Editora Itatiaia.
Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press.
ISBN0-19-509427-1.
Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What We Know and How to Know More. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), Amazonian Linguistics: Studies in Lowland South American Languages (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press.
ISBN0-292-70414-3.
Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The Native Languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), Atlas of the World's Languages (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge.