Mapudungun (from mapu 'earth, land' and dungun 'speak, speech') is a language isolate spoken in south-central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from mapu 'earth' and che 'people'). It is also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu, and was formerly known as Araucanian. The latter was the name given to the Mapuche by the Spaniards.