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 may 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 probably 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" rowspan="2" |Extinct
|2<ref>{{e25|Hokkaido Ainu}}</ref>
| data-sort-value=4 | 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>
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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>
|-
| [[Kusunda language|Kusunda]]
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|-
|[[Isirawa language|Isirawa]]
|1,800
| style="text-align: center;" |1,800
| rowspan="2" style="text-align: center;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]]
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| [[Kuot language|Kuot]]
|1,500
| data-sort-value="2" | Vibrant
| 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" />
|-
| [[Laragiya language|Laragiya]]
|14
| data-sort-value="4" |Moribund
|[[Australia]]
|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.
|-
|[[Lavukaleve language|Lavukaleve]]
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|Vulnerable
|[[Solomon Islands]]
|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>
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>
|-
| [[Malak-Malak language|Malak-Malak]]
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|25,000
|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]]
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| [[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
|[[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>
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|[[Touo language|Touo]]
|1,900
|Vulnerable
|[[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]]
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|-
|[[Usku language|Usku]]
| style="text-align: center;" |20 ~ 160
| stylerowspan="text-align:3" center;data-sort-value="4" |Moribund
|[[Indonesia]]
|Foley (2018) classifies it as a language isolate.<ref name="Foley-NWNG"/>
|Classed as an isolate in 2018
|-
| [[Wagiman language|Wagiman]]
|11
| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="4" |Moribund
| rowspan="2" |[[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.
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|-
|[[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>
|-
| [[LaragiyaCayuse language|LaragiyaCayuse]]
| 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]]
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|12
| data-sort-value=4 | Moribund
| rowspan="32" |[[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" />
|-
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| 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>
|-
| [[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" />
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|-
| [[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]]
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| 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]]
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|-
| [[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]]
| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Extinct
| rowspan="6" | [[United States]]
| 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>
|-
Line 584 ⟶ 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 596 ⟶ 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>
|-
| [[TolChono language|TolChono]]
| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |1,800Extinct
| rowspan="2" | [[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="23" | VibrantEndangered
| [[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]]
Line 622 ⟶ 603:
| 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>{{cite book |lastname="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}}<SAmerica"/ref>
|-
|[[Guató language|Guató]]
Line 633 ⟶ 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 649 ⟶ 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
| [[ColombiaChile]]
| 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 724 ⟶ 701:
| [[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>{{cite book |lastname="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}}<SAmerica"/ref>
|-
| [[Pirahã language|Pirahã]]
Line 735 ⟶ 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 747 ⟶ 724:
| [[Venezuela]]
| Spoken along the [[Paragua River]] and Karuna River in [[Venezuela]] until 2018. Also known as ''Kaliana'' or ''Caliana''. Part of the proposed [[Arutani–Sape languages|Arutani–Sape language family]] but more likely to be an isolate.
|-
| [[KonkowTaruma language|KonkowTaruma]]
|3
| rowspan="2" data-sort-value="4 rowspan="2" | Moribund
|[[Brazil]], [[Guyana]] and [[Suriname]]
| 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"/>
|-
| [[Taushiro language|Taushiro]]
|1
| data-sort-value=4 | Moribund
| 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.
Line 757 ⟶ 739:
| 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}}
|-
| [[Timote language|Timote]]
|200
| Endangered
| [[Venezuela]]
| Spoken around the city of [[Mérida, Mérida|Mérida]] and south of [[Lake Maracaibo]] in [[Venezuela]]. Last surviving member of the [[Timotean languages|Timotean language family]].
|-
| [[Tinigua language|Tinigua]]
|1
| data-sort-value=4 rowspan="2" | Moribund
| [[Colombia]]
| Spoken somewhere in [[Colombia]]. The only surviving member of the [[Tiniguan languages|Tiniguan language family]].
|-
| [[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 791 ⟶ 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]]