Primary Human Languages Improved Version

The following is a list of

language families A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hi ...

. It also includes

language isolate Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The num ...

s, unclassified languages and other types.

Major language families

By number of languages

Ethnologue ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...

'' 24 (2021) lists the following families that contain at least 1% of the 7,139 known languages in the world: # Niger–Congo (1,542 languages) (21.7%) # Austronesian (1,257 languages) (17.7%) # Trans–New Guinea (482 languages) (6.8%) #

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

(455 languages) (6.4%) #

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

(448 languages) (6.3%) #

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

'dubious''(381 languages) (5.4%) #

Afro-Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...

(377 languages) (5.3%) #

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. T ...

'dubious''(206 languages) (2.9%) #

Oto-Manguean The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of the ...

(178 languages) (2.5%) #

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The te ...

(167 languages) (2.3%) # Tai–Kadai (91 languages) (1.3%) # Dravidian (86 languages) (1.2%) #

Tupian The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani. Homeland and ''urheimat'' Rodrigues (2007) considers the Proto-Tupian urheimat to be somewhere between ...

(76 languages) (1.1%) ''

Glottolog ''Glottolog'' is a bibliographic database of the world's lesser-known languages, developed and maintained first at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany (between 2015 and 2020 at the Max Planck Institute for ...

'' 4.6 (2022) lists the following as the largest families, of 8,565 languages: # Atlantic–Congo (1,406 languages) # Austronesian (1,271 languages) #

(583 languages) #

(501 languages) #

(379 languages) # Nuclear Trans–New Guinea (317 languages) # Pama–Nyungan (250 languages) #

(181 languages) #

(158 languages) # Tai–Kadai (95 languages) # Dravidian (82 languages) #

Arawakan Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient indigenous peoples in South America. Branch ...

(77 languages) # Mande (75 languages) #

(71 languages) Language counts can vary significantly depending on what is considered a dialect; for example

Lyle Campbell Lyle Richard Campbell (born October 22, 1942) is an American scholar and linguist known for his studies of Indigenous languages of the Americas, indigenous American languages, especially those of Central America, and on historical linguistics in ...

counts only 27 Otomanguean languages, although he, ''Ethnologue'' and ''Glottolog'' also disagree as to which languages belong in the family.

Language families by region

Campbell identifies a total of 406 independent language families, including

language isolates Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The numbe ...

Extinct language An extinct language is a language that no longer has any speakers, especially if the language has no living descendants. In contrast, a dead language is one that is no longer the native language of any community, even if it is still in use, li ...

s are marked by

daggers A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use def ...

(†).

Africa

;

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(42) #

#'' Bangi Me'' (isolate) # Berta #

Central Sudanic Central Sudanic is a family of about sixty languages that have been included in the proposed Nilo-Saharan language family. Central Sudanic languages are spoken in the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Nigeria and ...

# Daju # Dizoid #

Dogon Dogon may refer to: *Dogon people, an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, in West Africa *Dogon languages, a small, close-knit language family spoken by the Dogon people of Mali *'' Dogon A.D.'', an album by saxophonist Juliu ...

# Eastern Jebel #

Furan Furan is a heterocyclic organic compound, consisting of a five-membered aromatic ring with four carbon atoms and one oxygen atom. Chemical compounds containing such rings are also referred to as furans. Furan is a colorless, flammable, highly ...

# Gimojan (Gonga–Gimojan) #'' Hadza'' (isolate) # Heiban #

Ijoid Ijoid is a proposed but undemonstrated group of languages linking the Ijaw languages (Ịjọ) with the endangered Defaka language. The similarities, however, may be due to Ijaw influence on Defaka. The Ijoid languages, or perhaps just Ijaw, are ...

#''

Jalaa Jalaa (autonym: ), also known as Cèntûm, Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga, Nigeria, Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isol ...

''† (isolate) #

Kadu KADU (90.1 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station licensed to Hibbing, Minnesota, United States. The station is owned by Heartland Christian Broadcasters, Inc. Translators In addition to the main station, KADU is relayed by an additional trans ...

(Kadugli–Krongo) #

Khoe Maharishi International University (MIU), formerly Maharishi University of Management, is a private university in Fairfield, Iowa. It was founded in 1973 by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and features a "consciousness-based education" system that include ...

# Kresh–Aja # Kxʼa (Ju–ǂHoan) # Koman #

Kuliak The Kuliak languages, also called the Rub languages,Ehret, Christopher (2001) ''A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan'' (SUGIA, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika: Beihefte 12), Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, . are a group of lan ...

# Kunama #'' Laal'' (isolate) #

Maban Maban, mabain or mabanba is a material that is held to be magical in Australian Aboriginal mythology. It is the material from which the shamans and elders of indigenous Australia supposedly derive their magical powers. Among the Ngaanyatjarra pe ...

# Mande # Mao #''

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

'' (isolate?) # Narrow Talodi # Niger–Congo #

Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun-sp ...

Nubian Nubian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Nubia, a region along the Nile river in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. *Nubian people *Nubian languages *Anglo-Nubian goat, a breed of goat * Nubian ibex * , several ships of the Britis ...

(+ '' Meroitic'') #

Nyimang The Nyimang are an ethnic sub-group of the Nuba peoples in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan in Sudan. Their population may exceed 100,000. Most are Muslims. Culture Communication They speak Nyima languages, also known as Ama language of the ...

Rashad Rashad is a given name which may refer to: Surname: *Ahmad Rashad (born 1949), American football player and sportcaster *Ali Akbar Rashad (born 1955), Iranian philosopher and Islamic scholar *Isaiah Rashad (born 1991), American rapper *Phylicia Ras ...

# Saharan #'' Sandawe'' (isolate?) # Songhay #

South Omotic The Aroid or Ari-Banna (formerly South Omotic or Somotic) languages possibly belong to the Afro-Asiatic family and are spoken in Ethiopia. Languages There are five Aroid languages: * ''Aari-Gayil languages'' ** Aari ** Gayil * ''Hamer-Karo ...

(Aroid?) #

Surmic The Surmic languages are a branch of the Eastern Sudanic language family. Today, the various peoples who speak Surmic languages make their living in a variety of ways, including nomadic herders, settled farmers, and slash and burn farmers. Th ...

# Ta-Ne-Omotic # Tama (Taman) # Tegem (Lafofa) (isolate?, unclassified?, family?, Niger–Congo?) # Temein # Tuu

Americas

The Americas has a total of 175 language families, including language isolates, according to Campbell (2019). ;

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

(54) #'' Adai''† (isolate nclassified? #

Algic The Algic languages (also Algonquian–Wiyot–Yurok or Algonquian–Ritwan) are an indigenous language family of North America. Most Algic languages belong to the Algonquian subfamily, dispersed over a broad area from the Rocky Mountains to ...

#''

Alsea The Alsea are a Native American tribe of Western Oregon. They are (since 1856), confederated with other Tribes on the Siletz Reservation, Oregon, and are members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz. Their origin story says that the Yaquina, Al ...

''† (isolate) #''

Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct band ...

''† (isolate, small family?) #''

Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of indigenous people who lived on the island of Newfoundland. Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture formed. This appeared to be the most recent cultural manifestation of peoples w ...

''† (isolate) #

Caddoan The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of sp ...

#'' Cayuse''† (isolate) #

Chimakuan The Chimakuan languages are a group of extinct languages that were spoken in northwestern Washington state, United States, on the Olympic Peninsula. They were spoken by Chimakum, Quileute and Hoh tribes. They are part of the Mosan sprachbund, ...

† #'' Chimariko''† (isolate) #

Chinookan The Chinookan languages were a small family of languages spoken in Oregon and Washington (state), Washington along the Columbia River by Chinook peoples. Although the last known native speaker of any Chinookan language died in 2012, the 2009-2013 ...

† #''

Chitimacha The Chitimacha ( ; or ) are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans who live in the U.S. state of Louisiana, mainly on their reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charenton on Bayou Teche. They are the only Indigenous people in the s ...

''† (isolate) #

Chumashan Chumashan was a family of languages that were spoken on the southern California coast by Native American Chumash people, from the Coastal plains and valleys of San Luis Obispo to Malibu, neighboring inland and Transverse Ranges valleys and ca ...

† #''

Coahuilteco Coahuilteco was one of the Pakawan languages that was spoken in southern Texas (United States) and northeastern Coahuila (Mexico). It is now extinct. Classification Coahuilteco was grouped in an eponymous Coahuiltecan family by John Wesley Po ...

''† (isolate) # Cochimí–Yuman # Comecrudan† #

Coosan Coosan () is a townland and suburb just north of Athlone, County Westmeath in Ireland. The suburb is surrounded on three sides by Lough Ree and on one side by Athlone. Coosan attracts tourists over the summer months due to its location on the ...

