Language isolate
Encyclopedia
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language
with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families
consisting of a single language. Commonly cited examples include Basque
, Ainu
, and Burushaski
, though in each case a minority of linguists claim to have demonstrated a relationship with other languages.
With context, a language isolate may be understood to be relatively isolated. For instance, Albanian
, Armenian
, and Greek
are commonly called 'Indo-European isolates'. While part of the Indo-European family
, they do not belong to any established branch (like the Romance
, Indo-Iranian
, Slavic
or Germanic
branches), but instead form independent branches of their own. However, without a qualifier, "isolate" is understood to be in the absolute sense.
Some languages have become isolates after all their known relatives became extinct. The Pirahã language
of Brazil
is one such example, the last surviving member of the Mura family. Others, like Basque
, have been isolates for as long as their existence has been documented. The opposite also occurs; languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families. This happened when the Japonic family
was formulated after it was recognized that certain Japanese "dialects", such as Okinawan
, were distinct languages.
Language isolates may be seen as a special case of unclassified language
s, that remain unclassified even after extensive efforts. If such efforts eventually do prove fruitful, a language previously considered an isolate may no longer be considered one, as happened with the Yanyuwa language
of northern Australia
, which has been placed in the Pama–Nyungan family. Since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language constitutes a true isolate or not.
, which groups most languages spoken in the world today into a relatively small number of families
, according to reconstructed descent from common ancestral languages. For example, English
is related to other Indo-European languages
and Mandarin is related to other Sino-Tibetan languages
. By this criterion, each language isolate constitutes a family of its own, which explains the exceptional interest that these languages have received from linguists.
has been compared with every living and extinct Eurasian language family known, from Sumerian
to South Caucasian
, without conclusive results.
There are some situations in which a language with no ancestor might arise. For example, this happened in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language
, where deaf children with no language were placed together and developed a new language. Similarly, if deaf parents were to raise a group of hearing children who have no contact with others until adulthood, they might develop an oral language among themselves
and keep using it later, teaching it to their children, and so on. Eventually, it could develop into the full-fledged language of a population. With oral languages, this is not very likely to occur at any one time but, over the tens of thousands of years of human pre-history, the likelihood of this occurring at least a few times increases. There are also creole language
s and constructed language
s such as Esperanto
which do not descend directly from a single ancestor but have become the language of a population; however, they do take elements from existing languages.
s as isolates. Despite its great age, Sumerian
can be safely classified as an isolate, as the language is well enough known that, if modern relatives existed, they would be recognizably related.
However, many extinct languages are very poorly attested, and the fact that they cannot be linked to other languages may be a reflection of our poor knowledge of them. Etruscan
, for example, is sometimes claimed to be Indo-European. Although most historical linguists believe this is unlikely, it is not yet possible to resolve the issue. Similar situations pertain to many extinct isolates of the Americas
such as Beothuk
and Cayuse
. A language thought to be an isolate may turn out to be relatable to other languages once enough material is recovered, but material is unlikely to be recovered if a language was not written.
have arisen independently, without any ancestral language, and thus are true language isolates. The most famous of these is the Nicaraguan Sign Language
, but this is simply a well documented case of what has happened in schools for the deaf in many countries. In Tanzania, for example, there are seven schools for the deaf, and seven sign languages, none with any known connection to anything else in the world. The disregard shown to such languages, which students may be punished for using and which schools may deny even exist, makes it difficult to list sign language isolates the way oral language isolates are listed in the tables below.
Sign languages have also developed outside schools, in communities with high incidences of deafness. Such languages include Kata Kolok
in Bali, the Adamorobe Sign Language
in Ghana, the Urubú Sign Language
in Brazil, several Mayan sign languages
, and half a dozen sign languages of the hill tribes in Thailand, such as the Ban Khor Sign Language
.
These and more are all presumed isolates or small local families, because many deaf communities are made up of people who do not have sign language–speaking parents, and have manifestly, as shown by the language itself, not borrowed their sign language from other deaf communities during the often recorded history of these languages.
Africa
Data for several African languages is not sufficient for classification. In addition, Jalaa
and a few of the languages within Nilo-Saharan may turn out to be isolates upon further investigation.
Asia
Australasia
The languages of New Guinea
are poorly studied, and candidates for isolate status are likely to change when more becomes known about them.
Europe
North America
South America
Natural language
In the philosophy of language, a natural language is any language which arises in an unpremeditated fashion as the result of the innate facility for language possessed by the human intellect. A natural language is typically used for communication, and may be spoken, signed, or written...
with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
consisting of a single language. Commonly cited examples include Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
, Ainu
Ainu language
Ainu is one of the Ainu languages, spoken by members of the Ainu ethnic group on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō....
, and Burushaski
Burushaski language
The Burushaski or Burushko language , is a language isolate . It is spoken by some 87,000 Burusho people in the Hunza, Nagar, Yasin, and Ishkoman valleys, and some parts of the Gilgit valley, in Gilgit–Baltistan in Pakistan and by about 300 Burusho people in Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir, India...
, though in each case a minority of linguists claim to have demonstrated a relationship with other languages.
With context, a language isolate may be understood to be relatively isolated. For instance, Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
, Armenian
Armenian language
The Armenian language is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia as well as in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The language is also widely spoken by Armenian communities in the Armenian diaspora...
, and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
are commonly called 'Indo-European isolates'. While part of the Indo-European family
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
, they do not belong to any established branch (like the Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, Indo-Iranian
Indo-Iranian languages
The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani...
, Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
or Germanic
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages constitute a sub-branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic , which was spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe...
branches), but instead form independent branches of their own. However, without a qualifier, "isolate" is understood to be in the absolute sense.
Some languages have become isolates after all their known relatives became extinct. The Pirahã language
Pirahã language
Pirahã is a language spoken by the Pirahã. The Pirahã are an indigenous people of Amazonas, Brazil, living along the Maici River, a tributary of the Amazon....
of Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
is one such example, the last surviving member of the Mura family. Others, like Basque
Basque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
, have been isolates for as long as their existence has been documented. The opposite also occurs; languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families. This happened when the Japonic family
Japonic languages
Japonic languages is a term which identifies and characterises the Japanese which is spoken on the main islands of Japan and the Ryukyuan languages spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. This widely accepted linguistics term was coined by Leon Serafim....
was formulated after it was recognized that certain Japanese "dialects", such as Okinawan
Okinawan language
Central Okinawan, or simply Okinawan , is a Northern Ryukyuan language spoken primarily in the southern half of the island of Okinawa, as well as in the surrounding islands of Kerama, Kumejima, Tonaki, Aguni, and a number of smaller peripheral islands...
, were distinct languages.
