Language isolate: Difference between revisions

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{{Distinguish|Isolating language}}

[[File:Isolated Languages.png|thumb|434x434px|Locations of a few relatively well-known examples of isolated languages]]

A '''language isolate''', or an '''isolated language''', is a [[language]] that has no demonstrable [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic relationship]] with any other languages.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|date=2010-08-24|title=Language Isolates and Their History, or, What's Weird, Anyway?|journal=Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society|language=en|volume=36|issue=1|pages=16–31|doi=10.3765/bls.v36i1.3900|issn=2377-1666|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last1=Salaberri |first1=Iker |title=State of the art of research on language isolates: Introduction |date=2025-01-16 |work=Investigating Language Isolates: Typological and diachronic perspectives |pages=2–19 |editor-last=Salaberri |editor-first=Iker |url=https://benjamins.com/catalog/tsl.135.intro |access-date=2025-01-17 |series=Typological Studies in Language |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |language=en |doi=10.1075/tsl.135.intro |isbn=978-90-272-1899-5 |last2=Krajewska |first2=Dorota |last3=Santazilia |first3=Ekaitz |last4=Zuloaga |first4=Eneko |editor2-last=Krajewska |editor2-first=Dorota |editor3-last=Santazilia |editor3-first=Ekaitz |editor4-last=Zuloaga |editor4-first=Eneko|url-access=subscription }}</ref> [[Basque language|Basque]] in Europe, [[Ainu language|Ainu]]<ref name=":1" /> and [[Burushaski]] in Asia, [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]] in Africa, [[Haida language|Haida]] and [[Zuni language|Zuni]] in North America, [[Kanoê language|Kanoê]] and [[Trumai language|Trumai]] in South America, and [[Tiwi language|Tiwi]] in Oceania are all examples of such languages. The exact number of language isolates is yet unknown due to insufficient data on several languages.<ref>p. xi. Lyle Campbell. 2018. "Introduction". ''Language Isolates'' edited by Lyle Campbell, pp. xi–xiv. Routledge.</ref>

One explanation for the existence of language isolates is that they might be the last remaining member of a larger language family. Such languages might have had relatives in the past that have since disappeared without being documented, leaving them an orphaned language. One example is the [[Ket language|Ket]] language spoken in [[Central Siberian Plateau|central Siberia]], which belongs to the wider [[Yeniseian languages|Yeniseian]] language family; had it been discovered in recent times independently from its now extinct relatives, such as [[Yugh language|Yugh]] and [[Kott language|Kott]], it would have been classified as an isolate. Another explanation for language isolates is that they arose independently in isolation and thus do not share a common linguistic genesis with any other language but themselves. This explanation mostly applies to [[sign languages]] that have developed independently of other spoken or signed languages.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Urban|first=Matthias|date=April 2021|title=The geography and development of language isolates|journal=Royal Society Open Science|language=en|volume=8|issue=4|pages=rsos.202232, 202232|article-number=rsos.202232 |doi=10.1098/rsos.202232|pmid=33996125|pmc=8059667|bibcode=2021RSOS....802232U|issn=2054-5703}}</ref>

Some languages once seen as isolates may be reclassified as small families if some of their dialects are judged to be sufficiently different from the standard to be seen as different languages. Examples include [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[Georgian language|Georgian]]: Japanese is now part of the [[Japonic languages|Japonic language family]] with the [[Ryukyuan languages]], and Georgian is the main language in the [[Kartvelian languages|Kartvelian language family]]. There is a difference between language isolates and [[unclassified languages]], but they can be difficult to differentiate when it comes to classifying [[extinct language]]s.<ref name=":1" /> 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 languages|Pama–Nyungan]] family.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bradley|first=John|title=Wuka nya-nganunga li-Yanyuwa li-Anthawirriyarra = Language for us, the Yanyuwa Saltwater People: a Yanyuwa encyclopaedia|volume =1|date=2016|others=Jean F. Kirton, Elfreda MacDonald|isbn=978-1-925003-67-3|___location=North Melbourne, Vic|oclc=957570810}}</ref> Since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language is an isolate.

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==Genetic relationships==

{{Main|Genetic relationship (linguistics)}}

A genetic relationship is when two different languages are descended from a common ancestral language.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Thomason|first=Sarah Grey|title=Language contact, creolization, and genetic linguistics|date=1988|others=Terrence Kaufman|isbn=0-520-07893-4|___location=Berkeley|oclc=16525266}}</ref> This is what makes up a [[language family]], which is a set of languages for which sufficient evidence exists to demonstrate that they descend from a single ancestral language and are therefore genetically related.<ref name=":1" /> For example, [[English language|English]] is related to other [[Indo-European languages]] and [[Mandarin Chinese]] is related to other [[Sino-Tibetan languages]]. By this criterion, each language isolate constitutes a family of its own.<ref name=":4" /> This is not to be confused with family-level isolates, which are not language isolates themselves but form a primary branch of a language family, such as [[Armenian language|Armenian]] within [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and [[Paiwan language|Paiwan]] within [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]].

This is not to be confused with family-level isolates, which are not language isolates themselves but form a primary branch of a language family, such as [[Armenian language|Armenian]] within [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] and [[Paiwan language|Paiwan]] within [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]].

In some situations, a language with no ancestor can arise. This frequently happens with [[sign language]]s—most famously in the case of [[Nicaraguan Sign Language]], where deaf children with no language were placed together and developed a new language.<ref name="journals.sagepub.com">{{Cite journal|last1=Senghas|first1=Ann|last2=Coppola|first2=Marie|date=July 2001|title=Children Creating Language: How Nicaraguan Sign Language Acquired a Spatial Grammar|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9280.00359|journal=Psychological Science|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=323–328|doi=10.1111/1467-9280.00359|pmid=11476100|s2cid=9978841|issn=0956-7976|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

==Extinct isolates==

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{{Further|Deaf-community sign language|Village sign language}}