† #''

Cotoname Cotoname was a Pakawan language spoken by Native Americans indigenous to the lower Rio Grande Valley of northeastern Mexico and extreme southern Texas (United States). Today it is extinct. Vocabulary The following vocabulary list of Cotoname ...

''† (isolate) #

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut (), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of w ...

#'' Esselen''† (isolate) #''

Haida Haida may refer to: Places * Haida, an old name for Nový Bor * Haida Gwaii, meaning "Islands of the People", formerly called the Queen Charlotte Islands * Haida Islands, a different archipelago near Bella Bella, British Columbia Ships * , a 1 ...

'' (isolate, small family?) #

Iroquoian The Iroquoian languages are a language family of indigenous peoples of North America. They are known for their general lack of labial consonants. The Iroquoian languages are polysynthetic and head-marking. As of 2020, all surviving Iroquoian la ...

Kalapuyan Kalapuyan (also Kalapuya) is a small extinct language family that was spoken in the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon, United States. It consists of three languages. The Kalapuya language is currently in a state of revival. Kalapuyan descenda ...

† #''

Karankawa The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by John ...

''† (isolate) #''

Karuk The Karuk people are an indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. Karuks are also enrolled in two other federally recognized tribes, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Ran ...

(Karok)'' (isolate) #

Keresan Keres (), also Keresan (), is a Native American language, spoken by the Keres Pueblo people in New Mexico. Depending on the analysis, Keres is considered a small language family or a language isolate with several dialects. The varieties of each ...

# Kiowa–Tanoan #''

Kootenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

(Kutenai)'' (isolate) #

Maiduan Maiduan (also Maidun, Pujunan) is a small endangered language, endangered language family of northeastern California. Family division The Maiduan consists of 4 languages: # Maidu language, Maidu ''†'' (also known as Maidu proper, Northeaste ...

Muskogean Muskogean (also Muskhogean, Muskogee) is a Native American language family spoken in different areas of the Southeastern United States. Though the debate concerning their interrelationships is ongoing, the Muskogean languages are generally div ...

# Na–Dene (strict sense, Athapaskan–Eyak—Tlingit) #''

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

''† (isolate) #

Palaihnihan Palaihnihan (also Palaihnih) is a language family of northeastern California. It consists of two closely related languages, both now extinct: # Atsugewi ''(†)'' # Achumawi ''(†)'' (ís siwa wó disi, also known as Achomawi, Pit River Indian ...

Plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

(Plateau Penutian) #

Pomoan The Pomoan, or Pomo , languages are a small family of seven languages indigenous to northern California spoken by the Pomo people, whose ancestors lived in the valley of the Russian River and the Clear Lake basin. Four languages are extinct, an ...

Salinan The Salinan are a Native American tribe whose ancestral territory is in the southern Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Range in the Central Coast of California. Today, the Salinan governments are now working toward federal tribal recognition f ...

† #

Salishan The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a family of languages of the Pacific Northwest in North America (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by ag ...

# Shastan† #

Siouan–Catawban Siouan or Siouan–Catawban is a language family of North America that is located primarily in the Great Plains, Ohio and Mississippi valleys and southeastern North America with a few other languages in the east. Name Authors who call the entire ...

#'' Siuslaw''† (isolate) #''

Takelma The Takelma (also Dagelma) are a Native American people who originally lived in the Rogue Valley of interior southwestern Oregon. Most of their villages were sited along the Rogue River. The name ''Takelma'' means "(Those) Along the River". His ...

''† (isolate) #''

Timucuan The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The var ...

''† #''

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...

''† (isolate) #

Tsimshianic The Tsimshianic languages are a family of languages spoken in northwestern British Columbia and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan. All Tsimshianic languages are endangered, some with only around 400 speakers. Only around 2,170 ...

#'' Tunica''† (isolate) #

Utian Utian (also Miwok–Costanoan, previously Mutsun) is a family of indigenous languages spoken in Northern California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages of the Utian language family. It has recently been argued tha ...

(Miwok–Costanoan) # Uto–Aztecan #

Wakashan Wakashan is a family of languages spoken in British Columbia around and on Vancouver Island, and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington (state), Washington state, on the south side of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. As is ...

#'' Washo'' (isolate) #

Wintuan The Wintun are members of several related Native American peoples of Northern California, including the Wintu (northern), Nomlaki (central), and Patwin (southern).Pritzker, 152 Yana Yana may refer to: Locations *Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma *Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative ca ...

''† (isolate) # Yokutsan #''

Yuchi The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma. In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...

'' (isolate) # Yukian† #'' Zuni'' (isolate) ; Mexico and Mesoamerica (14) #'' Cuitlatec''† (isolate) # Guaicurian† #'' Huave'' (isolate) # Jicaquean (Tol) # Lencan† #

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

Misumalpan The Misumalpan languages (also Misumalpa or Misuluan) are a small family of languages spoken by indigenous peoples on the east coast of Nicaragua and nearby areas. The name "Misumalpan" was devised by John Alden Mason and is composed of syllables ...

# Mixe–Zoquean #

Otomanguean The Oto-Manguean or Otomanguean languages are a large family comprising several subfamilies of indigenous languages of the Americas. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but the Manguean branch of the ...

#''

Seri Seri or SERI may refer to: People *Jean Michaël Seri, an Ivorian professional footballer Places *Seri Yek-e Zarruk, Iran *Seri, Bheri, Nepal *Seri, Karnali, Nepal *Seri, Mahakali, Nepal *Seri, Raebareli, a village in Uttar Pradesh, India Oth ...

'' (isolate) #''

Tarascan Tarascan or Tarasca is an exonym and the popular name for the Purépecha culture. It may refer to: * the Tarascan State, a Mesoamerican empire until the Spanish conquest in the 1500s, located in (present-day) west-central Mexico * the Purépecha p ...

(Purépecha)'' (isolate) #

Tequistlatecan Tequistlatec, also called Chontal, are three close but distinct languages spoken or once spoken by the Chontal people of Oaxaca State, Mexico. Chontal was spoken by 6,000 or so people in 2020. Languages * Huamelultec (Lowland Oaxaca Chontal), ...

# Totonacan # Xinkan† ;

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

(107) #'' Aikanã'' (isolate) #'' Andaquí''† (isolate) #'' Andoque'' (isolate) #'' Arara do Rio Branco† (Arara do Beiradão, Mato Grosso Arara)'' (isolate) #

# Arawan #''

Atacameño The Atacama people, also called Atacameño, are indigenous people from the Atacama Desert and altiplano region in the north of Chile and Argentina and southern Bolivia, mainly Antofagasta Region. According to the Argentinean Census in 2010, 13,9 ...

(Cunza, Kunza)''† (isolate) #'' Awaké (Arutani)''† (isolate) #

Aymaran Aymaran (also Jaqi or Aru) is one of the two dominant language families in the central Andes alongside Quechua languages, Quechuan. The family consists of Aymara language, Aymara, widely spoken in Bolivia, and the endangered Jaqaru language, Jaqa ...

Barbacoan Barbacoan (also Barbakóan, Barbacoano, Barbacoana) is a language family spoken in Colombia and Ecuador. Genealogical relations The Barbacoan languages may be related to the Páez language. Barbacoan is often connected with the Paezan languages ...

#'' Betoi–Jirara''† (isolate) #

Boran Boran (also spelled Buran, Middle Persian: ; New Persian: پوران‌دخت, ''Pūrāndokht'') was Sasanian queen (or ''banbishn'') of Iran from 630 to 632, with an interruption of some months. She was the daughter of king (or '' shah'') Khos ...

# Bororoan # Cahuapanan #'' Camsá'' (isolate) # Cañar–Puruhá (Ecuador) (uncertain family of 2 languages) #''

Candoshi Candoshi-Shapra (also known as Candoshi, Candoxi, Kandoshi, and Murato) is an indigenous American language isolate, spoken by several thousand people in western South America along the Chapuli, Huitoyacu, Pastaza, and Morona river valleys. Ther ...

(Canndoshi–Sharpa)'' (isolate) #'' Canichana''† (isolate) #

Cariban The Cariban languages are a Language family, family of languages indigenous to northeastern South America. They are widespread across northernmost South America, from the mouth of the Amazon River to the Colombian Andes, and they are also spoken ...

#'' Cayuvava† (Cayubaba)'' (isolate) #

Chapacuran The Chapacuran languages are a nearly extinct Native American language family of South America. Almost all Chapacuran languages are extinct, and the four that are extant are moribund. They are spoken in Rondônia in the southern Amazon Basin of ...

# Charruan† #

Chibchan The Chibchan languages (also Chibchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa ...