Language isolates may be seen as a special case of unclassified language
Unclassified language
Unclassified languages are languages whose genetic affiliation has not been established by means of historical linguistics. If this state of affairs continues after significant study of the language and efforts to relate it to other languages, as in the case of Basque, it is termed a language...
s, that remain unclassified even after extensive efforts. If such efforts eventually do prove fruitful, a language previously considered an isolate may no longer be considered one, as happened with the Yanyuwa language
Yanyuwa language
The Yanyuwa language is spoken by the Yanyuwa people around the settlement of Borroloola in the Northern Territory, Australia....
of northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, which has been placed in the Pama–Nyungan family. Since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language constitutes a true isolate or not.
"Genetic" or "genealogical" relationships
The term "genetic relationship" is meant in the genealogical sense of historical linguisticsHistorical linguistics
Historical linguistics is the study of language change. It has five main concerns:* to describe and account for observed changes in particular languages...
, which groups most languages spoken in the world today into a relatively small number of families
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
, according to reconstructed descent from common ancestral languages. For example, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
is related to other Indo-European languages
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major current languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and South Asia and also historically predominant in Anatolia...
and Mandarin is related to other Sino-Tibetan languages
Sino-Tibetan languages
The Sino-Tibetan languages are a language family comprising, at least, the Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages, including some 250 languages of East Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. They are second only to the Indo-European languages in terms of the number of native speakers...
. By this criterion, each language isolate constitutes a family of its own, which explains the exceptional interest that these languages have received from linguists.
Looking for relationships
That all languages spoken in the world today are related by descent from a single ancestral tongue is possible, though uncertain. The established language families would then be only the upper branches of the genealogical tree of all languages, or, equally, lower progeny of a parent tongue. For this reason, language isolates have been the object of numerous studies seeking to uncover their genealogy. For instance, BasqueBasque language
Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...
has been compared with every living and extinct Eurasian language family known, from Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
to South Caucasian
South Caucasian languages
The Kartvelian languages are spoken primarily in Georgia, with a large group of ethnic Georgian speakers in Russia, the United States, the European Union, and northeastern parts of Turkey. There are approximately 5.2 million speakers of this language family worldwide.It is not known to be related...
, without conclusive results.
There are some situations in which a language with no ancestor might arise. For example, this happened in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language is a signed language spontaneously developed by deaf children in a number of schools in western Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s...
, where deaf children with no language were placed together and developed a new language. Similarly, if deaf parents were to raise a group of hearing children who have no contact with others until adulthood, they might develop an oral language among themselves
Idioglossia
An idioglossia is an idiosyncratic language invented and spoken by only one person or very few people. Most often, idioglossia refers to the "private languages" of young children, especially twins, the latter being more specifically known as cryptophasia, and commonly referred to as twin talk or...
and keep using it later, teaching it to their children, and so on. Eventually, it could develop into the full-fledged language of a population. With oral languages, this is not very likely to occur at any one time but, over the tens of thousands of years of human pre-history, the likelihood of this occurring at least a few times increases. There are also creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
s and constructed language
Constructed language
A planned or constructed language—known colloquially as a conlang—is a language whose phonology, grammar, and/or vocabulary has been consciously devised by an individual or group, instead of having evolved naturally...
s such as Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
which do not descend directly from a single ancestor but have become the language of a population; however, they do take elements from existing languages.
Extinct isolates
Caution is required when speaking of extinct languageExtinct language
An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers., or that is no longer in current use. Extinct languages are sometimes contrasted with dead languages, which are still known and used in special contexts in written form, but not as ordinary spoken languages for everyday communication...
s as isolates. Despite its great age, Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
can be safely classified as an isolate, as the language is well enough known that, if modern relatives existed, they would be recognizably related.
However, many extinct languages are very poorly attested, and the fact that they cannot be linked to other languages may be a reflection of our poor knowledge of them. Etruscan
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
, for example, is sometimes claimed to be Indo-European. Although most historical linguists believe this is unlikely, it is not yet possible to resolve the issue. Similar situations pertain to many extinct isolates of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
such as Beothuk
Beothuk language
The Beothuk language , also called Beothukan, was spoken by the indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland. The Beothuk have been extinct since 1829 and there are few written accounts of their language, little is known about it. There have been claims of links with the neighbouring Algonquian...
and Cayuse
Cayuse language
The Cayuse language is an extinct language formerly spoken by the Cayuse Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Oregon. The Cayuse name for themselves was Liksiyu .The Cayuse language is unclassified...
. A language thought to be an isolate may turn out to be relatable to other languages once enough material is recovered, but material is unlikely to be recovered if a language was not written.
Sign language isolates
There is direct evidence that a large number of sign languagesSign language
A sign language is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns to convey meaning—simultaneously combining hand shapes, orientation and movement of the hands, arms or body, and facial expressions to fluidly express a speaker's...
have arisen independently, without any ancestral language, and thus are true language isolates. The most famous of these is the Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language
Nicaraguan Sign Language is a signed language spontaneously developed by deaf children in a number of schools in western Nicaragua in the 1970s and 1980s...
, but this is simply a well documented case of what has happened in schools for the deaf in many countries. In Tanzania, for example, there are seven schools for the deaf, and seven sign languages, none with any known connection to anything else in the world. The disregard shown to such languages, which students may be punished for using and which schools may deny even exist, makes it difficult to list sign language isolates the way oral language isolates are listed in the tables below.
Sign languages have also developed outside schools, in communities with high incidences of deafness. Such languages include Kata Kolok
Kata Kolok
Kata Kolok , also known as Benkala Sign Language and Balinese Sign Language, is a sign language of the village of Benkala in northern Bali, Indonesia, that has had an extraordinarily high rate of deafness for several generations...
in Bali, the Adamorobe Sign Language
Adamorobe Sign Language
Adamorobe Sign Language is an indigenous sign language used in Adamorobe, an Akan village in eastern Ghana. It is used by about 30 deaf and 1370 hearing people.”...
in Ghana, the Urubú Sign Language
Urubú Sign Language
Urubú Sign Language is a sign language used by the small community of Ka'apor people in the state of Maranhão. Linguist Jim Kakumasu observed in 1968 that the number of deaf people in the community was 7 out of a population of 500...
in Brazil, several Mayan sign languages
Mayan sign languages
The Maya Sign Language is a sign language used in Mexico and Guatemala by Maya communities with unusually high numbers of deaf inhabitants. In some instances, both hearing and deaf members of a village may use the sign language...
, and half a dozen sign languages of the hill tribes in Thailand, such as the Ban Khor Sign Language
Ban Khor Sign Language
Ban Khor Sign Language is a sign language used by about 1,000 people of a rice-farming community in the villages of Ban Khor and Plaa Pag in a remote area of Isan . Ban Khor proper and Plaa Pag are dialects, with some 80% of signs in common. It developed about 60–80 years ago due to a high number...