A number of [[sign language]]s have arisen independently, without any ancestral language, and thus are language isolates. These include [[Nicaraguan Sign Language]], a well-documented case of what has happened in schools for the deaf in many countries.<ref name="journals.sagepub.com">{{Cite journal|last1=Senghas|first1=Ann|last2=Coppola|first2=Marie|date=July 2001|title=Children Creating Language: How Nicaraguan Sign Language Acquired a Spatial Grammar|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9280.00359|journal=Psychological Science|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=323–328|doi=10.1111/1467-9280.00359|pmid=11476100|s2cid=9978841|issn=0956-7976|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In Tanzania, for example, there are seven schools for the deaf, each with its own [[Tanzanian sign languages|sign language]] with no connection to any other language.<ref>{{Cite book|last=T.|first=Muzale, H. R.|title=Kamusi ya Lugha ya Alama ya Tanzania (LAT) = Tanzanian Sign Language (TSL) dictionary: Kiswahili-TSL-English|date=2004|publisher=Languages of Tanzania Project, University of Dar es Salaam|isbn=9987-691-02-1|oclc=67947374}}</ref> Sign languages have also developed outside schools, in communities with high incidences of deafness, such as [[Kata Kolok]] in Bali, and half a dozen sign languages of the hill tribes in Thailand including the [[Ban Khor Sign Language]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=de Vos|first=Connie|date=March 2011|title=Kata Kolok Color Terms and the Emergence of Lexical Signs in Rural Signing Communities|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.2752/174589311X12893982233795|journal=The Senses and Society|language=en|volume=6|issue=1|pages=68–76|doi=10.2752/174589311X12893982233795|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0012-BB5A-6|s2cid=218839277 |issn=1745-8927|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nonaka|first=Angela M.|date=July 2009|title=Estimating size, scope, and membership of the speech/sign communities of undocumented indigenous/village sign languages: The Ban Khor case study|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0271530909000202|journal=Language & Communication|language=en|volume=29|issue=3|pages=210–229|doi=10.1016/j.langcom.2009.02.004|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

These and more are all presumed isolates or small local families, because many deaf communities are made up of people whose hearing parents do not use sign language, and have manifestly, as shown by the language itself, not borrowed their sign language from other deaf communities during the recorded history of these languages.<ref name=":3" />

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{{Further|Languages of Africa#Unclassified languages}}

With few exceptions, all of Africa's languages have been gathered into four major phyla: [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]], [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]], [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] and [[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]].<ref>Blench, Roger. 2017. African language isolates. In ''Language Isolates'', edited by Lyle Campbell, pp. 176–206. Routledge.</ref> However, the genetic unity of some language families, like [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Starostin|first=George|title=The Nilo-Saharan hypothesis tested through lexicostatistics: current state of affairs |website=Academia |date=5 February 2016 |url=https://www.academia.edu/21582071|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Harald Hammarström|title=glottolog/glottolog: Glottolog database 4.2.1|date=2020-04-16|chapter-url=https://zenodo.org/record/3754591|doi=10.5281/zenodo.3754591|access-date=2020-08-12|last2=Robert Forkel|last3=Martin Haspelmath|last4=Sebastian Bank|chapter=Linguistics }}</ref> is questionable, and so there may be many more language families and isolates than currently accepted. Data for several African languages, like [[Kwisi language|Kwisi]], are not sufficient for classification. In addition, [[Jalaa language|Jalaa]], [[Shabo language|Shabo]], [[Laal language|Laal]], [[Kujargé language|Kujargé]], and a few other languages within [[Nilo-Saharan]] and [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]]-speaking areas may turn out to be isolates upon further investigation. [[Defaka language|Defaka]] and [[Ega language|Ega]] are highly divergent languages located within [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]]-speaking areas, and may also possibly be language isolates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/General/Niger-Congo%20an%20alternative%20view.pdf|title=Niger-Congo: an Alternative View|last=Blench|first=Roger}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable" RULES="ALL"

|-

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| data-sort-value=2 |Vulnerable

|[[Tanzania]]

| Spoken on the southern shore of [[Lake Eyasi]] in the southwest of [[Arusha Region]]. Once listed as an outlier among the [[Khoisan languages]].<ref name="Witzlack-Nakagawa">{{cite book |last1=Witzlack-Makarevich |first1=Alena |last2=Nakagawa |first2=Hirosi |editor1-last=Ekkehard-Wolff |editor1-first=H. |title=The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics |date=2019 |publisher=CUP |pages=382–416 |chapter=Linguistic Features and Typologies in Languages Commonly Referred to as 'Khoisan'}}</ref> Language use is vigorous, though there are fewer than 1,000 speakers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Kirk |title=Highlights of Hadza Fieldwork |website=Academia |date=29 April 2018 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36533860}}</ref>

|-

|[[Jalaa language|Jalaa]]

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|-

| [[Ainu language|Ainu]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

|2<ref>{{e25|Hokkaido Ainu}}</ref>

| data-sort-value=4 rowspan="2" | Moribund

|[[Japan]]

| Spoken on the island of [[Hokkaido]] in [[Japan]]. Sometimes hypothesized to be related to [[Korean language|Korean]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]],<ref name=grenberg2000>Joseph Greenberg (2000–2002): ''Indo-European and Its Closest Relatives: The Eurasiatic Language Family'', 2 volumes. Stanford University Press.</ref> while at other times proposed to be a branch of [[Altaic languages|Altaic]].<ref name=patrie78>James Tyrone Patrie (1978): ''The genetic relationship of the Ainu language''. PhD thesis, University of Hawaii.</ref><ref name=patrie82>James Tyrone Patrie (1982): ''The Genetic Relationship of the Ainu Language.'' University of Hawaii Press. {{ISBN|0-8248-0724-3}}</ref>

|-

|[[Akajeru dialect|Akajeru]]

|3

|[[India]]

|Language isolate as of 2020 after the last speaker of [[Akachari dialect|Akachari]] died of tuberculosis, the last of the [[Great Andamanese languages]].

|-

|[[Bugun language|Bugun]]

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| data-sort-value=2 | Vulnerable

| [[India]]

| Possible language isolate spoken by the [[Hruso people]] of [[Arunachal Pradesh]] in India.<ref name="auto">Blench, Roger. 2011. [http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf ''(De)classifying Arunachal languages: Reconsidering the evidence''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526230734/http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/South%20Asia/NEI/General/Lingres/Declassifying%20Arunachal.pdf |date=2013-05-26 }}</ref>

|-

|[[Ket language|Ket]]

|60

|Endangered

|[[Russia]]

|Language isolate since 1972 after the [[Yugh language]] went extinct. Linked to the [[Na-Dene languages]] in the [[Dene–Yeniseian languages]].

|-

| [[Kusunda language|Kusunda]]

Line 240 ⟶ 228:

|250

|[[Indonesia]]

|Spoken in [[Mamberamo Raya Regency]], [[Papua (province)|Papua Province]]. Linked to [[West Papuan languages]] but Stephen Wurm and William A. Foley consider it an isolate.<ref>Foley, William A. (2018). "The languages of Northwest New Guinea". In Palmer, Bill (ed.). The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide. The World of Linguistics. Vol. 4. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 433–568. [[{{ISBN]] [[Special:BookSources/978-3-11-028642-7|978-3-11-028642-7]]}}.</ref>

|-

|[[Busa language (Papuan)|Busa]]

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|[[Australia]]

|Spoken in the northern part of [[Arnhem Land]] until the early 1980s. Sometimes considered a small language family consisting of Mengerrdji, Urningangk and Erre.<ref name="Campbell 2006">Campbell, R. "A Sketch Grammar of Urningangk, Erre and Mengerrdji: the Giimbiyu languages of Western Arnhem Land". Honours thesis. University of Melbourne, 2006.</ref> Part of a proposal for the undemonstrated [[Arnhem Land languages|Arnhem Land language family]].