# Chipaya–Uru #''

Chiquitano The Chiquitano or Chiquitos are an indigenous people of Bolivia, with a small number also living in Brazil. The Chiquitano primarily live in the Chiquitania tropical savanna of Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, with a small number also living in Be ...

'' (isolate) #

Chocoan The Choco languages (also Chocoan, Chocó, Chokó) are a small family of Native American languages spread across Colombia and Panama. Family division Choco consists of six known branches, all but two of which are extinct. *The Emberá langu ...

# Cholonan† # Chonan #'' Chono''† (isolate) #'' Cofán (A'ingaé)'' (isolate) #'' Culli (Culle)''† (isolate) #'' Esmeralda (Atacame)''† (isolate) #'' Fulnio (Yaté)'' (isolate) #'' Guachí''† (isolate) # Guaicuruan #

Guajiboan Guajiboan (also Guahiban, Wahívoan, Guahiboan) is a language family spoken in the Orinoco River region in eastern Colombia and southwestern Venezuela, a savanna region known as the Llanos. Family division Guajiboan consists of 5 languages: ...

#''

Guamo Guamo is a town and municipality in the Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 30,516 as of the 2018 census. References Municipalities of Tolima Department {{Tolima-geo-stub ...

''† (isolate) #'' Guató''† (isolate) # Harákmbut–Katukinan # Huarpean† #'' Irantxe (Münkü)'' (isolate) #'' Itonama'' (isolate) # Jabutían # Jêan (Jê family) #'' Jeikó''† (isolate) acro–Jêan?# Jirajaran† # Jivaroan #'' Jotí (Yuwana)'' (isolate) # Kakua–Nukak # Kamakanan† #'' Kapixaná (Kanoé)'' (isolate) #

Karajá The Karajá, also known as Iny, are an indigenous tribe located in Brazil.Karaja Indians.
''Hands Aro ...

# Karirían† # Kaweskaran # Krenákan (Botocudan) #'' Kwaza (Koayá)'' (isolate) #'' Leco''† (isolate) # Lule–Vilelan† #'' Máko† (Maku)'' (isolate) #

Mapudungun Mapuche (, Mapuche & Spanish: , or Mapudungun; from ' 'land' and ' 'speak, speech') is an Araucanian language related to Huilliche spoken in south-central Chile and west-central Argentina by the Mapuche people (from ''mapu'' 'land' and ''che ...

Mascoyan The Mascoian also known as Enlhet–Enenlhet, Lengua–Mascoy, or Chaco languages are a small, closely related language family of Paraguay. Languages The languages are:Unruh, Ernesto; Kalisch, Hannes. 2003. "Enlhet-Enenlhet. Una familia lingüí ...

(Enlhet–Enenlhet) #

Matacoan Matacoan (also ''Mataguayan, Matákoan, Mataguayo, Mataco–Mataguayo, Matacoano, Matacoana'') is a language family of northern Argentina, western Paraguay, and southeastern Bolivia. Family division Matacoan consists of four clusters of languag ...

#'' Matanawí''† (isolate) # Maxakalían #'' Mochica (Yunga)''† (isolate) #'' Mosetén–Chimané'' (isolate) #'' Movima'' (isolate) #'' Munichi''† (isolate) # Muran (Pirahã) (isolate, small family?) # Nadehup ("Makúan") # Nambiquaran #'' Ofayé (Opayé)'' (isolate) #'' Omurano''† (isolate) # Otomacoan† #'' Paez'' (isolate?) # Pano–Takanan #''

Payaguá The Payaguá people, also called Evueví and Evebe, were an ethnic group of the Guaycuru peoples in the Northern Chaco of Paraguay. The Payaguá were a river tribe, living, hunting, fishing, and raiding on the Paraguay River. The name ''Pay ...

''† (isolate) #''

Puinave Puinave, Waipunavi (Guaipunabi) or Wanse ( pui, Wãnsöhöt) is an indigenous language of Colombia and Venezuela. It is generally considered to be an unclassified language. Varieties Varieties listed by Mason (1950): *Puinave (Epined) **Weste ...

'' (isolate) #''

Puquina Puquina (or Pukina) is a small, putative language family, often portrayed as a language isolate, which consists of the extinct Puquina language and Kallawaya, although it is assumed that the latter is just a remnant of the former mixed with Qu ...

''† (isolate) #'' Purí–Coroado''† (isolate) #

Quechuan Quechua (, ; ), usually called ("people's language") in Quechuan languages, is an indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, primarily living in the Peruvian Andes. Derived from a common ancestral language, it is the most widely ...

#'' Rikbaktsá (Canoeiro)'' (isolate) # Sáliban #'' Sapé (Kaliana)''† (isolate) # Sechura–Catacaoan† #'' Taruma† (Ta ruamá)'' (isolate) #'' Taushiro'' (isolate) #'' Tequiraca''† (isolate) # Tikuna–Yurí # Timotean† # Tiniguan† #'' Trumai'' (isolate) # Tukanoan # Tupían #''

Urarina The Urarina are an indigenous people of the Peruvian Amazon Basin ( Loreto) who inhabit the valleys of the Chambira, Urituyacu, and Corrientes Rivers. According to both archaeological and historical sources, they have resided in the Chambira Basi ...

'' (isolate) #''

Waorani The Huaorani, Waorani, or Waodani, also known as the Waos, are an Indigenous people from the Amazonian Region of Ecuador ( Napo, Orellana, and Pastaza Provinces) who have marked differences from other ethnic groups from Ecuador. The alternate ...

'' (isolate) #'' Warao'' (isolate) # Witotoan # Xukurúan† #''

Yagan Yagan (; – 11 July 1833) was an Aboriginal Australian warrior from the Noongar people. Yagan was pursued by the local authorities after he killed Erin Entwhistle, a servant of farmer Archibald Butler. It was an act of retaliation after ...

(Yámana)''† (isolate) # Yaguan # Yanomaman #''

Yaruro The Yaruro people (or Pumé, according to their self-determination) are a Circum-Caribbean indigenous people, native to the ecoregion of Llanos in Venezuela, located west of the Orinoco River.

(Pumé)'' (isolate) #'' Yuracaré'' (isolate) #'' Yurumangui''† (isolate) #

Zamucoan Zamucoan (also Samúkoan) is a small language family of Paraguay (northeast Chaco Department, Chaco) and Bolivia (Santa Cruz Department (Bolivia), Santa Cruz Department). The family has hardly been studied by linguists (as of Adelaar & Muysken 2 ...

# Zaparoan Nikulin (2020) considers the Macro-Jê family to consist of Bororoan,

, Jabutían, Jêan, Jeikó, Kamakanan,

Karajá The Karajá, also known as Iny, are an indigenous tribe located in Brazil.Karaja Indians.
''Hands Aro ...

, Krenákan, Maxakalían, Ofayé, Purí–Coroado, and Rikbaktsá. If Nikulin's Macro-Jê is accepted as valid, this would bring the total number of independent language families and isolates in South America down to 96.

Eurasia

;Asia (34) #'' Ainu'' (isolate) #

# Austronesian #''

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

'' (isolate) #''

Burushaski Burushaski (; ) is a language isolate spoken by Burusho people, who reside almost entirely in northern Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, with a few hundred speakers in northern Jammu and Kashmir, India. In Pakistan, Burushaski is spoken by people in ...

'' (isolate) #

Chukotko-Kamchatkan The Chukotko-Kamchatkan or Chukchi–Kamchatkan languages are a language family of extreme northeastern Siberia. Its speakers traditionally were indigenous hunter-gatherers and reindeer-herders. Chukotko-Kamchatkan is endangered. The Kamchatkan ...

# Dravidian #''

Elamite Elamite, also known as Hatamtite and formerly as Susian, is an extinct language that was spoken by the ancient Elamites. It was used in what is now southwestern Iran from 2600 BC to 330 BC. Elamite works disappear from the archeological record ...

''† (isolate) #

Great Andamanese The Great Andamanese are an indigenous people of the Great Andaman archipelago in the Andaman Islands. Historically, the Great Andamanese lived throughout the archipelago, and were divided into ten major tribes. Their distinct but closely relate ...

#'' Hattic''† (isolate) # Hruso (Hruso–Aka) # Hurrian–(Hurro-Urartian)† #

Japonic Japonic or Japanese–Ryukyuan, sometimes also Japanic, is a language family comprising Japanese, spoken in the main islands of Japan, and the Ryukyuan languages, spoken in the Ryukyu Islands. The family is universally accepted by linguists, and ...

Kartvelian Kartvelian may refer to: * Anything coming from or related to Georgia (country) * Kartvelian languages * Kartvelian alphabet, see Georgian alphabet * Kartvelian studies * Georgians {{disambig Language and nationality disambiguation pages ...

#''

Kassite The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology). They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...