.
These and more are all presumed isolates or small local families, because many deaf communities are made up of people who do not have sign language–speaking parents, and have manifestly, as shown by the language itself, not borrowed their sign language from other deaf communities during the often recorded history of these languages.
List of oral language isolates by continent
Below is a list of known language isolates, arranged by continent, along with notes on possible relations to other languages or language families.- In the Status column, "vibrant" means that a language is in full use by the community and being acquired as a first language by children. "Moribund" means that a language is still spoken, but only by older people; it is not being acquired by children, and without efforts to revive it will become extinct when current speakers die. "Extinct" means a language is no longer spoken. The terms "living" and "endangered" are defined by the classification of "Language Types" in ISO 639-3ISO 639ISO 639 is a set of standards by the International Organization for Standardization that is concerned with representation of names for language and language groups....
; "vibrant" is equivalent to "living" or sometimes "endangered" in ISO, depending on efforts to preserve the language, and "moribund" is "endangered" in ISO.
AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
Data for several African languages is not sufficient for classification. In addition, JalaaJalaa language
Jalaa Centúúm or Cen Tuum is an endangered language of northeastern Nigeria , of uncertain origins...
and a few of the languages within Nilo-Saharan may turn out to be isolates upon further investigation.
| Language | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Hadza Hadza language Hadza is a language isolate spoken by fewer than a thousand Hadza people along the shores of Lake Eyasi in Tanzania, the last full-time hunter-gatherers in Africa. Despite the small number of speakers, language use is vigorous, with most children learning it... |
Vibrant, though fewer than 1000 speakers | Once listed as an outlier among the Khoisan languages Khoisan languages The Khoisan languages are the click languages of Africa which do not belong to other language families. They include languages indigenous to southern and eastern Africa, though some, such as the Khoi languages, appear to have moved to their current locations not long before the Bantu expansion... , this is now considered unlikely. |
| Sandawe Sandawe language Sandawe or Sandawi is a tonal language spoken by about 40,000 Sandawe people in the Dodoma region of Tanzania. Language use is vigorous among both adults and children, with people in some areas monolingual. Sandawe had generally been classified as a member of the defunct Khoisan family since Albert... |
Vibrant | Tentatively linked to the Khoe languages Khoe languages The Khoe languages are the largest of the non-Bantu language families indigenous to southern Africa. They are often considered to be a branch of a suspected Khoisan language family, and are known as Central Khoisan in that scenario. The nearest relative of the Khoe family is the extinct and poorly... of southern Africa. |
AsiaAsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
| Language | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Ainu | Moribund | Spoken on Hokkaidō Hokkaido , formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel... Island, Japan. Written in modified katakana Katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora... . Historically a small closely related family of its own. |
| Burushaski | Vibrant | Spoken in northern Pakistan Pakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... . Sometimes thought to be related to Yeniseian Yeniseian languages The Yeniseian language family is spoken in central Siberia.-Family division:0. Proto-Yeniseian... in a family called Karasuk Karasuk Karasuk may refer to:*Karasuk culture, a group of Bronze Age societies*Karasuk languages, a hypothetical language family linking the Yeniseian languages and Burushaski*Karasuk, Russia, name of several inhabited localities in Russia... . |
| Elamite Elamite language Elamite is an extinct language spoken by the ancient Elamites. Elamite was the primary language in present day Iran from 2800–550 BCE. The last written records in Elamite appear about the time of the conquest of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great.... |
Extinct | Spoken in the Elamite Empire. Some conjecture a relationship to the Dravidian languages Dravidian languages The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and... (see Elamo-Dravidian Elamo-Dravidian languages The Elamo-Dravidian languages are a hypothesised language family which links the living or proto Dravidian languages of India to the extinct Elamite language of ancient Elam . Linguist David McAlpin has been a chief proponent of the Elamo-Dravidian Hypothesis... ), but this is not well supported. |
| Hattic Hattic language Hattic was a language spoken by the Hattians in Asia Minor between the 3rd and the 2nd millennia BC. Scholars call this language 'Hattic' to distinguish it from the Hittite language--the Indo-European language of the Hittite Empire.... |
Extinct | Spoken in Asia Minor Asia Minor Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey... before the 2nd millennia BCE. Connections to all three major indigenous language families of Caucasus have been proposed. |
| Korean Korean language Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing... |
Vibrant | With over 78 million speakers, Korean has more speakers than all other language isolates combined. Connections to the Altaic languages Altaic languages Altaic is a proposed language family that includes the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, and Japonic language families and the Korean language isolate. These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia through Central Asia to Anatolia and eastern Europe... and Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... have been proposed. See the Altaic hypothesis and Classification of Japanese for these theories. Sometimes, it is classified in a language family with the Jeju dialect Jeju dialect Jeju dialect or Jeju language is the dialect used on the island of Jeju in Korea, with the exception of Chuja in the former Bukjeju County area of Jeju City. It differs greatly from the dialects of the mainland, and preserves many archaic words which have since been lost in other Korean dialects... . |
| Nihali Nihali language Nihali, also known as Nahali or erroneously as Kalto, is a language isolate spoken in west-central India by around 2,000 people out of an ethnic population of 5,000... |
Endangered | Also known as Nahali. Spoken in Maharashtra Maharashtra Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India... state of India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... . Strong lexical Munda Munda languages -Anderson :Gregory Anderson's 1999 proposal is as follows. Individual languages are highlighted in italics.*North Munda **Korku**Kherwarian***Santhali***Mundari*South Munda **Kharia–Juang***Juang***Kharia... influence. |
| Kusunda Kusunda language Kusunda is a language isolate spoken by a handful of people in western Nepal. It has only recently been described in any detail.For decades the Kusunda language was thought to be on the verge of extinction, with little hope of ever knowing it well... |
Moribund | A nearly extinct language of western Nepal Nepal Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India... . The recent discovery of a few speakers shows clearly that it is not closely related to anything else. |
| Nivkh Nivkh language Nivkh or Gilyak is a language spoken in Outer Manchuria, in the basin of the Amgun , along the lower reaches of the Amur itself, and on the northern half of Sakhalin. 'Gilyak' is the Manchu appellation... |
Endangered, perhaps moribund | Also known as Gilyak. A Palaeosiberian language spoken in the lower Amur River basin and on the Sakhalin Islands. Dialects sometimes considered two languages. Has been linked to Chukchi–Kamchatkan Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages The Chukotko-Kamchatkan or Chukchi–Kamchatkan languages are a language family of extreme northeastern Siberia. Its speakers are indigenous hunter-gatherers and reindeer-herders.... . |
| Pucikwar A-Pucikwar language The Pucikwar language, A-Pucikwar, is an extinct language of the Andaman Islands, India, formerly spoken by the A-Pucikwar people on the south coast of Middle Andaman, the northeast coast of South Andaman, and on Baratang Island.... |
Moribund | Spoken on the Andaman Islands Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east... . Related to other Great Andamanese languages which are now extinct. Most linguists see a connection in the Andamanese family Andamanese languages The Andamanese languages form a proposed language family spoken by the Andamanese peoples, a group of Negritos who live in the Andaman Islands, a union territory of India. Its validity is disputed... . |
| Sumerian Sumerian language Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism... |
Extinct | Long-extinct but well-attested language of ancient Sumer Sumer Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age.... . |
AustralasiaAustralasiaAustralasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
and OceaniaOceaniaOceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
The languages of New GuineaNew Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
are poorly studied, and candidates for isolate status are likely to change when more becomes known about them.