|-

|[[Isirawa language|Isirawa]]

|1,800

| rowspan="3" |Vibrant

| rowspan="3" |[[Papua New Guinea]]

|Whilst classed as a [[Kwerbic languages|Kwerbic language]], it only shares 20% of its vocabulary and is considered by some linguists to be an isolate.

|-

| [[Kol language (Papua New Guinea)|Kol]]

|4,000

| data-sort-value="1" | Vibrant

| rowspan="2" |[[Papua New Guinea]]

| Spoken in the northeastern part of [[New Britain]]. Possibly related to the poorly known [[Sulka language|Sulka]], or the [[Baining languages]], suggested as part of the [[East Papuan languages]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Kol |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/10809 |website=Endangered Language Project}}</ref><ref name="Dunn">{{cite journal |last1=Dunn |first1=Michael |last2=Reesnik |first2=Ger |last3=Terrill |first3=Angela |title=The East Papuan Languages: A Preliminary Typological Appraisal |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |date=2002 |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=28–62 |doi=10.1353/ol.2002.0019 |hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0013-1ADC-1 |s2cid=143012930 |url=https://www.eva.mpg.de/documents/Linguistic%20Society%20of%20America,%20MUSE/Dunn_East_OceanLing_2002_1555925.pdf |access-date=6 February 2021}}</ref>

|-

| [[Kuot language|Kuot]]

|1,500

| data-sort-value=2 | Vulnerable

| Spoken on [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]]. Also known as Panaras. Suggested to form part of the [[East Papuan languages|East Papuan family]].<ref name="Dunn" />

|-

| [[LaragiyaLavukaleve language|LaragiyaLavukaleve]]

|1,700

|14

|Vulnerable

| data-sort-value=4 rowspan="2" |Moribund

|[[Solomon Islands]]

| rowspan="3" |[[Australia]]

|Classified as an isolate by [[Endangered Languages Project]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Did you know Lavukaleve is threatened? |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/10269 |access-date=2025-07-07 |website=Endangered Languages |language=en}}</ref> historically classified as a [[Central Solomon languages|Central Solomon language]], but little evidence was found of a relationship by Muller.<ref name="ASJP-4">Müller, André, Viveka Velupillai, Søren Wichmann, Cecil H. Brown, Eric W. Holman, Sebastian Sauppe, Pamela Brown, Harald Hammarström, Oleg Belyaev, Johann-Mattis List, Dik Bakker, Dmitri Egorov, Matthias Urban, Robert Mailhammer, Matthew S. Dryer, Evgenia Korovina, David Beck, Helen Geyer, Pattie Epps, Anthony Grant, and Pilar Valenzuela. 2013. ''[https://asjp.clld.org/static/WorldLanguageTree-004.zip ASJP World Language Trees of Lexical Similarity: Version 4 (October 2013)]''.</ref>

|Spoken near the city of [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]] located in the [[Northern Territory]] in [[Australia]]. Also known as Gulumirrgin. Part of the proposed [[Darwin Region languages|Darwin Region language family]] and the only extant member of it as the [[Limilngan language]] had gone extinct since 2009.

|-

| [[Malak-Malak language|Malak-Malak]]

|10

|Moribund

| rowspan="2" |[[Australia]]

|Spoken in northern [[Australia]]. Often considered part of one Northern Daly family together with [[Tyeraity language|Tyeraity]]. Used to be considered genetically related to the [[Wagaydyic languages]], but nowadays they are considered genetically distinct.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nordlinger |first=Rachel |author-link=Rachel Nordlinger |editor-last1= Fortescue |editor-first1= Michael |editor-link1= Michael Fortescue |editor-link2=Marianne Mithun |editor-last2= Mithun |editor-first2= Marianne |editor-last3= Evans |editor-first3= Nicholas |editor-link3=Nicholas Evans (linguist) |title=Oxford Handbook of Polysynthesis |publisher=Oxford: Oxford University Press |date=2017 |pages=782–807 |chapter=Chapter 37: The languages of the Daly region (Northern Australia)}}</ref>

|-

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|-

|[[Mawes language|Mawes]]

| rowspan="34" |[[Indonesia]]

|Likely isolate.<ref>Foley (2018)</ref><ref>Harald Hammarström. 2010. The Genetic Position of the Mawes Language. Paper presented at the Workshop on the Languages of Papua 2, 8–12 February 2010, Manokwari, Indonesia.</ref>

|-

|[[Maybrat language|Maybrat]]

|25,000

| rowspan="3" |Vibrant

| Spoken in the central area of the [[Bird's Head Peninsula]] located in the province of [[Southwest Papua]]. Sometimes linked to [[West Papuan languages]] but others consider it an isolate.

|-

|[[Molof language|Molof]]

|230

|Vulnerable

|Usher (2020) tentatively suggests it may be related to [[Pauwasi languages]].<ref name=ngw>[https://newguineaworld.linguistik.uzh.ch/families/pauwasi-river New Guinea World]</ref> However, [[Søren Wichmann]] (2018) and Foley (2018) consider it to be an isolate.<ref name="Wichmann2013">Wichmann, Søren. 2013. [http://www.langlxmelanesia.com/wichmann313-386.pdf A classification of Papuan languages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125143227/https://www.langlxmelanesia.com/wichmann313-386.pdf |date=2020-11-25 }}. In: Hammarström, Harald and Wilco van den Heuvel (eds.), History, contact and classification of Papuan languages (Language and Linguistics in Melanesia, Special Issue 2012), 313-386. Port Moresby: Linguistic Society of Papua New Guinea.</ref><ref name="Foley-NWNG">{{cite book |last=Foley |first=William A. |title=The Languages and Linguistics of the New Guinea Area: A Comprehensive Guide |date=2018 |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |isbn=978-3-11-028642-7 |editor1-last=Palmer |editor1-first=Bill |series=The World of Linguistics |volume=4 |___location=Berlin |pages=433–568 |chapter=The languages of Northwest New Guinea}}</ref>

|-

|[[Mpur language|Mpur]]

|5,000

| rowspan="2" |Vibrant

|Spoken in the Mpur and Amberbaken Districts, [[Tambrauw Regency]] on the north coast of the [[Bird's Head Peninsula]].

|-

Line 303 ⟶ 302:

|1,200

|Vibrant

| rowspan="43" |[[Papua New Guinea]]

|Spoken in 6 villages in [[West Kikori Rural LLG]] and [[East Kikori Rural LLG]] of [[Gulf Province]], near the [[Aird Hills]] and [[Kikori River]] tributaries.