''† (isolate) #

Koreanic Koreanic is a small language family consisting of the Korean language, Korean and Jeju language, Jeju languages. The latter is often described as a dialect of Korean, but is distinct enough to be considered a separate language. Alexander Vovin s ...

#'' Kusunda'' (isolate) # Miao–Yao (Hmong–Mien) # Mongolian # Nakh–Dagestanian (Northeast Caucasian) #'' Nihali'' (isolate) #''

Nivkh Nivkh or Amuric or Gilyak may refer to: * Nivkh people The Nivkh, or Gilyak (also Nivkhs or Nivkhi, or Gilyaks; ethnonym: Нивхгу, ''Nʼivxgu'' (Amur) or Ниғвңгун, ''Nʼiɣvŋgun'' (E. Sakhalin) "the people"), are an indigenous et ...

'' (isolate, possibly a small family) #

Northwest Caucasian The Northwest Caucasian languages, also called West Caucasian, Abkhazo-Adyghean, Abkhazo-Circassian, Circassic, or sometimes ''Pontic languages'' (from the historical region of Pontus, in contrast to ''Caspian languages'' for the Northeast Cauc ...

# Onge–Jarawa #

Sino–Tibetan Sino-Tibetan, also cited as Trans-Himalayan in a few sources, is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 billion native speakers of Chinese languages. ...

#'' Sumerian''† (isolate) # Tai–Kadai # Tungusic # Turkic # Tyrsenian (Etruscan–Lemnian)† #

Uralic The Uralic languages (; sometimes called Uralian languages ) form a language family of 38 languages spoken by approximately 25million people, predominantly in Northern Eurasia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian (w ...

Yeniseian The Yeniseian languages (sometimes known as Yeniseic or Yenisei-Ostyak;"Ostyak" is a concept of areal rather than genetic linguistics. In addition to the Yeniseian languages it also includes the Uralic languages Khanty and Selkup. occasionally ...

Yukaghir The Yukaghirs, or Yukagirs ( (), russian: юкаги́ры) are a Siberian ethnic group people in the Russian Far East, living in the basin of the Kolyma River. Geographic distribution The Tundra Yukaghirs live in the Lower Kolyma region ...

Pacific

All of the following language families and isolates are frequently geographically classified as

Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non-Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...

. This brings the total number of Papuan families and isolates to 125 according to Campbell (2019). Palmer et al. (2018), however, recognizes 80 Papuan language families and isolates. ;Papuan (125) #'' Abinomn'' (isolate) #'' Abun'' (isolate) #'' Afra (Usku)'' (isolate) # Amto–Musan #'' Anêm'' (isolate) # Angan #

Anim Anim or ANIM may refer to: Places *A city in the mountains of Judah, now el-Ghuwein, near Eshtemoh, about 10 miles south-west of Hebron *An alternative spelling for the biblical city of Anem, now Jenin * Anim synagogue, a synagogue in Israel ...

#'' Ap Ma (Botin, Kambot, Kambrambo)'' (isolate) # Arafundi #''

Asaba Asaba is the capital city of Delta State, Nigeria. It is located at the western bank of the Niger River, in the Oshimili South Local Government Area. Asaba had a population of 149,603 as at the 2006 census, and a metropolitan population of o ...

'' (isolate) # Awin–Pa # Baibai–Fas # Baining #'' Baiyamo'' (isolate) #'' Banaro'' (isolate) # Bayono–Awbono #'' Bilua'' (isolate) #'' Bogaya'' (isolate) #

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

# Bosavi # Bulaka River #'' Burmeso'' (isolate) #'' Busa (Odiai)'' (isolate) # Dagan #''

Damal Damal, formerly Petereke, is a town in Ardahan Province of Turkey, on the road from Kars to Posof. It is the seat of Damal District.

(Uhunduni, Amung)'' (isolate) #''

Dem DEM was the ISO 4217 currency code for the Deutsche Mark, former currency of Germany Computing * Digital elevation model, a digital representation of ground-surface topography or terrain ** .dem, a common extension for USGS DEM files * Discret ...

'' (isolate) #'' Dibiyaso'' (isolate) # Doso–Turumsa #'' Duna'' (isolate) # East Bird's Head # East Kutubu # East Strickland # Eastern Trans-Fly # Eleman #'' Elseng (Morwap)'' (isolate) #''

Fasu Fasu, also known as Namo Me, is one of the Kutubuan languages of New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwe ...

'' (isolate) # Geelvink Bay # Goilalan #'' Guriaso'' (isolate) # Hatam–Mansim # Inanwatan #'' Kaki Ae'' (isolate) #''

Kamula Kamula (Kamira, Wawoi) is a Trans–New Guinea language that is unclassified within that family in the classification of Malcolm Ross (2005). Noting insufficient evidence, Pawley and Hammarström (2018) leave it as unclassified. Demographics ...

'' (isolate) #'' Kapauri'' (isolate) (Kapori) #''

Karami Karami (Arabic كرامي) is an Arabic-based Lebanese surname, particularly that of a famous Lebanese Sunni Muslim political family. It is often francicised in the media as Karamé. It is to be differentiated from the Classical Arabic term Karam ...

'' # Kaure–Narau (possibly an isolate) # Kayagar #'' Kehu'' (isolate) #'' Kibiri-Porome'' (isolate) #'' Kimki'' (isolate) # Kiwaian # Koiarian #'' Kol'' (isolate) # Kolopom # Konda–Yahadian #'' Kosare'' (isolate) #'' Kuot'' (isolate) # Kwalean # Kwerbic # Kwomtari # Lakes Plain #'' Lavukaleve'' (isolate) # Left May (Arai) # Lepki–Murkim # Lower Sepik–Ramu # Mailuan # Mairasi # Manubaran #'' Marori (Moraori)'' #'' Masep'' (isolate) #'' Mawes'' (isolate) #'' Maybrat'' (isolate) # Mombum (family, 2 languages) # Monumbo (family, 2 languages) #'' Mor'' (isolate) # Morehead–Wasur #'' Mpur'' (isolate) # Namla–Tofanma # Nimboran # North Bougainville #

North Halmahera North Halmahera Regency ( id, Kabupaten Halmahera Utara) is a regency (on Halmahera Island) of North Maluku Province, Indonesia. It was declared a Regency on 31 May 2003. The capital town of the regency lies at the port of Tobelo. The Regency, whi ...

# Ndu # Pahoturi # Pauwasi #'' Pawaia'' #'' Pele-Ata'' # Piawi #'' Powle-Ma ("Molof")'' (isolate) #'' Purari ("Namau")'' (isolate) #''

Pyu Pyu, also spelled Phyu or Phyuu, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. is a town in Taungoo District, Bago Region in Myanmar. It is the administrative seat of Phyu Township Pyu Township is a township in Taungoo District in the ...

'' (isolate) #'' Sause'' (isolate) #'' Savosavo'' (isolate) # Senagi # Sentani #

Sepik The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Sepi ...

# Sko (Skou) # Somahai #

South Bird's Head The South Bird's Head or South Doberai languages are three families of Papuan languages. They form part of the Trans–New Guinea languages in the classifications of Malcolm Ross (2005) and Timothy Usher (2020), though Pawley and Hammarström (2 ...

# South Bougainville # Suki–Gogodala #'' Sulka'' (isolate) #'' Tabo (Waia)'' (isolate) #'' Taiap'' (isolate) #'' Tambora''† (isolate) #''

Tanahmerah Tanah Merah (or Tanamerah, literally means ''Red Land'') is a town in South Papua province of Indonesia (not to be confused with Tanahmerah Bay) on the bank of Digul river, located some two hundred miles from Merauke within the interior of Wester ...

'' (isolate) # Taulil–Butam # Teberan # Timor–Alor–Pantar # Tor–Orya # Torricelli #'' Touo'' (isolate) #

Trans New Guinea Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom * ''Trans'' (fil ...

# Turama–Kikori # Ulmapo ("Mongol–Langam") # Walio # West Bird's Head #

West Bomberai The West Bomberai languages are a family of Papuan languages spoken on the Bomberai Peninsula of western New Guinea and in East Timor and neighboring islands of Indonesia. Languages Two of the languages of the mainland, Baham and Iha, are clo ...

#'' Wiru'' (isolate) #''

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

(Yalë, Nagatman)'' (isolate) # Yareban # Yawa #'' Yele (Yélî Dnye)'' (isolate) #'' Yerakai'' (isolate) #'' Yetfa-Biksi'' (isolate) # Yuat

Australia

Campbell (2019) recognizes 30 independent Australian language families and isolates. ;

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

(30) #'' Bachamal''† (isolate, possibly Northern Daly family) # Bunaban # Eastern Daly† #'' Gaagudju''† (isolate) # Garrwan # Giimbiyu† #

Gunwinyguan The Macro-Gunwinyguan languages, also called Arnhem or Gunwinyguan, are a family of Australian Aboriginal languages spoken across eastern Arnhem Land in northern Australia. Their relationship has been demonstrated through shared morphology i ...

