Programming Language Makefiles?

What programming language are makefiles made in.
For example a Makefile.gcc for a mingW compiler or a CMAKELists File.

Is there a specific language these are written in?

thanks
No, it's not a language (or say it's somewhat blurry when instructions become a language).

the problem is that it's not standardized.
CMake assumes something about the environment, but you can't tell what this assumtions are.
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