|-

Line 315 ⟶ 314:

|Vibrant

|Spoken across the eastern end of New Britain. Suggested to form part of the [[East Papuan languages|East Papuan family]].<ref name="Dunn" />

|-

|[[Tause language|Tause]]

|500

|Vulnerable

|[[Indonesia]]

|Was classified to encourage research as a [[Lakes Plain languages|Lakes Plain language]], but there has been little evidence so has been classed as an isolate.

|-

| [[Tayap language|Tayap]]

| data-sort-value="49" |<50

| data-sort-value="4" | Moribund

|[[Papua New Guinea]]

| Formerly spoken in the village of [[Gapun]]. Links to [[Lower Sepik languages]] and [[Torricelli languages]] have been explored, but the general consensus among linguists is that it is an isolate unrelated to surrounding languages.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VXWcDwAAQBAJ |title=A Grammar and Dictionary of Tayap: The Life and Death of a Papuan Language |last1=Kulick |first1=Don |last2=Terrill |first2=Angela |series=Pacific Linguistics 661 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter Inc. |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-5015-1220-9 |___location=Boston/Berlin }}</ref>

|-

| [[Tiwi language|Tiwi]]

|2,100<ref>{{cite web|title=SBS Australian Census Explorer|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/creative/census-explorer|access-date=9 Jan 2023}}</ref>

| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="2" | Vulnerable

| rowspan="4" |[[Australia]]

| Spoken in the [[Tiwi Islands]] in the [[Timor Sea]]. Traditionally Tiwi is polysynthetic, but the Tiwi spoken by younger generations is not.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lee|first=Jennifer|date=1987|title=Tiwi Today: A Study of Language Change in a Contact Situation|url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/145421/1/PL-C96.pdf|journal=Pacific Linguistics|page=50}}</ref>

|-

|[[Touo language|Touo]]

|1,900

|[[Solomon Islands]]

|Classified as an isolate by Glottolog.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Glottolog 5.2 - Touo |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/touo1238 |access-date=2025-07-07 |website=glottolog.org}}</ref>

|-

|[[Umbugarla language|Umbugarla]]

| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

|[[Australia]]

|Possibly a language isolate. [[Ngomburr language|Ngomburr]] likely a dialect.

|-

|[[Usku language|Usku]]

|20 ~ 160

| rowspan="3" data-sort-value="4" |Moribund

|[[Indonesia]]

|Foley (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.<ref name="Foley-NWNG"/>

|-

| [[Wagiman language|Wagiman]]

|11

| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="4" |Moribund[[Australia]]

|Spoken in the southern part of the [[Top End]]. May be distantly related to the [[Wardaman language|Yangmanic languages]],<ref name="Merlan 1994">Merlan, F. "A Grammar of Wardaman: a language of the Northern Territory of Australia." Berlin; New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 1994.</ref> which might in turn be a member of the [[Macro-Gunwinyguan languages|Macro-Gunwinyguan]] family,<ref name="Evans 2003">Evans, N. "Introduction" in Evans, N., ed. "The Non-Pama-Nyungan Languages of Northern Australia: comparative studies of the continent's most linguistically complex region". ''Studies in Language Change'', 552. Canberra: Pacific Linguistics, 2003.</ref> but neither link has been demonstrated.

|-

Line 382 ⟶ 400:

|-

|[[Alsea language|Alsea]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="89" |Extinct

| rowspan="45" |[[United States]]

|Poorly attested. Spoken along the central coast of [[Oregon]] until the early 1950s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buckley |first1=Eugene |title=The Structure of the Alsea Verb Root: Papers from the 1989 Hokan-Penutian Workshop. Ed. Scott DeLancey |journal=University of Oregon Papers in Linguistics |date=1989 |volume=2 |issue=17}}</ref> Sometimes regarded as two separate languages. Often included in the [[Penutian languages|Penutian]] hypothesis in a [[Coast Oregon Penutian languages|Coast Oregon Penutian]] branch.<ref name="journals.uchicago.edu">{{cite journal |last1=Grant |first1=A.P. |title=Coast Oregon Penutian: Problems and Possibilities |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |date=1997 |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=144–156 |doi=10.1086/466316 |s2cid=143822361 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/466316 |access-date=7 February 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

|-

| [[Atakapa language|Atakapa]]

| Spoken on the Gulf coast of eastern [[Texas]] and southwestern [[Louisiana]] until the early 1900s. Often linked to [[Muskogean languages|Muskogean]] in a [[Gulf languages|Gulf]] hypothesis.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Munro|first=Pamela|date=1994|title=Gulf and Yuki-Gulf|journal=Anthropological Linguistics|volume=36|issue=2|pages=125–222|jstor=30028292|issn=0003-5483}}</ref>

|-

| [[Cayuse language|Cayuse]]

| Spoken in [[Oregon]] until the 1930s. Classified as a language isolate per Campbell (2024).<ref>{{Citation |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |title=North American Indian Languages North of Mexico |date=2024-06-25 |work=The Indigenous Languages of the Americas |pages=28–145 |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/57386/chapter/464713514 |access-date=2025-06-25 |edition=1 |publisher=Oxford University PressNew York |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-767346-1|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

|-

| [[Chimariko language|Chimariko]]

Line 425 ⟶ 446:

|12

| data-sort-value=4 | Moribund

| rowspan="42" |[[United States]]

| Spoken along the [[Klamath River]] in northwestern [[California]]. Part of the [[Hokan languages|Hokan]] hypothesis, but little evidence for this.<ref name="AmerIndLang-Campbell" />

|-

Line 432 ⟶ 453:

| data-sort-value=3 |Endangered

|Spoken in several pueblos throughout [[New Mexico]], including [[Cochiti, New Mexico|Cochiti]] and [[Acoma Pueblo|Acoma]] Pueblos. Has two main dialects: Eastern and Western. Sometimes those two dialects are separated into languages in a Keresan family.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Wick |title=Proto-Keresan Phonology |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |date=1963 |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=310–330 |doi=10.1086/464748 |s2cid=143519987 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/464748 |access-date=11 February 2021|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

|-

| [[Klamath language|Klamath–Modoc]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| Spoken around [[Upper Klamath Lake|Klamath Lake]] in southern [[Oregon]] and northern [[California]] until 2003, after the last speaker died. Part of the [[Plateau Penutian languages|Plateau Penutian]] branch of the [[Penutian languages|Penutian]] hypothesis.

|-

| [[Konkow language|Konkow]]

|3

| data-sort-value=4 rowspan="2" | Moribund

|Spoken in [[California]] in the [[United States]]. Also known as ''Northwest Maidu''. The last surviving member of the [[Maiduan languages|Maiduan language family]] after the other languages went extinct by 2000. Part of the [[Penutian languages|Penutian]] hypothesis.

