 Puelche has long been considered a language isolate.Based on very limited evidence, Viegas Barros (1992) suggests that Puelche might be closely related to the language of the Querandí, one of the Het peoples, and Viegas Barros (2005) that it is related to the Chon languages.Further afield, inclusion in a putative Macro-Jibaro family has been posited.