List of extinct languages of North America
Encyclopedia
North America
North 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...
, languages which have undergone language death
Language death
In linguistics, language death is a process that affects speech communities where the level of linguistic competence that speakers possess of a given language variety is decreased, eventually resulting in no native and/or fluent speakers of the variety...
, have no native speakers and no spoken descendant
Historical language
Historical languages are languages that were spoken in a historical period. See:*Historical linguistics*List of languages by first written accounts*List of extinct languages*Classical language*Proto-language...
, most of them being languages of former Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes.
Canada
- BeothukBeothuk languageThe 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...
- LaurentianLaurentian languageLaurentian, or St. Lawrence Iroquoian, was an Iroquoian language spoken until the late 16th century along the shores of the Saint Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada. It is believed to have disappeared with the extinction of the St...
- Newfoundland IrishNewfoundland IrishNewfoundland Irish is an extinct dialect of the Irish language specific to the island of Newfoundland, Canada. It was very similar to Munster Irish, as spoken in the southeast of Ireland, due to mass immigration from the counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Tipperary, and Cork.-Irish settlement...
- PentlatchPentlatch languageThe Pentlatch or Puntlatch or Puntledge language is a Salishan language that was spoken on Canada's Vancouver Island in a small area between Comox and Campbell River, British Columbia. Pentlatch became extinct in the 1940s. The name of this people and their language survives on the modern map as...
- TsetsautTsetsaut languageTsetsaut is an extinct Athabascan language formerly spoken in the Portland Canal area of northwestern British Columbia. Virtually everything known of the language comes from the limited material recorded by Franz Boas in 1894 from two Tsetsaut slaves of the Nisga'a, which is enough to establish...
- Western Abnaki
- WyandotWyandot languageWyandot is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot, Wyandotte, Wendat, or Huron. It was last spoken primarily in Oklahoma and Quebec...
Mexico
- ChicomuceltecChicomuceltecChicomuceltec is a Mayan language formerly spoken in the region defined by the municipios of Chicomuselo, Mazapa de Madero, and Amatenango de la Frontera in Chiapas, Mexico, as well as some nearby areas of Guatemala...
- CochimíCochimí languageCochimí was once the language of the greater part Baja California, as attested by Jesuit documents of the 18th century. It seems to have become extinct around the beginning of the 20th century...
- Náhuatl, ClassicalClassical NahuatlClassical Nahuatl is a term used to describe the variants of the Nahuatl language that were spoken in the Valley of Mexico — and central Mexico as a lingua franca — at the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Mexico...
- GuaycuraGuaycuraThe Guaycura were a native people of Baja California Sur, Mexico, occupying an area extending south from south of Loreto to Todos Santos. They contested the area around La Paz with the Pericú....
- Náhuatl, Tabasco
- Pame Sur
- Tepecano
- TubarTubar languageTubar or Tubare, is an extinct language of Mexico that belonged to the Uto-Aztecan language family.-Morphology:Tubar is an agglutinative language, where words use suffix complexes for a variety of purposes with several morphemes strung together....
United States
- Abnaki, EasternEastern Abnaki languageEastern Abnaki is an extinct language once spoken by the Penobscot in the coastal area of the state of Maine, United States. The last known speaker died in the 1990s in Penobscot, Maine.-External links:* at Native-languages.org....
- AdaiAdaiAdai is the name of a Native American people of northwestern Louisiana with a Southeastern culture...
- Ais
- Alsea
- ApalacheeApalacheeThe Apalachee are a Native American people who historically lived in the Florida Panhandle, and now live primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Their historical territory was known to the Spanish colonists as the Apalachee Province...
- AtakapaAtakapa languageAtakapa 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...
- BarbareñoBarbareño languageBarbareño is one of the extinct Chumash languages, a group of Native American languages previously spoken along the coastal areas of Southern California from as far north as San Luis Obispo to as far south as Malibu, California. The last first-language speaker of Barbareño was Mary...
- BiloxiBiloxi languageBiloxi is an extinct Siouan language which was at one time spoken in Mississippi, Louisiana. and southeast Texas.- History :Biloxis first encountered Europeans in 1699 along the Pascagoula River. By the mid-18th century they had settled in central Louisiana. Some were also noted in Texas in the...
- CalusaCalusaThe Calusa were a Native American people who lived on the coast and along the inner waterways of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region; at the time of European contact, the Calusa were the people of the Caloosahatchee culture...