|-

| [[Kutenai language|Kutenai]]

|345

| data-sort-value=4 | Moribund

|[[Canada]], [[United States]]

| Spoken in the [[Rocky Mountains|Rockies]] of northeastern [[Idaho]], northwestern [[Montana]] and southeastern [[British Columbia]]. Attempts have been made to place it in a Macro-Algic or Macro-Salishan family, but these have not gained significant support.<ref name="AmerIndLang-Campbell" />

|-

| [[Molala language|Molala]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Extinct

| rowspan="2" | [[United States]]

| Spoken in [[Oregon]] until 1958. Part of the [[Plateau Penutian languages|Plateau Penutian]] branch of the [[Penutian languages|Penutian]] hypothesis.

|-

| [[Natchez language|Natchez]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

|[[United States]]

| Spoken in southern [[Mississippi]] and eastern [[Louisiana]] until 1957.<ref name=kimball2>{{cite book|last=Kimball|first=Geoffry|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nd5o9juMePEC&pg=PA385|chapter=Natchez|title=Native Languages of the Southeastern United States |editor=Janine Scancarelli |editor2=Heather Kay Hardy |publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=2005|pages=385–453|isbn=978-0-8032-4235-7}}</ref> Often linked to [[Muskogean languages|Muskogean]] in a [[Gulf languages|Gulf]] hypothesis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haas |first1=M.R. |title=Natchez and the Muskogean languages |journal=Language |date=1956 |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=61–72|doi=10.2307/410653 |jstor=410653 }}</ref> Attempts at revival have produced six people with some fluency.<ref>{{Cite news

| last = Smith

Line 464 ⟶ 474:

|-

| [[Purépecha language|Purépecha]]

|142,500<ref>[http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm Lenguas indígenas y hablantes de 3 años y más, 2020] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165419/http://cuentame.inegi.org.mx/hipertexto/todas_lenguas.htm |date=2016-03-03 }} INEGI. Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020.</ref>

| data-sort-value=3 | Endangered

|[[Mexico]]

Line 472 ⟶ 482:

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

|[[United States]]

| Spoken along the south-central coast of [[California]]. Part of the [[Hokan languages|Hokan]] hypothesis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Turner |first1=Katherina |title=Areal and Genetic linguistic affiliations of the Salinan |journal=Kansas Working Papers in Linguistics |date=1983 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=215–247 |url=https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/482/ling.wp.v8.n2.paper6.pdf;sequence=1 |access-date=12 February 2021 |archive-date=22 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722025627/https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/handle/1808/482/ling.wp.v8.n2.paper6.pdf;sequence=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

|-

| [[Seri language|Seri]]

Line 481 ⟶ 491:

|-

| [[Siuslaw language|Siuslaw]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="35" |Extinct

| rowspan="39" | [[United States]]

| Spoken on the southwest coast of [[Oregon]] until 1960. Likely related to [[Alsea language|Alsea]], [[Coosan languages]], or possibly the [[Wintuan languages]]. Part of the [[Penutian]] hypothesis.<ref name="journals.uchicago.edu"/>

|-

| [[Takelma language|Takelma]]

| Spoken in western [[Oregon]] until mid 20th century. <ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |last1=Kendall |first1=Daythall |title=The Takelma Verb: Towards Proto-Takelma-Kalapuyan |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |date=1997 |volume=63 |issue=1 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1086/466312 |jstor=1265863 |s2cid=144593968}}</ref> Part of the [[Penutian]] hypothesis.<ref name="jstor.org"/>

|-

| [[Timucua language|Timucua]]

| Well attested. Spoken in northern [[Florida]] and southern [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] until the mid- to late 1700s. Briefly spoken in Cuba by a migrant community established in 1763. A connection with the poorly known [[Tawasa language]] has been suggested, but this may be a dialect.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Granberry |first1=Julian |title=A grammatical sketch of Timucua |journal=International Journal of American Linguistics |year=1990 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=60–101 |doi=10.1086/466138 |s2cid=143759206 |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/466138|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

|-

| [[Tol language|Tol]]

|500

| data-sort-value=3 | Endangered

|[[Honduras]]

| Spoken in [[La Montaña de la Flor]] reservation in [[Francisco Morazán Department]] in [[Honduras]]. The only surviving member of the [[Jicaquean languages|Jicaquean]] language family. Language isolate since the [[Western Jicaque language]] went extinct after the 19th century. Part of the [[Hokan languages|Hokan]] hypothesis.

|-

| [[Tonkawa language|Tonkawa]]

| Spoken in central and northern [[Texas]] until the early 1940s.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frawley |first=William |title=International encyclopedia of linguistics |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195307450 |edition=2nd |___location=New York, NY |oclc=66910002}}</ref>

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Extinct

| rowspan="6" | [[United States]]

| Spoken in central and northern [[Texas]] until the early 1940s.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

|-

| [[Tunica language|Tunica]]

| Spoken in western [[Mississippi]], northeastern [[Louisiana]], and southeastern [[Arkansas]] until 1948.<ref>Pierite, AttemptsJoseph. at1964. revitalizationLetter haveto producedMary 32Haas. second-language''Mary speakersR.{{citation needed|date=FebruaryHaas 2021}}Papers''. Mss.Ms.Coll.94. American Philosophical Society Library. Philadelphia.</ref>

|-

| [[Washo language|Washo]]

Line 542 ⟶ 544:

|[[Colombia]], [[Peru]]

| Spoken on the upper reaches of the [[Japurá River]]. Extinct in Peru. Possibly [[Witotoan languages|Witotoan]].<ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia|title=South America|encyclopedia=Atlas of the World's Languages|year=2007|publisher=Routledge|___location=London}}</ref>

|-

| [[Arutani language|Arutani]]

|6

| data-sort-value=4 | Moribund

|[[Brazil]], [[Venezuela]]

| Spoken along the [[Paragua River]] and [[Uraricaá River]] in the far southern area of [[Bolívar (state)|Bolívar State]], [[Venezuela]] and the far northern area of [[Roraima]], [[Brazil]]. Part of the proposed [[Arutani–Sape languages|Arutani–Sape language family]] but more likely to be an isolate.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hammarström|first=Harald|title=The status of the least documented language families in the world|journal=Language Documentation & Conservation|year=2010|volume=4|pages=183|url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/4478/hammarstrom.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | publisher = Cambridge University Press Cambridge | last = Dixon | first = R. M. W. |author2=A. Y. Aikhenvald | title = The Amazonian languages | series = Cambridge Language Surveys | date = 1999 | page = 343}}</ref>

|-

| [[Betoi language|Betoi]]