| Language | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Abinomn Abinomn language The Abinomn language is a language isolate initially reported by Mark Donohue from Papua province, Indonesia. It is also known as Avinomen, Baso , and Foia. There are about 300 speakers.-Pronouns:The Abinomn pronouns are-External links:*... |
Endangered | Spoken in New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Also known as Baso, Foia. |
| Anem Anêm language The Anêm language is a language isolate spoken in five main villages along the northwestern coast of New Britain island, Papua New Guinea: Malasoŋo , Karaiai, Mosiliki, Pudêlîŋ, Atiatu and Bolo... |
Endangered | Spoken on New Britain New Britain New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel... . Perhaps related to Yélî Dnye and Pele-Ata. |
| Busa | Endangered | Spoken in New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Also known as Odiai. |
| Enindhilyagwa Enindhilyagwa language Enindhilyagwa is an Australian language isolate spoken by the Warnindhilyagwa people on Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia. A 2001 Australian government identified more than one thousand speakers of the language, although there are reports of as many as three thousand... |
Endangered | Spoken in the Gulf of Carpentaria Gulf of Carpentaria The Gulf of Carpentaria is a large, shallow sea enclosed on three sides by northern Australia and bounded on the north by the Arafura Sea... , Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . Also known as Andilyaugwa. |
| Isirawa Isirawa language Isirawa is a Papuan language spoken by about two thousand people on the north coast of Papua province, Indonesia. It's a local trade language, and use is vigorous. Stephen Wurm linked it to the Kwerba languages within the Trans–New Guinea family, and it does share about 20% of its vocabulary with... |
Endangered | Spoken in New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Formerly classified as Trans–New Guinea. |
| Kakadju | Endangered | Spoken in northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . Also known as Gaagudu. Part of a proposal for an Arnhem Land Arnhem Land The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National... family. |
| Kol Kol language (Papua New Guinea) The Kol language is a language spoken in eastern New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. There are about 4000 speakers.Kol appears to be a language isolate, though it may be distantly related to the poorly attested Sulka language.-See also:... |
Endangered | Spoken on New Britain New Britain New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel... . |
| Kuot Kuot language The Kuot language, or Panaras, is a language isolate, the only non-Austronesian language spoken on the island of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. There are about 2,400 speakers, concentrated primarily on the northwest coast of the island... |
Endangered | Spoken on New Ireland New Ireland (island) New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by... . Also known as Panaras. |
| Laragiya Laragiya language The Laragiya language is an Australian language isolate spoken by just six people near the city of Darwin in northern Australia as of 1983. Ethnologue reported that it was extinct.... |
Endangered | May be extinct now. Spoken in northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . |
| Minkin Minkin language The Minkin language is an extinct Australian Aboriginal language, perhaps a language isolate, of northern Australia. It was spoken in the area around Burketown, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, in an area that contains the headwaters of the Leichhardt River.The classification of... |
Extinct | Was spoken in northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . Perhaps a member of the Yiwaidjan Yiwaidjan languages The Iwaidjan or Yiwaidjan languages are a small family of non-Pama–Nyungan Australian Aboriginal languages spoken in the Cobourg Peninsula region of Western Arnhem Land.... or Tankic family. |
| Ngurmbur Ngurmbur language The Ngumbur language is an Australian language isolate spoken by just one person in Arnhem Land, northern Australia, as of 1981. By 2009 Ethnologue reported that it was extinct.Ngumbur is not known to be related to any other language... |
Endangered | May be extinct now. Spoken in northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . Perhaps related to the Pama–Nyungan languages. |
| Pele-Ata | Endangered | Spoken on New Britain New Britain New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel... . Also known as Wasi. Perhaps related to Yélî Dnye and Anem. |
| Pyu (New Guinean) Pyu language (Papua New Guinea) Pyu is a language isolate spoken in Papua New Guinea. It has been suggested that Pyu belongs to the Kwomtari–Baibai family, but the evidence is poor. As of 2000, the language had about 100 speakers.-External links:*... |
Endangered | Spoken in New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Formerly classified as Kwomtari–Baibai. |
| Sulka Sulka language Sulka is a possible language isolate scattered across the eastern end of New Britain island, Papua New Guinea. There are about 3000 speakers.Sulka is very poorly attested. There is some evidence that it might be related to Kol or Baining.... |
Endangered | Spoken on New Britain New Britain New Britain, or Niu Briten, is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from the island of New Guinea by the Dampier and Vitiaz Straits and from New Ireland by St. George's Channel... . |
| Taiap Taiap language Taiap is an endangered language isolate spoken by around a hundred people in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. It is being replaced by the national language and lingua franca Tok Pisin.The first European to come across Taiap was a German missionary in 1938... |
Endangered | Spoken by around a hundred people in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands... . Also known as Gapun, formerly classified as Sepik-Ramu. |
| Tiwi Tiwi language Tiwi is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on the Tiwi Islands, within sight of the coast of northern Australia. It is one of about 10% of Australian languages still being learned by children.... |
Endangered | Spoken off northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . |
| Umbugarla Umbugarla language The Umbugarla language is an Australian language isolate spoken by just three people in Arnhem Land, northern Australia, as of 1981. It may now be extinct.... |
Endangered | Spoken in northern Australia Australia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... . Part of a proposal for an Arnhem Land Arnhem Land The Arnhem Land Region is one of the five regions of the Northern Territory of Australia. It is located in the north-eastern corner of the territory and is around 500 km from the territory capital Darwin. The region has an area of 97,000 km² which also covers the area of Kakadu National... family. |
| Yalë Yalë language The Yalë language, also known as Nagatman, is a language isolate in northwestern Papua New Guinea. There are about 600 speakers, of whom 5% are monolingual.... |
Endangered | Spoken in New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Also known as Nagatman. |
| Yawa Yawa languages The Yawa languages, or Yapen, are a small family of two closely related Papuan languages, Yawa and Saweru, which are often considered to be divergent dialects of a single language... |
Endangered | Spoken on Yapen Island, New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Part of the Extended West Papuan Extended West Papuan The Extended West Papuan language family is a tentative proposal in Malcolm Ross's classification of Papuan languages. It includes the West Papuan languages of the Indonesian island of Halmahera and the Bird's Head Peninsula of far western New Guinea; the Yawa language isolate on Yapen Island in... proposal; sometimes considered two languages. |
| Yélî Dnye Yélî Dnye language The Yélî Dnye language, also known as Yele, is the language of Rossel island, the easternmost island in the Louisiade Archipelago off the eastern tip of Papua New Guinea. For now it is best considered a language isolate, but it may turn out to be related to the Anêm and Ata language isolates of New... |
Endangered | Spoken on Rossel Island, Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands... . Also known as Yele. Perhaps related to Anem and Pele-Ata. |
| Yuri | Endangered | Spoken in New Guinea New Guinea New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago... . Also known as Karkar. |
EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
| Language | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Basque Basque language Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories... |
Vibrant | Known in its own language as Euskara; no known living relatives; found in the Basque Basque Country (historical territory) The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast.... region of France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... and Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula... . Aquitanian Aquitanian language The Aquitanian language was spoken in ancient Aquitaine before the Roman conquest and, probably much later, until the Early Middle Ages.... is commonly regarded as related to or a direct ancestor of Basque. Some linguists have claimed similarities with various languages of the Caucasus Languages of the Caucasus The languages of the Caucasus are a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in and around the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.... . Other linguists have proposed a relation to Iberian Iberian language The Iberian language was the language of a people identified by Greek and Roman sources who lived in the eastern and southeastern regions of the Iberian peninsula. The ancient Iberians can be identified as a rather nebulous local culture between the 7th and 1st century BC... , while others point to a relationship with the Afroasiatic Berber Berber languages The Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert... language group of North Africa North Africa North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and... . |
| Etruscan Etruscan language The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna... |
Extinct | Language of the ancient Etruscans Etruria Etruria—usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia—was a region of Central Italy, an area that covered part of what now are Tuscany, Latium, Emilia-Romagna, and Umbria. A particularly noteworthy work dealing with Etruscan locations is D. H... in northwestern Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... ; not well understood at present. Some have suggested Etruscan is in fact an Anatolian language or Hurro-Urartian, but better accepted is the suggestion of a Tyrrhenian family consisting of Etruscan, Lemnian Lemnian language The Lemnian language is a language of the 6th century BC spoken on the island of Lemnos. It is mainly attested by an inscription found on a funerary stele, termed the Lemnos stele, discovered in 1885 near Kaminia. However, fragments of inscriptions on local pottery show that it was spoken there by... , and possibly Raetic Raetic language Raetic is an extinct language spoken in the ancient region of Raetia in the Eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. It is documented by a limited number of short inscriptions in two variants of the Etruscan alphabet... or Camunic Camunic language The Camunic language is an extinct language which was spoken in the first millennium BC in the Valcamonica and Valtellina valleys of the Central Alps. It has most recently been considered to represent a form of Celtic .-Language:... . |
North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
| Language | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Atakapa Atakapa language Atakapa is an extinct language isolate native to southwestern Louisiana and nearby coastal eastern Texas. It was spoken by the Atakapa people .-Geographic variation:There were two varieties of Atakapa Atakapa is an extinct language isolate native to southwestern Louisiana and nearby coastal eastern... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... and Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . A connection to the Muskogean languages Muskogean languages Muskogean is an indigenous language family of the Southeastern United States. Though there is an ongoing debate concerning their interrelationships, the Muskogean languages are generally divided into two branches, Eastern Muskogean and Western Muskogean... is sometimes proposed. |
| Chimariko Chimariko language Chimariko is an extinct language isolate formerly spoken in Trinity County in northwestern California by Chimariko peoples.-Genetic relations:... |
Extinct | Was spoken in California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . |
| Chitimacha Chitimacha language The Chitimacha language is a language isolate historically spoken by the Chitimacha people of Louisiana, United States. It went extinct in 1940 with the death of the last fluent speaker, Delphine Ducloux.... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . A connection to the Muskogean languages Muskogean languages Muskogean is an indigenous language family of the Southeastern United States. Though there is an ongoing debate concerning their interrelationships, the Muskogean languages are generally divided into two branches, Eastern Muskogean and Western Muskogean... has traditionally been proposed. |
| Coahuilteco Coahuilteco language Coahuilteco was a language isolate that was spoken in southern Texas and northeastern Coahuila . It was spoken by one tribe of a group of American Indian hunter-gatherers named the Quems.... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... and northeastern Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... . Part of the Hokan hypothesis. |
| Cuitlatec Cuitlatec language Cuitlatec, or Cuitlateco, is an extinct language of Mexico, formerly spoken by an indigenous people also known as Cuitlatec.-Classification:... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Guerrero Guerrero Guerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo.... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... . |
| Esselen Esselen language Esselen is a language isolate that was spoken by the Esselen Native Americans on the Central Coast of California, south of Monterey.... |
Extinct | Poorly known. Was spoken in California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Part of the Hokan hypothesis. |
| Haida Haida language The Haida language is the language of the Haida people. It contains seven vowels and well over 30 consonants.-History:The first documented contact between the Haida and Europeans was in 1774, on Juan Pérez's exploratory voyage. At this time Haidas inhabited the Queen Charlotte Islands, Dall... |
Endangered | Spoken in Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... and British Columbia British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858... , Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... . Some proposals to connect to Na-Dené languages Na-Dené languages Na-Dene is a Native American language family which includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. An inclusion of Haida is controversial.... , but these have fallen in disfavor. |
| Huave Huave language Huave is a language isolate spoken by the indigenous Huave people on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is spoken in four villages on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of the state, by around 18,000 people... |
Endangered | Spoken in Oaxaca Oaxaca Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... . Part of the Penutian hypothesis when extended to Mexico, but this idea has generally been abandoned. |
| Jicaque Jicaque language Jicaque, also known as Tol, Tolupan, and Torupan, is a language spoken by some 300 Tolupan people in La Montaña del Flor, Honduras. In the 16th century it extended to cover much of western Yoro... (also known as Tol) |
Endangered (350 speakers) | Spoken in Honduras Honduras Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize... . A connection to the Tequistlatecan Tequistlatecan The Tequistlatecan languages, also called Chontal of Oaxaca, are three close but distinct languages spoken by the Chontal people of Oaxaca State, Mexico:*Huamelultec ,*Tequistlatec proper ,*Highland Oaxaca Chontal.... languages has been proposed, but remains unexplored. |
| Karuk Karuk language Karuk or Karok is an endangered language of northwestern California. It is the traditional language of the Karuk people, most of whom now speak English.... |
Endangered | Spoken in California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Part of the Hokan hypothesis. |
| Kutenai Kutenai language The Kutenai language is named after and is spoken by some of the Kootenai Native American/First Nations people who are indigenous to the area of North America that is now Montana, Idaho, and British Columbia.... |
