a South American Indian language (spoken by the Caingua. Guayaqui, Apapocuva, Ivapare, Guayana, Chane, Chiriguano, and other tribes), which belongs to the Tupi-Guarani family of languages. Before the colonization of South America (16th century), it was spoken over the territory of what is now Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. The Guarani language forms the basis of the so-called common language (lingua geral), that to this day serves as a means of intertribal communication among the Indians of South America. It has been subjected to the influence of the Spanish and Portuguese languages since the 16th century. In Paraguay missionaries continued to use Guarani and compiled several dictionaries and grammars based on the Roman alphabet, thus contributing to the survival of the language. In present-day Paraguay, Spanish js the official state language, although Guarani is spoken by approximately 80 percent of the population, and newspapers and books are published in the language.