Purépecha (autonym: Pʼurhépecha [pʰuˈɽepet͡ʃa] or Phorhé(pecha)), often called Tarascan (Spanish: Tarasco), a term coined by Spanish settlers that can be seen as pejorative,[2] is a language isolate or small language family that is spoken by some 140,000 Purépecha in the highlands of Michoacán, Mexico.

Even though it is spoken within the boundaries of Mesoamerica, Purépecha does not share many of the traits defining the Mesoamerican language area, suggesting that the language is a remnant of an indigenous substrate that existed several thousands of years ago before the migration of speakers that contributed to the formation of the sprachbund, or alternatively is a relatively new arrival to the area.

[3] Joseph Greenberg assigned it to the Chibchan language family,[4] but like the rest of his American classification, that proposal is rejected by specialists.

Ethnohistorical accounts mention them as a people dwelling in the same region of Michoacán they live in now as early as the 13th century.

Around 1300, he undertook the first conquests of other and installed his nephews Hiripan and Tangáxoan as lords of Ihuatzio and Tzintzuntzan respectively while he himself ruled from Pátzcuaro City.

By the time of the death of Taríacuri, in around 1350, his lineage was in control of all the major centers around Lake Pátzcuaro.

There is a body of written sources in Purépecha from the period, including several dictionaries, confessionaries, and land titles.

1700, the status of Purépecha changed, and throughout the 20th century, the Mexican government pursued a policy of Hispanicization.

Vowel clusters are very rare except for sequences that are generated by adding grammatical suffixes like the plural -echa or -icha, the copula -i, or the genitive -iri.

However, in the speech of many young Spanish-Purépecha bilinguals, the retroflex rhotic has been replaced by [l] under the influence of Spanish.

The language is double-marking in the typology of Johanna Nichols, as it marks grammatical relations on both the dependent phrases and phrasal heads.

[18] However, most authors note that other word orders are frequently used for pragmatic purposes such as focus or topic tracking.

warhítichawomen-PLtepharichafat-PLmarusomewarhíticha tepharicha maruwomen-PL fat-PL some'some fat women'The nominative case is unmarked.

'[23]The comitative case is marked by the particle jinkóni or the suffix -nkuni apóntiniapónti-nisleep-INFwarhítiwárhitiwomanmámáonejinkónijinkóniCOMapóntini warhíti má jinkóniapónti-ni wárhiti má jinkónisleep-INF woman one COM'to sleep with a woman'[24]xixiIniwákanini-wa-ka-=nigo-FUT-1st/2nd-1Pimánkuniimá-nkuniDEM-COMxi niwákani imánkunixi ni-wa-ka-=ni imá-nkuniI go-FUT-1st/2nd-1P DEM-COM'I'll go with him/her'[25]Discourse-pragmatic focus on a noun or noun phrase is indicated by the clitic -sï.

Purépecha-language programming is broadcast by the radio station XEPUR-AM, located in Cherán, Michoacán.