- CayuseCayuseThe Cayuse are a Native American tribe in the state of Oregon in the United States. The Cayuse tribe shares a reservation in northeastern Oregon with the Umatilla and the Walla Walla tribes as part of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation...
- Chehalis
- ChimarikoChimariko languageChimariko is an extinct language isolate formerly spoken in Trinity County in northwestern California by Chimariko peoples.-Genetic relations:...
- ChitimachaChitimacha languageThe 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....
- CoquilleCoquille (tribe)The Coquille are a Native American tribe centered in southwest Oregon in the United States, where the Coos River flows into Coos Bay.-Name:The name of the Coquille is derived from the French, literally translated as "shell"...
- Costanoan, NorthernUtian languagesUtian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
- Costanoan, SouthernUtian languagesUtian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
- CowlitzCowlitz languageThe Cowlitz language is a member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages.-The Cowltiz tribe:The 'Cowlitz tribe' was originally two distinct tribes: the Lower Cowlitz and the Upper Cowlitz...
- Cruzeño
- Delaware, Pidgin
- Eel River Athabaskan
- EsselenEsselen languageEsselen is a language isolate that was spoken by the Esselen Native Americans on the Central Coast of California, south of Monterey....
- Etchemin
- EyakEyak languageEyak is an extinct Na-Dené language that was historically spoken by the Eyak people, indigenous to southcentral Alaska, near the mouth of the Copper River.The closest relatives of Eyak are the Athabaskan languages...
- Galice-Applegate
- Hanis
- Ineseño
- Iowa-Oto
- Island Chumash
- Jersey DutchJersey DutchJersey Dutch was a variant of the Dutch language spoken in and around Bergen and Passaic counties in New Jersey from the late 17th century until the early 20th century. It may have been a partial creole language based on Zeelandic and West Flemish Dutch dialects with English and possibly some...
- KarkinKarkin languageKarkin is a name of one sub-group of the indigenous Ohlone people of California, as well as the name of the language they spoke....
- Kathlamet
- KitsaiKitsai languageThe Kitsai language is an extinct member of the Caddoan language family. It was spoken in Oklahoma by the Kichai tribe and became extinct in the 1930s. It is thought to be related to Wichita but more closely to Pawnee...
- Kwalhioqua-Clatskanie
- Loup A
- Loup B
- Lower ChinookLower ChinookLower Chinook, also simple Chinook or Chinook proper, is a highly endangered language of the US Pacific Northwest.-Dialects:* Clatsop was spoken in northwestern Oregon around the mouth of the Columbia River and the Clatsop Plains .* Shoalwater , now extinct ...
- Lumbee
- MahicanMahicanThe Mahican are an Eastern Algonquian Native American tribe, originally settling in the Hudson River Valley . After 1680, many moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts. During the early 1820s and 1830s, most of the Mahican descendants migrated westward to northeastern Wisconsin...
- Maidu, Valley
- Martha's Vineyard Sign LanguageMartha's Vineyard Sign LanguageMartha's Vineyard Sign Language is a sign language once widely used on the island of Martha's Vineyard off the coast of Massachusetts, U.S., from the early 18th century to the year 1952. It was remarkable for its use by both deaf and hearing people in the community; consequently, deafness did not...
- MassachusettMassachusettThe Massachusett are a tribe of Native Americans who lived in areas surrounding Massachusetts Bay in what is now the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in particular present-day Greater Boston; they spoke the Massachusett language...
- Mattole-Bear River
- Miami-Illinois
- Miluk
- Miwok: Bay MiwokUtian languagesUtian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
- Miwok: Coast MiwokUtian languagesUtian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
- Mobilian
- MoheganMoheganThe Mohegan tribe is an Algonquian-speaking tribe that lives in the eastern upper Thames River valley of Connecticut. Mohegan translates to "People of the Wolf". At the time of European contact, the Mohegan and Pequot were one people, historically living in the lower Connecticut region...
- MolalaMolalaThe Molala were a people of the Plateau culture area in central Oregon, United States. Some consider them extinct, though they are one of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, with 141 of the 882 members in the 1950s claiming Molala descent.-Language:The Molalla language...
- NanticokeNanticokeNanticoke may refer to:* Nanticoke people in Delaware, United States* Nanticoke language, an Algonquian language* Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, a state-recognized tribe in New Jersey-Place names:United States* Nanticoke River in Delaware and Maryland...