Endangered | Spoken in Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state.... and Montana Montana Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... and British Columbia British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858... , Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... . |
| Natchez Natchez people The Natchez are a Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area, near the present-day city of Natchez, Mississippi. They spoke a language isolate that has no known close relatives, although it may be very distantly related to the Muskogean languages of the Creek... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi... and Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Often linked to Muskogean Muskogean languages Muskogean is an indigenous language family of the Southeastern United States. Though there is an ongoing debate concerning their interrelationships, the Muskogean languages are generally divided into two branches, Eastern Muskogean and Western Muskogean... . |
| P'urhépecha language P'urhépecha language P'urhépecha is a language isolate or small language family spoken by more than 100,000 P'urhépecha people in the highlands of the Mexican state of Michoacán... (Tarascan) |
Generally viable but some varieties are endangered, more than 100,000 total speakers. | Spoken by the P'urhépecha P'urhépecha The P'urhépecha, normally spelled Purépecha in Spanish and in English and traditionally referred to as Tarascans, are an indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of the Mexican state of Michoacán, principally in the area of the cities of Uruapan and Pátzcuaro... people in Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... . |
| Salinan Salinan language Salinan was the indigenous language of the Salinan people of the central coast of California. It has been extinct since the death of the last speaker in 1958.... |
Extinct | Was spoken in California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Part of the Hokan Hokan languages The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families spoken in California, Arizona and Mexico. In nearly a century since Edward Sapir first proposed the "Hokan" hypothesis, little additional evidence has been found that these families were related to each other... hypothesis. |
| Seri Seri language Seri is a language isolate spoken by the Seri people by between 716 and 900 people in two villages on the coast of Sonora, Mexico.-Classification:... |
Endangered | Spoken in Sonora Sonora Sonora officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 72 municipalities; the capital city is Hermosillo.... , Mexico Mexico The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of... . Part of the Hokan Hokan languages The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families spoken in California, Arizona and Mexico. In nearly a century since Edward Sapir first proposed the "Hokan" hypothesis, little additional evidence has been found that these families were related to each other... hypothesis. |
| Siuslaw Siuslaw (tribe) Siuslaw is one of the three Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians located on the southwest Oregon Pacific coast in the United States. The Siuslaw language is extinct.-External links:***... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Oregon Oregon Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Likely related to Coos, Alsea, possibly the Wintuan languages Wintuan languages Wintuan is a family of languages spoken in the Sacramento Valley of central Northern California.All Wintuan languages are severely endangered.-Family division:... . Part of the Penutian hypothesis. |
| Takelma Takelma language Takelma was the language spoken by the Takelma people. It was first extensively described by Edward Sapir in his graduate thesis, The Takelma Language of Southwestern Oregon... |
Extinct | Spoken in Oregon Oregon Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Part of the Penutian hypothesis. A specific relationship with Kalapuyan Kalapuyan languages Kalapuyan is a small extinct language family that was spoken in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon, United States. It consists of three languages.-Family division:Kalapuyan consists of... is now rejected. |
| Timucua Timucua language Timucua is a language isolate formerly spoken in northern and central Florida and southern Georgia by the Timucua people. Timucua was the primary language used in the area at the time of Spanish arrival in Florida. Linguistic and archaeological studies suggest that it may have been spoken from... |
Extinct | Well attested. Was spoken in Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... and Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . A connection with the poorly known Tawasa language Tawasa language Tawasa is an extinct Native American language. Ostensibly the language of the Tawasa people of what is now Alabama, it is known exclusively through a word list attributed to a Tawasa named Lamhatty, collected in 1707.... has been suggested, but this may be a dialect. |
| Tonkawa Tonkawa language The Tonkawa language was spoken in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico by the Tonkawa people. A language isolate, with no known related languages, Tonkawa is now extinct... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . |
| Tunica Tunica language The Tunica language was a language isolate spoken in the Central and Lower Mississippi Valley by in the United States by Native American Tunica peoples. There are no known speakers of the Tunica language remaining.When the last known fluent speaker Sesostrie Youchigant died, the language became... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi... , Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties... , and Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Often linked to Muskogean Muskogean languages Muskogean is an indigenous language family of the Southeastern United States. Though there is an ongoing debate concerning their interrelationships, the Muskogean languages are generally divided into two branches, Eastern Muskogean and Western Muskogean... . |
| Washo Washo language The Washo language is an endangered Native American language isolate spoken by the Washo on the California–Nevada border in the drainages of the Truckee and Carson Rivers, especially around Lake Tahoe... |
Endangered | Spoken in California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... and Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Part of the Hokan hypothesis. |
| Xinca Xinca language The Xinca language is a Mesoamerican language spoken by the indigenous Xinca people from communities in the southern portion of Guatemala, near its border with El Salvador and in the mountainous region to the north... |
Endangered | Spoken in eastern Guatemala Guatemala Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast... . A relationship with Lenca Lenca language The Lenca language is one of the indigenous Mesoamerican languages. At the time of the Spanish conquest of Central America in the early 16th century, it was spoken by the Lenca people in a region that incorporates northwestern and southwestern Honduras, and neighboring eastern El Salvador, east of... has been proposed. |
| Yana Yana language Yana is an extinct language isolate formerly spoken in north-central California between the Feather and Pit rivers in what is now Shasta and Tehama counties.... |
Extinct | Was spoken in California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Part of the Hokan hypothesis. |
| Yuchi Yuchi language The Yuchi language is the language of the Yuchi people living in the southeastern United States, including eastern Tennessee, western Carolinas, northern Georgia and Alabama, in the period of early European colonization. However, speakers of the Yuchi language were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma... |
Endangered | Spoken in Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788... and Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Connections to Siouan languages Siouan languages The Western Siouan languages, also called Siouan proper or simply Siouan, are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian... have been proposed. |
| Zuni Zuni language Zuni is a language of the Zuni people, indigenous to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the United States. It is spoken by around 9,500 people worldwide, especially in the vicinity of Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico, and much smaller numbers in parts of Arizona.Unlike most indigenous languages in... |
Endangered | Spoken in New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... . Connections to Penutian languages have been proposed, but is generally considered unlikely. |