Line 556 ⟶ 564:

| [[Canichana language|Canichana]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| rowspan="43" | [[Bolivia]]

| Spoken in the [[Llanos de Moxos]] region of [[Beni Department]] until around 2000. Connections with various language families have been proposed, none widely accepted.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Crevils |first1=Mily |title=Tomo II: Amazonia – Canichana |url=https://www.ru.nl/cls/our-research/completed-research-projects/completed-projects/lenguas-de-bolivia-es/lenguas-de-bolivia/tomo-ii-amazonia/ |website=Lenguas de Bolivia |publisher=Centre for Language Studies-Radboud University |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref>

|-

Line 568 ⟶ 576:

| data-sort-value=2 |Vulnerable

|Spoken along the Beni river in [[Beni Department]]. Also spelled Tsimané. Sometimes split into multiple languages in a Moséten family. Linked to the [[Chonan languages]] in a [[Moseten–Chonan languages|Moseten-Chonan]] hypothesis.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sakel |first1=Jeanette |title=Tomo I: Ámbito andino – Mosetén y Chimane (Tsimane') |url=https://www.ru.nl/cls/our-research/completed-research-projects/completed-projects/lenguas-de-bolivia-es/lenguas-de-bolivia/tomo-ambito-andino/|website=Lenguas de Bolivia |publisher=Centre for Language Studies-Radboud University |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref>

|-

|[[Chipaya language|Chipaya]]

|1,800

| data-sort-value=1 |Vibrant

|Spoken in the southern area of [[Lake Titicaca]] along the [[Desaguadero River (Bolivia and Peru)|Desaguadero River]] in the mountains of [[Bolivia]] and mainly in the town of [[Chipaya (village)|Chipaya]] located in the [[Sabaya Province]] of the Bolivian department of [[Oruro Department|Oruro]]. The only surviving member of the [[Uru–Chipaya languages|Uru–Chipaya]] language family. Language isolate since 2012 after the [[Uru language]] went extinct.

|-

|[[Chiquitano language|Chiquitano]]

|2,400

| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="3" |Endangered

| [[Bolivia]], [[Brazil]]

|Spoken in the eastern part of Santa Cruz department and the southwestern part of [[Mato Grosso]] state. Has been linked to the [[Macro-Jê languages|Macro-Jê]] family.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Galeote |first1=Jesús |title=Tomo III: Oriente – Chiquitano |url=https://www.ru.nl/cls/our-research/completed-research-projects/completed-projects/lenguas-de-bolivia-es/lenguas-de-bolivia/tomo-iii-oriente/|website=Lenguas de Bolivia |publisher=Centre for Language Studies-Radboud University |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Adelaar |first1=Willem |editor1-last=elles de Araujo Pereira Lima |editor1-first=S.V |editor2-last=Santos de Paula |editor2-first=A |title=Topicalizando Macro-Jê |date=2008 |publisher=Nectar |pages=9–28 |chapter=Chapter 1: Relações externas do Macro-Jê: O caso do chiquitano}}</ref>

|-

|[[Chono language|Chono]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| [[Chile]]

|Spoken in [[Chonos Archipelago]] and [[Chiloé Archipelago]] until 1875. ''[[Glottolog]]'' and Campbell (2024) characterize it as a language isolate.

|-

| [[Cofán language|Cofán]]

|1,500

| data-sort-value="3" |Endangered

| [[Colombia]], [[Ecuador]]

| Spoken in northern [[Sucumbíos Province]] and southern [[Putumayo Department]]. Also called A'ingae.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cofan |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1043 |website=Endangered Languages Project |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref> Sometimes classified as [[Chibchan languages|Chibchan]], but the similarities appear to be due to borrowings. Seriously endangered in Colombia.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stark |first1=Louisa |editor1-last=Manells Klein |editor1-first=Harriet |editor2-last=Stark |editor2-first=Louisa |title=South American Indian Languages: Retrospect and Prospect |date=1985 |publisher=University of Texas Press |page=165 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GxMaDQAAQBAJ&q=Cofan |access-date=21 February 2021 |chapter=Chapter 3: Indigenous Languages of Lowland Ecuador: History and Current Status|isbn=978-0-292-73732-7 }}</ref>

|-

|[[Fulniô language|Fulniô]]

|1,000

| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="4" |Moribund

| rowspan="3" | [[Brazil]]

|Spoken in the states of [[Paraíba]], [[Pernambuco]], [[Alagoas]], [[Sergipe]], and the northern part of [[Bahia]]. Divided into two dialects, Fulniô and Yatê.<ref>{{cite web |title=Yaté |url=http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/1642 |website=Endangered Languages Project |access-date=20 February 2021}}</ref> Sometimes classified as a [[Macro-Jê languages|Macro-Jê]] language.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Crevils |first1=Mily |editor1-last=Campbell |editor1-first=Lyle |editor2-last=Grondona |editor2-first=Veronica |title=Classification of the Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide |date=2012 |publisher=De Gruyter |page=185 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pA-ryJRcG3AC&q=Guat%C3%B3&pg=PA59 |access-date=21 February 2021 |chapter=Chapter III: Language Endangerment in South America:The Clock is Ticking|isbn=978-3-11-025803-5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Melatti |first1=Julio Cezar |title=Aspectos culturais (não linguísticos) dos povos falantes de línguas do tronco Macro-Jê-Roteiro para discussão no IX Encontro Macro-Jê |url=http://www.juliomelatti.pro.br/notas/n-aspectos-culturais-macro-je.pdf |access-date=20 February 2021}}</ref>

|-

|[[Guachi language|Guachí]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| [[Argentina]]

| Formerly spoken in [[Argentina]] by the Guachí. Linkage has been proposed to the [[Mataco–Guaicuru languages|Mataco–Guaicuru language family]], however Campbell (2012) classifies it as an isolate.<ref name="Campbell-SAmerica"/>

|-

|[[Guató language|Guató]]

|5

| data-sort-value="4" |Moribund

| rowspan="2" | [[Brazil]]

|Spoken in the far south of [[Mato Grosso]] near the Bolivian border. Has been classified as [[Macro-Jê languages|Macro-Jê]], but this is disputed.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Lyle |editor1-last=Campbell |editor1-first=Lyle |editor2-last=Grondona |editor2-first=Veronica |title=Classification of the Indigenous Languages of South America: A Comprehensive Guide |date=2012 |publisher=De Gruyter |page=136 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pA-ryJRcG3AC&q=Guat%C3%B3&pg=PA59 |access-date=21 February 2021 |chapter=Chapter II: Classification of the Indigenous Languages of South America|isbn=978-3-11-025803-5 }}</ref>

|-

Line 598 ⟶ 614:

|90

| data-sort-value="3" | Endangered

| Spoken by the Irántxe and Mỹky peoples in the state of [[Mato Grosso]] in [[Brazil]]. Recent descriptions of the language analyze it as a language isolate.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Documenting Manoki (Mỹky), an isolate of Brazilian Amazonia {{!}} Endangered Languages Archive |url=https://www.elararchive.org/dk0498/ |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=www.elararchive.org}}</ref> According to Arruda (2003), it "bears no similarity with other language families".

|-

| [[Itonama language|Itonama]]