# Iwaidjan # Jarrakan #'' Kungarakany''† (isolate) #

Limilngan The Limilngan, also known by the exonym Minitja and (based on a language dialect) Buneidja, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Earlier ethnologists such as Norman Tindale referred to the group as Puneitja or variants o ...

† #''

Mangarrayi The Mangarayi, also written Mangarai, were an indigenous Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language Mangarayi is thought to be one of the Gunwingguan languages. Francesca Merlan published a grammar of the language in 1982, one that i ...

''† (isolate) #

Maningrida Maningrida, also known as Manayingkarírra and Manawukan, is an Aboriginal community in the heart of the Arnhem Land region of Australia's Northern Territory. Maningrida is east of Darwin, and north east of Jabiru. It is on the North Central ...

Maran Maran () is an honorific title for exceptionally respected rabbis who are considered influential teachers and leaders. The term is more prevalent among Sephardi Jews, but it is also widely used by Ashkenazi Haredi Jews. It is an Aramaic word used ...

# Marrku–Wurrugu # Mirndi (Mindi) #

Northeastern Tasmanian Northeastern Tasmanian is an aboriginal language family of Tasmania in the reconstruction of Claire Bowern Claire Louise Bowern () is a linguist who works with Australian Indigenous languages. She is currently a professor of linguistics at Y ...

† # Northern Daly # Nyulnyulan # Oyster Bay† # Pama–Nyungan # Southeastern Tasmanian† # Southern Daly # Tangkic #'' Tiwi'' (isolate) #'' Umbugarla/Ngurmbur''† (isolate or small family?) #''

Wagiman The Wagiman, also spelt Wagoman, Wagaman, Wogeman, and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Northern Territory. Language The Wagiman language Wagiman, also spelt Wageman, Wakiman, Wogeman, and other variants, is a near ...

(Wageman)''† (isolate) #'' Wardaman''† (isolate or small family) # Western Daly # Worrorran According to

Claire Bowern Claire Louise Bowern () is a linguist who works with Australian Indigenous languages. She is currently a professor of linguistics at Yale University, and has a secondary appointment in the department of anthropology at Yale. Career Bowern re ...

's ''Australian Languages'' (2011), Australian languages divide into approximately 30 primary sub-groups and 5 isolates. Meanwhile, ''

'' 4.1 (2019) recognizes 23 independent families and 9 isolates in Australia, comprising a total of 32 independent language groups.

Language families (non-sign)

In the following, each bullet item is a known or suspected language family. Phyla with historically wide geographical distributions but comparatively few current-day speakers include

Na-Dené Na-Dene (; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included, but is now considere ...

and

. The geographic headings over them are meant solely as a tool for grouping families into collections, more comprehensible than an unstructured list of a few hundred independent families. Geographic relationship is convenient for that purpose, but these headings are ''not'' a suggestion of any "super-families" phylogenetically relating the families named. The number of individual languages in a family and the number of their speakers are only rough estimates: see dialect or language and

linguistic demography Linguistic demography is the Statistics, statistical study of languages among all populations. Estimating the number of speakers of a given language is not straightforward, and various estimates may diverge considerably. This is first of all due to ...

for further explanation. Africa ethnic groups 1996

Indo-European Language Family Branches in Eurasia

Language isolates

Language isolates Language isolates are languages that cannot be classified into larger language families. Korean and Basque are two of the most common examples. Other language isolates include Ainu in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, and Haida in North America. The numbe ...

are languages which are not part of any known family, and they can be alternatively described as being their own families' sole representants.

Africa

Bangime Bangime (; , or, in full, ) is a language isolate spoken by 3,500 ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali, who call themselves the ("hidden people"). Bangande is the name of the ethnicity of this community and their population grows at ...

''(Mali)'' (ethnically Dogon) * Siamou ''(Burkina Faso)'' *

''(Nigeria)'' xtinct* Mimi of Gaudefroy ''(Chad)'' xtinct* Kujargé ''(Chad, Sudan)'' * Laal ''(Chad)'' * Lafofa ''(Sudan)'' * Meroitic ''(Egypt, Sudan)'' xtinct(Glottolog classifies it as an isolate) *

''(Eritrea)'' * Gule ''(Sudan)'' xtinct* Berta ''(Sudan, Ethiopia)'' * Kunama ''(Eritrea, Ethiopia)'' * Shabo ''(Ethiopia)'' * Ongota ''(Ethiopia)'' * Hadza ''(Tanzania)'' * Sandawe ''(Tanzania)'' (may be related to

)

Eurasia

''(Spain, France)'' (widely considered a descendant of or related to extinct Aquitanian) * Iberian ''(Spain)'' xtinct(Glottolog classifies it as an isolate) *

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

''(Italy)'' xtinct(probably Tyrsenian) * Hattic ''(Turkey)'' xtinct(sometimes linked to

) * Sumerian ''(Iraq)'' xtinct*

''(Iran)'' xtinct(sometimes linked to Dravidian) *

''(Pakistan, India)'' (sometimes linked to

) * Nihali ''(India)'' (sometimes linked to Kusunda or Munda) * Kusunda ''(Nepal)'' * Hruso ''(India)'' *

Shompen The Shompen or Shom Pen are the indigenous people of the interior of Great Nicobar Island, part of the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Shompen are a designated Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Tribe. ...

''(India)'' * Kenaboi ''(Malaysia)'' xtinct(perhaps

) (Glottolog classifies it as an isolate) *

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

''(North Korea, South Korea, China:

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture Yanbian (; Chosŏn'gŭl: , ''Yeonbyeon''), officially known as the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is an autonomous prefecture in the east of Jilin Province, China. Yanbian is bordered to the north by Heilongjiang Province, on the west by ...

)'' (sometimes linked to

Paleosiberian Paleosiberian (or Paleo-Siberian) languages or Paleoasian (Paleo-Asiatic) (from , "ancient") are several linguistic isolates and small families of languages spoken in parts of northeastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. They are not known ...

, alternatively

Jeju Jeju may refer to: * Jeju Island (Jejudo), an island near South Korea * Jeju Province (formerly transliterated Cheju), a province of South Korea comprising Jejudo **Jeju City, the biggest city on Jejudo **Jeju dog, a dog native to Jejudo ** Jeju l ...

is sometimes classified as a separate language, creating a

family) *

or Gilyak ''(Russia)'' (sometimes linked to Chukotko–Kamchatkan) *

Ainu language Ainu (, ), or more precisely Hokkaido Ainu, is a language spoken by a few elderly members of the Ainu people on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. It is a member of the Ainu language family, itself considered a language family isolate ...

or languages ''(Japan, Russia)'' (like

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, the diversity within Ainu is large enough that some consider it to be perhaps up to a dozen languages, while others consider it a single language with high dialectal diversity)

Oceania

* Abinomn ''(New Guinea)'' * Abun ''(New Guinea)'' * Anêm ''(New Guinea)'' * Asabano ''(New Guinea)'' * Bilua ''(New Guinea)'' * Bogaya ''(New Guinea)'' * Burmeso ''(New Guinea)'' *

Damal Damal, formerly Petereke, is a town in Ardahan Province of Turkey, on the road from Kars to Posof. It is the seat of Damal District.

''(New Guinea)'' *

''(New Guinea)'' * Dibiyaso ''(New Guinea)'' * Duna ''(New Guinea)'' * Elseng'' ''(New Guinea)'' *

''(New Guinea)'' * Guriaso ''(New Guinea)'' * Kaki Ae ''(New Guinea)'' *

Kapori Kapori (Kapauri) is a Papuan language of Pagai village in Airu District, Jayapura Regency Jayapura Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Papua Province of Indonesia. It is situated to the west of but does not include the city o ...

