Mapudungun (from mapu 'land' and dungun 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also rendered as Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) or Mapuche (/məˈpuːtʃi/ mə-POO-che, Mapuche and Spanish: [maˈputʃe]; from mapu 'land' and che 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') is a language, either a language isolate or member of the small Araucanian family related to Huillichespoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people. It was formerly known as Araucanian, the name given to the Mapuche by the Spanish. The Mapuche avoid this term as a remnant of Spanish colonialism.
Mapudungun is not an official national language of Chile or Argentina, having received virtually no government support throughout its history. However, since 2013, Mapuche, along with Spanish, has been granted the status of an official language by the local government of Galvarino, one of the many communes of Chile. It is not used as a language of instruction in either country's educational system despite the Chilean government's commitment to provide full access to education in Mapuche areas in southern Chile. There is an ongoing political debate over which alphabet to use as the standard alphabet of written Mapudungun.