South AmericaSouth AmericaSouth America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
| Language | Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Aikaná Aikana language Aikanã is an endangered language isolate spoken by about 200 Aikanã people in Rondônia, Brazil. It is morphologically complex and has SOV word order. Aikanã uses a modified Latin alphabet... |
Endangered | Spoken in Rondônia Rondônia Rondônia is a state in Brazil, located in the north-western part of the country. To the west is a short border with the state of Acre, to the north is the state of Amazonas, in the east is Mato Grosso, and in the south is Bolivia. Its capital is Porto Velho. The state was named after Candido Rondon... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . Arawakan Arawakan languages Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean based on the Arawakan languages. Sometimes the proposal is called Arawakan, in which case the central family is called Maipurean.... has been suggested. |
| Andoque Andoque language The Andoque language is an aboriginal language spoken by a few hundred Andoque in Northern South America, and is in decline.In 2000, there were 610 speakers in the area of the Anduche River, downstream from Aracuara, Amazonas, Colombia; 50 were monolinguals. The language is no longer spoken in... |
Endangered | May be extinct now. Spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... and Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... . Possibly Witotoan Witotoan languages Bora–Witóto is a proposal to unite the Bora and Witotoan language families of northeastern Peru , southwestern Colombia , and western Brazil... . |
| Betoi Betoi language Betoi or Betoi-Jirara is an extinct language of Venezuela, south of the Apure River near the modern border with Columbia. The names Betoi and Jirara are those of two of its peoples/dialects; the language proper has no known name. At contact, Betoi was a local lingua franca spoken between the... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... . Paezan Paezan languages Paezan may be any of several language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language.-Proposed genealogical relations:... has been suggested. |
| Camsá Camsá language Camsá is a language isolate of Colombia.-Genealogical relations:Camsá has been linked with various hypothetical phylum proposals including Macro-Chibchan.... |
Living | Also known as Kamsa, Coche, Sibundoy, Kamentxa, Kamse, or Camëntsëá. Spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... . |
| Canichana Canichana language Canichana, or Canesi, is a possible language isolate of Bolivia . As of 1991 there were 500 Canichana people, but only 20 spoke the Canichana language; by 2000 the ethnic population was 583, but the language was extinct.-References:... ? |
Moribund or extinct | Spoken in Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... . A connection with the extinct Tequiraca (Auishiri) has been proposed. |
| Cayubaba Cayubaba language Cayuvava is an extinct language of Bolivia, the descendants of the ethnic group of the same name live in the region of Beni, west of Mamore River, north of Santa Ana del Yacuma with a population of 794 inhabitants.-References:... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... . |
| Cofán Cofán language The Cofán language is the language of the Cofán people, an indigenous group native to Napo Province northeast Ecuador and southern Colombia, between the Guamués River and the Aguarico River .Approximately 60% of Cofán speakers in Ecuador are literate in their... ? |
Living | Spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... and Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... . Sometimes classified as Chibchan Chibchan languages The Chibchan languages make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama... , but the similarities appear to be due to borrowings. |
| Huaorani Huaorani language The Huaorani language, commonly known as Sabela is a language isolate spoken by the Huaorani people, an indigenous group living in the Amazon Rainforest between the Napo and Curaray Rivers... |
Endangered | Spoken in Ecuador Ecuador Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border... and Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... . Also known as Waorani. |
| Irantxe Irantxe language Irantxe , also known as Münkü , is an indigenous American language that is spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil by about 200 people. It is generally left unclassified due to lack of data. Ethnologue idiosyncratically assigns it to the Arawakan family, but there is no published account to back this up... |
Living | Also known as Iranche or Münkü. Spoken in Mato Grosso Mato Grosso Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . Arawakan Arawakan languages Macro-Arawakan is a proposed language family of South America and the Caribbean based on the Arawakan languages. Sometimes the proposal is called Arawakan, in which case the central family is called Maipurean.... has been suggested. |
| Itonama Itonama language Itonama is a moribund language isolate spoken in the Amazonian lowlands of north-eastern Bolivia. Greenberg’s classification of Itonama as Paezan, a sub-branch of Macro-Chibchan, remains unsupported and Itonama continues to be considered an isolate or unclassified language.-Vowels:Diphthongs:... |
Endangered | Spoken in Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... . Paezan Paezan languages Paezan may be any of several language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language.-Proposed genealogical relations:... has been suggested. |
| Karirí Kariri languages The Karirí languages, generally considered dialects of a single language, are extinct languages spoken until the middle of the 20th century; the 4,000 ethnic Karirí are now monolingual Portuguese speakers, though a few know common phrases and names of medicinal plants.The four known Kariri... |
Extinct | Small family. Was spoken in Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba Paraíba (Tupi: pa'ra a'íba: "bad to navigation"; Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: is a state of Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Northeast, and is bordered by Rio Grande do Norte to the north, Ceará to the west, Pernambuco to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east... , Pernambuco Pernambuco Pernambuco is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. To the north are the states of Paraíba and Ceará, to the west is Piauí, to the south are Alagoas and Bahia, and to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. There are about of beaches, some of the most beautiful in the... , and Ceará Ceará Ceará is one of the 27 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is currently the 8th largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of the main touristic destinations in Brazil. The state capital is the city of... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . Likely demonstration of being Macro-Gê. |
| Kawésqar Kawésqar language Kawésqar is an Alacalufan language spoken in southern Chile by the Kawésqar people. Originally there were several distinct dialects... |
Endangered | Small family. Was spoken in the Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... an coast between Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape... and Taitao Peninsula Taitao Peninsula The Taitao Peninsula is a westward projection of the mainland of Chile, with which it is connected by the narrow Isthmus of Ofqui, over which the natives and early missionaries were accustomed to carry their boats between the Moraleda Channel and Gulf of Penas... . There are a few speakers left in Puerto Edén, Wellington Island Wellington Island Wellington Island is an island west of Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile. It has an area of 5,556 km² and most of the island forms part of Bernardo O'Higgins National Park. It is home to the last Kawésqar people, living the village of Puerto Edén, the only inhabited place on the... . |
| Mapudungun Mapudungun The Mapuche language, Mapudungun is a language isolate spoken in south-central Chile and west central Argentina by the Mapuche people. It is also spelled Mapuzugun and sometimes called Mapudungu or Araucanian... |