Line 614 ⟶ 630:

|[[Kanoê language|Kanoê]]

|3

| data-sort-value=4 rowspan="2" | Moribund

| [[Brazil]]

| Spoken in southeastern [[Rondônia]]. Also known as ''Kapishana''. Tentatively linked to [[Kwaza language|Kwaza]] and [[Aikanã language|Aikanã]].<ref name="Voort, Hein 2005"/> Part of a [[Macro-Paesan languages|Macro-Paesan]] proposal.<ref name="Kaufman, Terrence 1994">Kaufman, Terrence. 1994. The native languages of South America. In: Christopher Moseley and R. E. Asher (eds.), ''Atlas of the World's Languages'', 59–93. London: Routledge.</ref>

|-

| [[Kawésqar language|Kawésqar]]

|10

| rowspan="2" | [[Chile]]

| Spoken in western [[Patagonia]], [[Wellington Island]] off south Chilean coast, 49° south, with centre in [[Villa Puerto Edén]] located in [[Chile]]. Also known as ''Alacaluf''. The only alive member of the [[Alacalufan languages|Alacalufan language family]] after the other languages went extinct, of which the Kawésqar language is the northern variety.

|-

| [[Kunza language|Kunza]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| [[Chile]]

| Spoken in areas near [[Salar de Atacama]] until the 1950s. Also known as ''Atacameño''. Part of a [[Macro-Paesan languages|Macro-Paesan]] proposal.<ref name="Kaufman, Terrence 1994"/>

|-

Line 637 ⟶ 649:

| [[Bolivia]]

| Spoken at the foot of the [[Andes]] in the [[La Paz Department (Bolivia)|department of La Paz]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Van der Kerke |first1=Simon |title=Tomo I: Ámbito andino – Leco |url=https://www.ru.nl/cls/our-research/completed-research-projects/completed-projects/lenguas-de-bolivia-es/lenguas-de-bolivia/tomo-ambito-andino/|website=Lenguas de Bolivia |publisher=Centre for Language Studies-Radboud University |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref>

|-

| [[Maku language of Auari|Máku-Auari]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| [[Brazil]]

| Spoken on the [[Brazil]]–[[Venezuela]] border in [[Roraima]] until 2000. Also known as ''Máku'' or ''Maku''. Likely language isolate. Has been linked to the [[Arutani–Sape languages|Arutani–Sape]] and the [[Macro-Puinavean languages|Macro-Puinavean language families]].

|-

| [[Mapuche language|Mapuche]]

Line 643 ⟶ 660:

| [[Chile]], [[Argentina]]

| Spoken in areas of the far-southern Andes and in the [[Chiloé Archipelago]]. Also known as ''Mapudungun'', ''Araucano'' or ''Araucanian''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Zúñiga |first1=Fernando |title=Los mapuches y su lengua |date=2006 |publisher=Centro de Estudios Públicos |___location=Santiago de Chile |page=402}}</ref> Variously part of [[Andean languages|Andean]],<ref name="Amerind Dictionary" /> [[Macro-Panoan languages|Macro-Panoan]],<ref name="Kaufman, Terrence 1994"/> or [[Mataco–Guaicuru languages|Mataco–Guaicuru]]<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Viegas Barros |first1=Jose Pedro |title=La hipótesis de parentesco Guaicurú-Mataguayo: estado actual de la cuestión |journal=Revista Brasileira de Linguística Antropológica |date=2013 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=293–333 |doi=10.26512/rbla.v5i2.16269 |url=https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/28247 |access-date=21 February 2021|doi-access=free |hdl=11336/28247 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> proposals. Sometimes [[Huilliche language|Huilliche]] is treated as a separate language, reclassifying Mapuche into an [[Araucanian languages|Araucanian]] family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mason |first1=John Alden |editor1-last=steward |editor1-first=Julian |title=Handbook of South American Indians |date=1950 |publisher=Government Printing Office: Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin |___location=Washington D.C. |pages=157–317 |chapter="The Languages of South America"}}</ref>

|-

| [[Matanawi language|Matanawi]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="2" | Extinct

| [[Brazil]]

| Spoken on the Castanha River and [[Madeirinha River]] in [[Amazonas (Brazilian state)|Amazonas]] in [[Brazil]] until the middle of the 20th century. Has been linked to the [[Mura language|Mura-Pirahã language]].

|-

| [[Mochica language|Mochica]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" | Extinct

| [[Peru]]

| Spoken along the northwest coast of [[Peru]] and in an inland village until {{circa|1920}}. Usually considered to be a language isolate,<ref name="Campbell-SAmerica">{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |author-link=Lyle Campbell |editor1-last=Grondona |editor1-first=Verónica |editor2-last=Campbell |editor2-first=Lyle |date=2012 |title=The Indigenous Languages of South America |chapter=Classification of the indigenous languages of South America |series=The World of Linguistics |volume=2 |___location=Berlin |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |pages=59–166 |isbn=978-3-11-025513-3}}</ref> but has also been hypothesized as belonging to a wider [[Chimuan languages|Chimuan]] language family.

Line 664 ⟶ 685:

| data-sort-value=2 | Vulnerable

| [[Colombia]]

| Spoken in the northern part of [[Cauca Department]]. Also known as ''Páez''. Several proposed relationships in the [[Paezan languages|Paezan]] hypothesis but nothing conclusive.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adelaar |first1=Willem |last2=Muysken |first2=Pieter |title=The Languages of the Andes |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |pages=393–397}}</ref>

|-

| [[Omurano language|Omurano]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="4" |Extinct

| [[Peru]]

| Spoken near the [[Marañón River]] until 2006. Linkage to the [[Saparo–Yawan languages|Saparo–Yawan language family]] has been proposed.

|-

| [[Oti language|Oti]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| rowspan="2" | [[Brazil]]

| Spoken in [[São Paulo]] until the early 1900s. [[Macro-Jê languages|Macro-Jê]] has been suggested.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rodrigues |first1=Aryon |editor1-last=Dixon |editor1-first=R.M.W |title=The Amazonian Languages |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |chapter=6: The Amazonian Languages}}</ref>

|-

| [[Pankararú language|Pankararú]]

| Spoken between the [[Moxotó River]] and the [[Pajeú River]] in eastern [[Brazil]] after until the 1960s. Probably a language isolate.<ref>{{cite book |last=Loukotka |first=Čestmír |author-link=Čestmír Loukotka |title=Classification of South American Indian languages |url=https://archive.org/details/classificationof0007louk |url-access=registration |publisher=UCLA Latin American Center |year=1968 |___location=Los Angeles}}</ref>

|-

| [[Payagua language|Payaguá]]

| [[Argentina]], [[Paraguay]]

| Spoken in [[Argentina]] and [[Paraguay]] by the [[Payaguá]] until 1943. Linkage has been proposed to the [[Mataco–Guaicuru languages|Mataco–Guaicuru language family]], however Campbell (2012) classifies it as an isolate.<ref name="Campbell-SAmerica"/>

|-

| [[Pirahã language|Pirahã]]

|380

| data-sort-value=1 | Vibrant

| [[Brazil]]

| Spoken along the [[Maici River]] in [[Amazonas (Brazilian state)|Amazonas]], [[Brazil]]. The only living dialect of [[Mura language]].