''(New Guinea)'' *

''(New Guinea)'' xtinct(Glottolog classifies it as an isolate) * Kehu ''(New Guinea)'' * Kibiri ''(New Guinea)'' * Kimki ''(New Guinea)'' * Kol ''(New Guinea)'' * Kuot (Panaras) ''(New Guinea)'' * Lavukaleve ''(New Guinea)'' * Marori ''(New Guinea)'' * Massep ''(New Guinea)'' * Mawes'' ''(New Guinea)'' * Maybrat-Karon ''(New Guinea)'' * Molof ''(New Guinea)'' * Mor (Bomberai Peninsula) ''(New Guinea)'' * Mpur'' ''(New Guinea)'' * Odiai ''(New Guinea)'' * Papi ''(New Guinea)'' * Pawaia ''(New Guinea)'' * Pele-Ata ''(New Guinea)'' * Purari ''(New Guinea)'' *

''(New Guinea)'' oribund* Sause ''(New Guinea)'' * Savosavo ''(New Guinea)'' * Sulka ''(New Guinea)'' * Tabo ''(New Guinea)'' * Taiap ''(New Guinea)'' * Tambora ''(New Guinea)'' xtinct(Glottolog classifies it as an isolate) *

''(New Guinea)'' * Touo ''(New Guinea)'' * Usku ''(New Guinea)'' oribund* Wiru ''(New Guinea)'' * Yalë ''(New Guinea)'' * Yele ''(New Guinea)'' * Yerakai ''(New Guinea)'' * Yetfa ''(New Guinea)'' * Gaagudju ''(Australia)'' xtinct* Kungarakany ''(Australia)'' xtinct* Laragia ''(Australia)'' * Minkin xtinct; perhaps a member of Yiwaidjan or Tankic''(Australia)'' * Oyster Bay-Big River-Little Swanport ''(Australia)'' * Tiwi (Melville and Bathurst Islands) ''(Australia)'' * Umbugarla ''(Australia)'' xtinct* Wadjiginy ''(Australia)'' * Wageman ''(Australia)''

North America

* Adai ''(US: Louisiana)'' xtinct* Alsea-Yaquina ''(US: Oregon)'' xtinct*

''(US: Louisiana, Texas)'' xtinct(part of the hypothetical

Gulf languages The Gulf languages are a proposed family of native North American languages composed of the Muskogean languages, along with four language isolates: Natchez, Tunica, Atakapa, and (possibly) Chitimacha. History of proposal Gulf was proposed a ...

) *

''(Canada: Newfoundland)'' xtinct* Cayuse ''(US: Oregon)'' xtinct* Chimariko ''(US: California)'' xtinct(part of the hypothetical

Hokan languages The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families that were spoken mainly in California, Arizona and Baja California. Etymology The name ''Hokan'' is loosely based on the word for "two" in the various Hokan ...

) *

''(US: Louisiana)'' xtinct(''possibly'' part of the hypothetical Gulf languages) *

''(US: Texas; Mexico: Coahuila )'' xtinct* Comecrudan ''(Mexico: Rio Grande)'' xtinct*

''(US: Texas; Mexico: Tamaulipas)'' xtinct* Cuitlatec ''(Mexico: Guerrero)'' xtinct* Esselen ''(US: California)'' xtinct* Guaicurian ''(Mexico: Baja California)'' xtinct*

''(US: Texas)'' xtinct*

Karok The Karuk people are an indigenous people of California, and the Karuk Tribe is one of the largest tribes in California. Karuks are also enrolled in two other federally recognized tribes, the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Ran ...

''(US: California)'' * Klamath-Modoc ''(US: Oregon, California)'' xtinct*

Kutenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

''(Canada: British Columbia; US: Idaho, Montana)'' * Maratino ''(Mexico: Tamaulipas)'' xtinct* Molale ''(US: Oregon, Washington)'' xtinct*

''(US: Mississippi, Louisiana)'' (linked to Muskogean in the hypothetical Gulf languages) *

''(US: California)'' xtinct(part of the hypothetical

) *

''(Mexico: Sonora)'' (part of the hypothetical

) * Siuslaw ''(US: Oregon)'' xtinct*

''(US: Oregon)'' xtinct(part of the hypothetical Penutian languages) *

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The var ...

''(US: Florida, Georgia)'' xtinct*

''(US: Texas)'' xtinct* Tunica ''(US: Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas)'' (part of the hypothetical Gulf languages) * Washo ''(US: California, Nevada)'' (part of the hypothetical

) *

Yana Yana may refer to: Locations *Yana, Burma, a village in Hkamti Township in Hkamti District in the Sagaing Region of northwestern Burma *Yana, India, a village in the Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India * Yana, Nigeria, an administrative ca ...

''(US: California)'' xtinct(part of the hypothetical

) *

''(US: Georgia, Oklahoma)'' * Zuni (also known as Shiwi) ''(US: New Mexico)''

South America

Aewa The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds, or African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is an independent international treaty developed under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme's Conventio ...

''(Peru)'' xtinct* Aikanã ''(Brazil: Rondônia)'' * Andaqui ''(Colombia)'' xtinct* Andoque ''(Colombia, Peru)'' * Arutani ''(Brazil, Venezuela)'' * Atacame ''(Ecuador)'' xtinct* Betoi-Jirara ''(Colombia)'' xtinct* Camsá ''(Colombia)'' * Candoshi-Shapra ''(Peru)'' * Canichana ''(Bolivia)'' xtinct* Cayuvava ''(Bolivia)'' * Chono ''(Chile)'' xtinct* Cofán ''(Colombia, Ecuador)'' * Culli ''(Peru)'' xtinct* Fulniô ''(Brazil: Pernambuco)'' * Guachi ''(Argentina)'' xtinct*

''(Venezuela)'' xtinct* Guató ''(Brazil, Bolivia)'' * Hoti ''(Venezuela)'' * Irantxe ''(Brazil: Mato Grosso)'' * Itonama ''(Bolivia)'' * Jirajaran ''(Venezuela)'' xtinct*

Kanoê The Kanoê (also as the Canoe, Kapixaná and Kapixanã) are an indigenous people of southern Rondônia, Brazil, near the Bolivian border. There are two major groups of Kanoê: one residing in the region of the Guaporé River and another in the Ri ...

''(Brazil)'' * Kariri ''(Brazil)'' *

Kunza Kunza is an extinct language isolate once spoken in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile and southern Peru by the Atacama people, Atacama people, who have since shifted to Spanish people, Spanish. The last speaker was documented in 1949. Other n ...

''(Chile, Argentina)'' n the process of revitalization* Kwaza ''(Brazil: Rondônia) nclassified* Leco ''(Bolivia)'' * Lule ''(Argentina)'' xtinct* Máku ''(Brazil)'' xtinct* Matanawi ''(Brazil)'' xtinct* Mato Grosso Arára ''(Brazil)'' xtinct* Mochica ''(Peru)'' * Mosetén-Chimané ''(Bolivia)'' * Movima ''(Bolivia)'' * Muniche ''(Peru)'' xtinct* Mure ''(Bolivia)'' xtinct* Omurano ''(Peru)'' * Oti ''(Brazil: São Paulo)'' xtinct* Páez ''(Colombia)'' (see also

Paezan Paezan (also Páesan, Paezano, Interandine) may be any of several hypothetical or obsolete language-family proposals of Colombia and Ecuador named after the Paez language. Proposals Currently, Páez (Nasa Yuwe) is best considered either a langu ...

) * Pankararú ''(Brazil)'' xtinct* Payagua ''(Argentina, Paraguay)'' xtinct* Pirahã ''(Brazil)'' * Puelche ''(Argentina, Chile)'' *

''(Colombia, Venezuela)'' * Pumé ''(Venezuela)'' *

''(Peru, Bolivia)'' xtinct* Ramanos ''(Bolivia)'' xtinct* Sapé ''(Venezuela)'' xtinct*

Sechura Sechura is a city in northwestern Peru, south of Piura. It is the capital of Sechura Province in the Piura Region. The city lends its name to the Sechura Desert The Sechura Desert is a coastal desert located south of the Piura Region of Peru ...

''(Peru)'' xtinct*

Tallán Tallán (or ''Tacllán'', after the use of the taclla, a farming tool) was a conglomerate of ethnic groups with a common origin that settled in the plains of north-western Peru, an ethnos with a matriarchal system. (Due to their possible kinship, ...

''(Peru)'' xtinct* Taruma ''(Guyana, Brazil)'' * Taushiro ''(Peru)'' * Timote-Cuica ''(Venezuela)'' * Tinigua ''(Colombia)'' * Trumai ''(Brazil)'' * Tuxá ''(Brazil)'' xtinct*

''(Peru)'' * Vilela ''(Argentina)'' *

(also known as Sabela, Waodani) ''(Ecuador, Peru)'' * Warao ''(Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela)'' * Xukuru ''(Brazil)'' xtinct* Yaghan ''(Chile)'' xtinct* Yuracaré ''(Bolivia)'' * Yurumanguí ''(Colombia)'' xtinct

Unclassified languages

Languages are considered unclassified either because, for one reason or another, little effort has been made to compare them with other languages, or more commonly because they are too poorly documented to permit reliable classification: most such languages are extinct and, most likely, will never be known well enough to classify.