- NarragansettNarragansett (tribe)The Narragansett tribe are an Algonquian Native American tribe from Rhode Island. In 1983 they regained federal recognition as the Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island. In 2009, the United States Supreme Court ruled against their request that the Department of Interior take land into trust...
- NatchezNatchez languageNatchez was a language of Louisiana. Its two last fluent speakers, Watt Sam and Nancy Raven, died in the late 1930s. The Natchez nation is now working to revive it as a spoken language.-Classification:...
- Nooksack
- Northern Kalapuyan
- ObispeñoObispeño languageObispeño was one of the Chumash Native American languages previously spoken along the coastal areas of Southern California. The primary source of documentation on the language is from the work of linguist J. P...
- OfoOfo LanguageThe Ofo language was a language spoken by the Mosopelea tribe who lived until c. 1673 in what is now Ohio along the Ohio River, at which time they moved down the Mississippi River to Mississippi, near the Natchez, and thence to Louisiana, near the Tunica....
- PamlicoPamlicoThe Pamlico were a Native American people of North Carolina. They spoke an Algonquian language also known as Pamlico or Carolina Algonquian.- Geography :...
- Piro
- Pomo, Eastern
- Pomo, Northern
- PowhatanPowhatanThe Powhatan is the name of a Virginia Indian confederation of tribes. It is estimated that there were about 14,000–21,000 of these native Powhatan people in eastern Virginia when the English settled Jamestown in 1607...
- Purisimeño
- Quiripi-Naugatuck-Unquachog
- SalinanSalinan languageSalinan 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....
- ShastaShastaShasta can be a reference to a Native American tribe, and also various locations in Northern California. The term is applied to numerous natural features in the same general vicinity, and many other items associated with the area...
- Shinnecock
- SiuslawSiuslaw languageThe Siuslaw language is currently spoken by the Siuslaw tribal members as a dual language . It consists of two similar dialects:* Upper Umpqua * Lower Umpqua...
- SusquehannockSusquehannock languageSusquehannock is an extinct language that once was spoken by the Native American Susquehannocks. It is a part of the Iroquoian language family....
- TakelmaTakelma languageTakelma 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...
- TillamookTillamook languageTillamook is an extinct Salishan language, formerly spoken by the Tillamook people in northwestern Oregon, United States. The last fluent speaker is believed to have died in the 1970s; between 1965 and 1972, in an effort to prevent the language being destroyed, a group of researchers from the...
- TimucuaTimucuaThe Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The various groups of Timucua spoke several dialects of the...
- TonkawaTonkawa languageThe 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...
- Tsetsaut
- Tunica
- TuteloTutelo languageThe Tutelo language is a member of the Virginian branch of Siouan languages that was originally spoken in what is now Virginia and West Virginia, as well as in the later travels of the speakers through North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, and finally, Ontario...
- TwanaTwana languageThe Twana language or Skokomish language belongs to the Salishan family of Native American languages. It is believed by some elders within the Skokomish community that the language branched off from Lushootseed because of the region-wide tradition of not speaking the name of someone who died for...
- Upper UmpquaUpper UmpquaUpper Umpqua is an extinct Athabascan language once spoken along the south fork of the Umpqua River near the Oregon coast. It has been extinct for at least fifty years and little is known about it. Some data was collected by Melville Jacobs...
- Ventureño
- WappoWappo languageWappo is an extinct language that was spoken in the Alexander Valley north of San Francisco by the Wappo Native Americans. The last fluent speaker, Laura Fish Somersal, died in 1990. Wappo's language death is attributed to the use of English in schools and economic situations such as the workplace...
- WiyotWiyot languageWiyot is an extinct Algic language, formerly spoken by the Wiyot people of Humboldt Bay, California. The language's last native speaker, Della Prince, died in 1962...
- WyandotWyandot languageWyandot is the Iroquoian language traditionally spoken by the people known variously as Wyandot, Wyandotte, Wendat, or Huron. It was last spoken primarily in Oklahoma and Quebec...
- YanaYana languageYana 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....
- YaquinaYaquina (people)Yaquina originally denoted a tribe of Native Americans, now nearly extinct , along with their language . The remaining Yaquina people live on the Siletz Reservation in Oregon, and are mostly of mixed blood. -External links:*...
- YoncallaYoncalla languageYoncalla is a Kalapuyan language once spoken in southwest Oregon in the United States. In the 19th century it was spoken by the Yoncalla band of the Kalapuya people in the Umpqua River valley...