|-

Line 679 ⟶ 712:

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| [[Argentina]], [[Chile]]

| Spoken in the Pampas region, last speaker died around 1960.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Viegas Barros |first1=J. Pedro |title=Un nuevo análisis fonológico del Gününa Yajüch |url=http://www.adilq.com.ar/FONOLOGIA%20GUNUNA.pdf |website=ADILQ |publisher=Asociación de Investigadores en Lengua Quechua |access-date=21 February 2021 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305072046/http://www.adilq.com.ar/FONOLOGIA%20GUNUNA.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sometimes linked to [[Het language|Het]], as part of the [[Chonan languages]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Viegas Barros |first1=J. Pedro |title=La familia lingüística tehuelche |journal=Revista Patagónica |date=1992 |volume=54 |issue=13 |pages=39–46}}</ref> Included in a proposed [[Macro-Jibaro languages|Macro-Jibaro]] family.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kaufman |first1=Ternece |editor1-last=Payne |editor1-first=Doris |title=Amazonian Linguistics Studies in Lowland South American Languages |date=1990 |publisher=University of Texas Press |chapter=Language History in South America: What We Know and How to Know More}}</ref>

|-

| [[Puinave language|Puinave]]

Line 687 ⟶ 720:

| Spoken in 32 communities along the banks of the [[Inírida River]] in [[Guainía Department]], Colombia and in 10 communities along the [[Orinoco|Orinoco River]], in the Colombia–Venezuela border region. Generally considered to be a language isolate, but sometimes linked to [[Macro-Puinavean languages|Macro-Puinavean language family]] along with other families and lesser attested languages.

|-

| [[TequiracaSapé language|TequiracaSapé]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| [[Peru]]

| Spoken in the central part of [[Department of Loreto|Loreto]] until the 1950s. Also known as [[Auishiri]]. A connection with [[Canichana language|Canichana]] has been proposed.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

|-

| [[Timote language|Timote]]

|200

| Endangered

| [[Venezuela]]

| Spoken aroundalong the city of [[Mérida,Paragua Mérida|MéridaRiver]] and southKaruna of [[Lake Maracaibo]]River in [[Venezuela]] until 2018. LastAlso survivingknown memberas ''Kaliana'' or ''Caliana''. Part of the proposed [[TimoteanArutani–Sape languages|TimoteanArutani–Sape language family]] but more likely to be an isolate.

|-

| [[TiniguaTaruma language|TiniguaTaruma]]

|13

| data-sort-value=4 rowspan="2" | Moribund

|[[Brazil]], [[Guyana]] and [[Suriname]]

| [[Colombia]]

| Originally spoken around the mouth of the [[Rio Negro (Amazon)|Rio Negro]] river, now located in [[Maruranau]] village among the [[Wapishana]]. Kaufman (1990) proposed it to be distantly related to [[Katembri language|Katembri]], but this relationship has not been repeated in recent surveys of South American languages by Campbell (2012), confirming that this language is an isolate.<ref name="Serke22">{{Cite thesis |last=Serke |first=Anna K. |title=A description of Taruma phonology |date=2022 |publisher=Universitat Leiden |url=https://studenttheses.universiteitleiden.nl/access/item%3A3454579/view}}</ref><ref name="Campbell-SAmerica"/>

| Spoken somewhere in [[Colombia]]. The only surviving member of the [[Tiniguan languages|Tiniguan language family]].

|-

| [[Taushiro language|Taushiro]]

|1

| rowspan="2" | [[Peru]]

| Spoken in the northeastern area of the [[Loreto province]]. Linkage to the [[Saparo–Yawan languages|Saparo–Yawan language family]] has been proposed.

|-

| [[Tequiraca language|Tequiraca]]

| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct

| Spoken in the central part of [[Department of Loreto|Loreto]] until the 1950s. Also known as [[Auishiri]]. A connection with [[Canichana language|Canichana]] has been proposed.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

|-

| [[Trumai language|Trumai]]

|51

| data-sort-value=4 | Moribund

| [[Brazil]]

| Settled on the upper Xingu River. Currently reside in the [[Xingu National Park]] in the northern part of [[Mato Grosso]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Angelis |first1=Wimar |title="Línguas Indígenas no Brasil: urgência de ações para que sobrevivam." Paper presented at the round table: "A situação atual das línguas indígenas brasileiras", no IX ELESI – Encontro sobre Leitura e Escrita em Sociedades Indígenas (Porto Seguro, BA, 22 a 26 de outubro de 2012). Publicada em: Anari Braz Bomfim & Francisco Vanderlei F. da Costa (orgs), Revitalização de língua indígena e educação escolar indígena inclusiva (Salvador: Egba, 2014, p. 93-117).|url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/58350913/Linguas_Indigenas_-_para_que_sobrevivam.pdf?1549532226=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DLinguas_Indigenas_no_Brasil_urgencia_de.pdf&Expires=1614430091&Signature=Pcis05y7U0nTc4oEfbeoIF5iGR3zzkzWpARPSQOnHq2kZfRPoV2RDQcSTscjKcquVKFEq5fB2Ly6DKezbbp8nIygMST3IjG36BaxxDR9W-35oYGwKst5EpcURqAS7Jzx0mO57IWerkAWByK6uu2SO-T7l1NYUu-WdzkhL~Y~tYIjhPk8ovsxIiFw42AMDpbNlEYvVU~Rx7QXDro7~faYRrzVaWSdjhViCIEWaMEXGshLvjKPUIrBIVXjo48O19FiDZIY2P0B0Lu3ajzRkwMPz0LPOn7Nb9qNCAQoKNCHqO1Wgg6-FOHHZjtV0p8yEvHTMJzQFcxHHP01MCh8FLdFyg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |access-date=27 February 2021}}{{dead link|date=May 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Line 725 ⟶ 762:

| [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]] and [[Venezuela]]

| Spoken in the [[Orinoco Delta]]. Sometimes linked to [[Paezan languages|Paezan]].<ref name="Kaufman, Terrence 1994"/>

|-

| [[Yagua language|Yagua]]

|5,700

| data-sort-value=1 | Vibrant

| [[Peru]], [[Colombia]]

| Spoken primarily in [[Department of Loreto|Loreto Department]], [[Peru]]. The only surviving member of the [[Peba–Yaguan languages|Peba–Yaguan]] language family.

|-

| [[Yahgan language|Yahgan]]