Africa

* Dama (Sierra Leone) xtinct* Mangree xtinct* Okwa xtinct* Mpur ''(Ghana)'' xtinct* Wawu xtinct*

Numidian Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...

xtinct* Komta xtinct* Rimba *

Gail Gail may refer to: People *Gail (given name), list of notable people with the given name Surname * Jean-Baptiste Gail (1755–1829), French Hellenist scholar * Max Gail (born 1943), American actor * Sophie Gail (1775–1819), French singer and ...

* Dima-Bottego xtinct* Mangio *

Degere The Degere are a Mijikenda-speaking group of former hunter-gatherers of Kenya and Tanzania, now settled along the Ramisi, Mwena and Umba rivers, with a few along the coast. They may number no more than a few hundred to at most a few thousand. ...

xtinct* Taita Cushitic xtinct* Oropom (extinct; possibly spurious) * Hamba xtinct* Omaio ''(Tanzania)'' * Serengeti-Dorobo ''(Tanzania)'' xtinct*

Vazimba The Vazimba (Malagasy ), according to popular belief, were the first inhabitants of Madagascar. While beliefs about the physical appearance of the Vazimba reflect regional variation, they are generally described as smaller in stature than the aver ...

(possible substrate language), see

Beosi The Beosi are short-statured hunter-gatherers of the central highlands of Madagascar. They are distinct from the Mikea hunter-gatherers and horticulturalists of the lowlands. Language The Boesi speak a dialect of the Malagasy language, which or ...

''(Madagascar)'' xtinct

Eurasia

* Tartessian ''(Europa: Spain, Portugal)'' (extinct) *

Quinqui Quinqui jargon is associated with '' quincalleros'' (tinkers), a semi-nomadic group who live mainly in the northern half of Spain. They prefer to be called ''mercheros''. They are reduced in number and possibly vanishing as a distinct group. T ...

''(Europa: Spain)'' *

Pictish Pictish is the extinct language, extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited num ...

''(Europa: Scotland)'' (extinct) * Traveller Scottish ''(Europa: Scotland)'' *

Polari Polari () is a form of slang or cant used in Britain and Ireland by some actors, circus and fairground showmen, professional wrestlers, merchant navy sailors, criminals, sex workers and the gay subculture. There is some debate about its origins ...

''(Europa: United Kingdom, Ireland)'' (extinct) * Ancient Ligurian ''(Europa: Italy)'' (extinct) * Paleo-Corsican ''(Europa: Corsica)'' (extinct) * Paleo-Sardinian ''(Europa: Sardinia)'' (extinct) *

Camunic The Camunic language is an extinct language that was spoken in the 1st millennium BC in the Valcamonica and the Valtellina in Northern Italy, both in the Central Alps. The language is sparsely attested to an extent that makes any classification ...

''(Europa: Italy)'' (extinct, perhaps Tyrsenian) *

Raetic Rhaetic or Raetic (), also known as Rhaetian, was a language spoken in the ancient region of Rhaetia in the eastern Alps in pre-Roman and Roman times. It is documented by around 280 texts dated from the 5th up until the 1st century BC, which wer ...

''(Europa: Italy)'' (extinct, probably Tyrsenian) *

North Picene North Picene, also known as North Picenian or Northern Picene, is a supposed ancient language, which may have been spoken in part of central-eastern Italy. The evidence for the language consists of four inscriptions dating from the 1st millennium ...

''(Europa: Italy)'' (extinct) *

Elymian The Elymians ( grc-gre, Ἔλυμοι, ''Élymoi''; Latin: ''Elymi'') were an ancient tribal people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Origins According to Hellanicus of Lesbos, the Elymians ...

''(Europa: Sicily)'' (extinct, possibly Indo-European) *

Sicanian The Sicani (Ancient Greek Σῐκᾱνοί ''Sikānoí'') or Sicanians were one of three ancient peoples of Sicily present at the time of Phoenician and Greek colonization. The Sicani dwelt east of the Elymians and west of the Sicels, having, ...

''(Europa: Sicily)'' (extinct) *

Sicel The Sicels (; la, Siculi; grc, Σικελοί ''Sikeloi'') were an Italic tribe who inhabited eastern Sicily during the Iron Age. Their neighbours to the west were the Sicani. The Sicels gave Sicily the name it has held since antiquity, b ...

''(Europa: Sicily)'' (extinct, probably Indo-European) *

Liburnian The Liburnians or Liburni ( grc, Λιβυρνοὶ) were an ancient tribe inhabiting the district called Liburnia, a coastal region of the northeastern Adriatic between the rivers ''Arsia'' ( Raša) and ''Titius'' ( Krka) in what is now Croatia ...

''(Europa: Balkans)'' (extinct, perhaps Indo-European) * Illyrian ''(Europa: Balkans)'' (extinct) *

Paeonian In antiquity, Paeonia or Paionia ( grc, Παιονία, Paionía) was the land and kingdom of the Paeonians or Paionians ( grc, Παίονες, Paíones). The exact original boundaries of Paeonia, like the early history of its inhabitants, a ...

''(Europa: Balkans)'' (extinct, perhaps Indo-European) * Kainuu Sami ''(Europa: Finland)'' (Glottolog classifies it as unclassifiable) *

Cimmerian The Cimmerians (Akkadian: , romanized: ; Hebrew: , romanized: ; Ancient Greek: , romanized: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people originating in the Caspian steppe, part of whom subsequently migrated into West Asi ...

''(Europa, Asia)'' (extinct) (probably Indo-European) * Hunnic ''(Europa, Asia)'' (extinct) *

Pelasgian The name Pelasgians ( grc, Πελασγοί, ''Pelasgoí'', singular: Πελασγός, ''Pelasgós'') was used by classical Greek writers to refer either to the predecessors of the Greeks, or to all the inhabitants of Greece before the emergenc ...

''(Europa: Greece)'' (extinct) *

Eteocretan Eteocretan ( from grc-gre, Ἐτεόκρητες, Eteókrētes, lit. "true Cretans", itself composed from ἐτεός ''eteós'' "true" and Κρής ''Krḗs'' "Cretan") is the pre-Greek language attested in a few alphabetic inscriptions of anc ...

''(Europa: Crete)'' (extinct, probably descended from Minoan) *

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...

''(Europa: Crete)'' (extinct) *

Lemnian The Lemnian language was spoken on the island of Lemnos, Greece, in the second half of the 6th century BC. It is mainly attested by an inscription found on a funerary stele, termed the Lemnos stele, discovered in 1885 near Kaminia. Fragments of ...

''(Europa: Greece)'' (extinct, probably Tyrsenian) *

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

''(Europa, Asia: Turkey)'' (extinct) *

Mysian Mysians ( la, Mysi; grc, Μυσοί, ''Mysoí'') were the inhabitants of Mysia, a region in northwestern Asia Minor. Origins according to ancient authors Their first mention is by Homer, in his list of Trojans allies in the Iliad, and accordin ...

''(Europa, Asia)'' (extinct) * Isaurian ''(Europa, Asia)'' (extinct) (perhaps Indo-European and related to

Luwian The Luwians were a group of Anatolian peoples who lived in central, western, and southern Anatolia, in present-day Turkey, during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. They spoke the Luwian language, an Indo-European language of the Anatolian sub-fa ...

) * Ancient Cappadocian ''(Europa, Asia)'' (extinct) * Kaskian ''(Europa, Asia)'' (extinct) (perhaps related to Hattic) *

Eteocypriot Eteocypriot is an extinct pre-Indo-European language that was spoken in Cyprus by the pre-Hellenic population until the Iron Age. The name means "true" or "original Cypriot" parallel to Eteocretan, both of which names are used by modern scholars ...

''(Europa: Cyprus)'' (extinct) *

Philistine The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) (might be Indo-European) *

Undeciphered -k language of ancient Yemen Himyaritic is an unattested or sparsely attested Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Yemen, by the Himyarites, Himyarite tribal confederacy. It was a Semitic languages, Semitic language but either did not belong to the Old South Arabian (' ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) (probably Semitic, and identified with

Himyaritic Himyaritic is an unattested or sparsely attested Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Yemen, by the Himyarite tribal confederacy. It was a Semitic language but either did not belong to the Old South Arabian (''Sayhadic'') languages accordi ...

) * Gutian ''(Asia)'' (extinct) *

''(Asia)'' (extinct) (perhaps related to or part of

Hurro-Urartian The Hurro-Urartian languages are an extinct language family of the Ancient Near East, comprising only two known languages: Hurrian and Urartian. Origins It is often assumed that the Hurro-Urartian languages (or a pre-split Proto-Hurro-Urartian ...