Vibrant | Spoken in Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... and Argentina Argentina Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires... . Also known as Araucano or Araucanian. Considered a family of 2 languages by Ethnologue. Variously part of Andean, macro-Panoan Macro-Panoan Macro-Panoan is a hypothetical proposal linking four language families of Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina that Kaufman says "seems promising". The Pano–Takanan connection is generally accepted. Kaufman also finds the Moseten–Chon connection fairly convincing. However, the deeper... , or macro-Waikuruan proposals. |
| Movima Movima language Movima is a language that is spoken by about 1400 of the Movima, a group of Native Americans that resides in Bolivia. It is considered a language isolate, as it has not been proven related to any other language.-Phonology:Movima has five vowels:... |
Living | Spoken in Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... . |
| Nambikwaran Nambikwaran languages The Nambikwaran languages are a language family of half a dozen languages, all spoken in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. They have traditionally been considered dialects of a single language, but at least three of them are mutually unintelligible... |
Endangered | Small family. Spoken in Mato Grosso Mato Grosso Mato Grosso is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest in area, located in the western part of the country.Neighboring states are Rondônia, Amazonas, Pará, Tocantins, Goiás and Mato Grosso do Sul. It also borders Bolivia to the southwest... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . |
| Omurano Omurano language Omurano is an unclassified extinct language from Peru. It is also known as Humurana, Roamaina, Numurana, Umurano, and Mayna.Tovar linked Omurano to Taushiro ; Kaufman finds the links reasonable, and tentatively proposes a Kandoshi–Omurano–Taushiro language family... |
Extinct | Spoken in Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... . A tentative family composed of Omuranao, Candoshi, and Taushiro Taushiro language Taushiro, also known as Pinche or Pinchi, is a nearly extinct possible language isolate of the Peruvian Amazon near Ecuador. In 2000 SIL counted one speaker in an ethnic population of 20... has been proposed. |
| Otí Oti language The Oti language, also known as Chavante or Euchavante, is an extinct language isolate once spoken by the Oti people near São Paulo, Brazil.... |
Extinct | Was spoken in São Paulo São Paulo São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . Macro-Gêan Macro-Gê languages Macro-Jê is a medium-sized language stock in South America centered around the Jê language family, with all other branches currently being single languages due to recent extinctions. The family was first proposed in 1926, and has undergone moderate modifications since then... has been suggested. |
| Pirahã Pirahã language Pirahã is a language spoken by the Pirahã. The Pirahã are an indigenous people of Amazonas, Brazil, living along the Maici River, a tributary of the Amazon.... |
Endangered | Spoken in the Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... ian Amazon rainforest Amazon Rainforest The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America... . Related to other Muran languages Muran languages Muran is a small language family of Amazonas, Brazil.-Family division:Muran consists of 4 languages:# Mura †# Pirahã # Bohurá †# Yahahí †... that have recently become extinct. |
| Puquina Puquina language Puquina is an extinct language once spoken by the ancient Inca in the region surrounding Lake Titicaca and in the north of what is now Chile.... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... . Puquina words survive in the Callahuaya jargon of Quechua. |
| Taushiro Taushiro language Taushiro, also known as Pinche or Pinchi, is a nearly extinct possible language isolate of the Peruvian Amazon near Ecuador. In 2000 SIL counted one speaker in an ethnic population of 20... |
Living | Spoken in Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... . A tentative family composed of Omurano Omurano language Omurano is an unclassified extinct language from Peru. It is also known as Humurana, Roamaina, Numurana, Umurano, and Mayna.Tovar linked Omurano to Taushiro ; Kaufman finds the links reasonable, and tentatively proposes a Kandoshi–Omurano–Taushiro language family... , Candoshi, and Taushiro has been proposed. |
| Tequiraca | Living | Spoken in Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... . Also known as Auishiri. A connection with Canichana Canichana language Canichana, or Canesi, is a possible language isolate of Bolivia . As of 1991 there were 500 Canichana people, but only 20 spoke the Canichana language; by 2000 the ethnic population was 583, but the language was extinct.-References:... has been proposed. |
| Ticuna Ticuna language Tïcuna, or Tïkuna, is a language spoken by approximately 40,000 people in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. It is the native language of the Tïcuna people. Tïcuna is generally classified as a language isolate, but may be related to the extinct Yuri language... |
Living | Spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... , Peru Peru Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean.... , and Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . Perhaps related to the extinct Yuri language Yuri language (Amazon) Yurí is, or was, a language previously spoken near a stretch of the Caquetá River in the Brazilian Amazon, extending slightly into Colombia. A small amount of data was collected on two occasions in the 19th century, in 1853 and 1867... . |
| Tinigua Tinigua language Tinigua is an endangered language isolate spoken in Colombia. As of 2000, Tinigua had only two remaining speakers, both of whom were male. The remaining speakers live in Meta Department, between the Upper Guayabero and Yari rivers. Tinigua used to form a small language family with the now extinct... |
Living | Spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... and last survivor of the Tiniguan family Tiniguan languages The Tiniwan languages are two extinct and one nearly extinct language of Colombia that form a small family,*Tinigua *Pamigua *Majigua-Classification:... . |
| Warao Warao language Warao is a language isolate of the indigenous Warao people. It is the native language spoken by approximately 18,000 people inhabiting the Orinoco River delta in northeastern Venezuela as well as small populations of speakers in western Guyana and Suriname.A connection to the extinct Timucua... |
Endangered | Spoken in Guyana Guyana Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British... , Surinam, and Venezuela Venezuela Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south... . Sometimes linked to Paezan Paezan languages Paezan may be any of several language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language.-Proposed genealogical relations:... . |
| Yámana Yaghan language Yagán , also known as Yámana and Háusi Kúta, is one of the indigenous languages of Tierra del Fuego, spoken by the Yagán people... |
Endangered | Spoken in southern Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape... , Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far... . |
| Yuracaré Yuracaré language Yuracaré is an endangered language isolate of central Bolivia in Cochabamba and Beni departments spoken by the Yuracaré people.... |
Endangered | Spoken in Bolivia Bolivia Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America... . Connections to Mosetenan, Pano–Tacanan, Arawakan, and Chon CHON CHON is an mnemonic acronym for the four most common elements in living organisms: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.... have been suggested. |
| Yuri Yuri language (Amazon) Yurí is, or was, a language previously spoken near a stretch of the Caquetá River in the Brazilian Amazon, extending slightly into Colombia. A small amount of data was collected on two occasions in the 19th century, in 1853 and 1867... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... and Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... . Perhaps related to Ticuna Ticuna language Tïcuna, or Tïkuna, is a language spoken by approximately 40,000 people in Brazil, Peru, and Colombia. It is the native language of the Tïcuna people. Tïcuna is generally classified as a language isolate, but may be related to the extinct Yuri language... |
| Yurumanguí Yurumanguí language Yurumanguí is an extinct language of Colombia. It is known to us only through a short list of words and phrases recorded by Father Christoval Romero and given by him to Captain Sebastián Lanchas de Estrada, who included them in the report of his travels of 1768... |
Extinct | Was spoken in Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... . |