) *

Proto-Euphratean Proto-Euphratean is a hypothetical unclassified language or languages which was considered by some Assyriologists (for example, Samuel Noah Kramer) to be the substratum language of the people who introduced farming into Southern Iraq in the Early U ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) * Bactro-Margianan ''(Asia)'' (extinct) * Bazigar ''(Asia)'' *

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into the ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) *

Ruanruan Ruanruan (; also called Rouran) is an unclassified extinct language of Mongolia and northern China, spoken in the Rouran Khaganate from the 4th to the 6th centuries AD, considered a likely early precursor to Mongolic. Peter A. Boodberg claime ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) *

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct, with Glottolog code, unclassifiable) * Ná-Meo ''(Asia)'' *

Koguryo Goguryeo (37 BC–668 AD) ( ) also called Goryeo (), was a Korean kingdom located in the northern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula and the southern and central parts of Northeast China. At its peak of power, Goguryeo controlled most ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) *

Baekje Baekje or Paekche (, ) was a Korean kingdom located in southwestern Korea from 18 BC to 660 AD. It was one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, together with Goguryeo and Silla. Baekje was founded by Onjo, the third son of Goguryeo's founder Jum ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct) *

Silla Silla or Shilla (57 BCE – 935 CE) ( , Old Korean: Syera, Old Japanese: Siraki2) was a Korean kingdom located on the southern and central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Silla, along with Baekje and Goguryeo, formed the Three Kingdoms of K ...

''(Asia)'' (extinct)

Oceania

* Katabaga ''(Philippines)'' * Ambermo ''(New Guinea)'' * Ndrangith ''(Australia)'' (Queensland) (extinct) *

Ngaygungu Ngaygungu people (also known as Ngaygungyi, Ngȋ-koongō-ī or Ngai-kungo-i) are the people from the Atherton, Queensland area who spoke, or whose ancestors once spoke, the Ngaygungu language. Range The Ngai-kungo-i were formally identified as ...

''(Australia)'' (extinct, perhaps Pama-Nyungan) * Wakabunga ''(Australia)'' (extinct) * Marau Wawa ''(Solomon Islands)'' *

Tetepare Tetepare Island is the largest uninhabited island in the South Pacific, located at . It is a part of Western Province of the Solomon Islands. It covers approximately . Tetepare supports pristine lowland rainforest and a rich inshore marine area ...

''(Solomon Islands)''

North America

Monqui The Monqui were indigenous peoples of Mexico (American Indians), who lived in the vicinity of Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico, at the time of Spanish contact. Monqui territory included about of coast along the Gulf of California and extended ...

''(Mexico: Baja California Sur)'' (extinct) * Pericú ''(Mexico: Baja California Sur)'' (extinct) * Amotomanco ''(Mexico)'' (extinct) *

Concho Concha and Concho means "shell" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The word can also refer to: Places * Concho, Arizona, a frontier town now functioning as a retirement community in Apache County * Concho, Oklahoma * Concho County, Texas ...

''(Mexico)'' (extinct) *

Guachichil The Guachichil, Cuauchichil, or Quauhchichitl, are an Indigenous people of Mexico. Pre-contact, they occupied the most extensive territory of all the indigenous Chichimeca Nations tribes in pre-Columbian Central Mexico. The Guachichiles roamed t ...

''(Mexico)'' (extinct) * Tanpachoa ''(Mexico)'' (extinct) * Alagüilac ''(Guatemala)'' (extinct) * Naolan ''(Mexico: Tamaulipas)'' (extinct) * Quinigua ''(Mexico: Nuevo León)'' (extinct) * Solano ''(Mexico: Coahuila; US: Texas)'' (extinct) *

Akokisa The Akokisa were the indigenous tribe that lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and San Jacinto rivers in Texas, primarily in the present-day Greater Houston area.Campbell, Thomas N. "Akokisa Indians.''The Handbook of Texas Online.''(re ...

''(US: Texas)'' (extinct) * Aranama ''(US: Texas)'' (extinct) *

Bidai The Bidai were a tribe of Atakapa Indians from eastern Texas.Sturtevant, 659 History Their oral history says that the Bidai were the original people in their region.Eyeish ''(US: Texas)'' (extinct) *

Payaya The Payaya people were Indigenous people whose territory encompassed the area of present-day San Antonio, Texas. The Payaya were a Coahuiltecan band and are the earliest recorded inhabitants of San Pedro Springs Park, the geographical area that ...

''(US: Texas)'' (extinct) *

Appalousa The Appalousa (also Opelousa) were an indigenous American people who occupied the area around present-day Opelousas, Louisiana, west of the lower Mississippi River, before European contact in the eighteenth century. At various times in their histo ...

''(US: Louisiana)'' (extinct) *

Avoyel The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small Native American tribe who at the time of European contact inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River at its confluence with the Atchafalaya River near present-day Marksville, Louisiana. Also called variou ...

''(US: Louisiana)'' (extinct) *

Quinipissa The Quinipissa (sometimes spelled Kinipissa in French sources) were an indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous group living on the lower Mississippi River, in present-day Louisiana, as reported by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in ...

''(US: Louisiana)'' (extinct) *

Pascagoula The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River. The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Mobilian Jargon term meaning "bread people". Choctaw na ...

''(US: Mississippi)'' (extinct) * Neutral-Atiouandaronk ''(Canada: Ontario)'' (extinct) *

Wenro The Wenrohronon or Wenro people were an Iroquoian indigenous nation of North America, originally residing in present-day western New York (and possibly fringe portions of northern & northwestern Pennsylvania), who were conquered by the Confeder ...

''(US, Canada)'' (extinct) *

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

''(Canada: Ontario; US: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York)'' (extinct) *

Pamunkey The Pamunkey Indian Tribe is one of 11 Virginia Indian tribal governments recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the state's first federally recognized tribe, receiving its status in January 2016. Six other Virginia tribal governments, t ...

''(US: Virginia)'' (extinct) *

Meherrin The Meherrin Nation (autonym: Kauwets'a:ka, "People of the Water") is one of seven state-recognized nations of Native Americans in North Carolina. They reside in rural northeastern North Carolina, near the river of the same name on the Virgini ...

''(US: Virginia, North Carolina)'' (extinct) *

Coree The Coree (also Connamox, Cores, Corennines, Connamocksocks, Coranine Indians, Neuse River Indians) were a very small Native American tribe, who once occupied a coastal area south of the Neuse River in southeastern North Carolina in the area no ...

''(US: North Carolina)'' (extinct) * Congaree ''(US: South Carolina)'' (extinct) (perhaps

) *

Cusabo The Cusabo or Cosabo were a group of American Indian tribes who lived along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in what is now South Carolina, approximately between present-day Charleston and south to the Savannah River, at the time of European colon ...

''(US: South Carolina)'' (extinct) (possibly

) *

Pedee The Pee Dee people, also Pedee and Peedee, are American Indians of the Southeast United States. Historically, their population has been concentrated in the Piedmont of present-day South Carolina. In the 17th and 18th centuries, English colonists ...

''(US: South Carolina)'' (extinct) *

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th ...

''(US: Georgia)'' (extinct) *

Calusa The Calusa ( ) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands of years. At the time of ...

''(US: Florida)'' (extinct) *

Tequesta The Tequesta (also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos) were a Native American tribe. At the time of first European contact they occupied an area along the southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans a ...

''(US: Florida)'' (extinct) *

Quepos Quepos () is a districts of Costa Rica, district of the canton of Quepos (canton), Quepos, in the province of Puntarenas Province, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Toponymy The town is named for the native Quepo Indians who inhabited the place in the colo ...

''(Costa Rica)'' (extinct) *

Guanahatabey The Guanahatabey (also spelled Guanajatabey) were an indigenous people of western Cuba at the time of European contact. Archaeological and historical studies suggest the Guanahatabey were archaic hunter-gatherers with a distinct language and cu ...

(extinct, Greater Antilles) * Macorix (extinct, Greater Antilles) *

Ciguayo At the time of first contact between Europe and the Americas, the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean included the Taíno of the northern Lesser Antilles, most of the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas, the Kalinago of the Lesser Antilles, the Cigua ...

(extinct, Greater Antilles) * Cueva ''(Panama)'' (extinct) * Haitian Vodoun Culture ''(Haiti)'' (Liturgical)

South America

Carabayo The Carabayo (who perhaps call themselves Yacumo) are an uncontacted people of Colombia living in at least three long houses, known as ''malokas'', along the Rio Puré (now the Río Puré National Park) in the southeastern corner of the country. ...

''(Colombia)'' *

Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and ...

''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Envuelto ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Guanaca ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Hoxa ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Idabaez ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Malibu ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) *

Mocana Mocana (founded 2002) is a San Jose-based company that focuses on and embedded system security for industrial control systems and the Internet of Things (IoT). One of its main products, the IoT Security Platform, is a high-performance, ultra-op ...

''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Muellamues ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) *

Muzo Muzo () is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. Muzo ...

''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Panche ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) *

Pijao The Pijao (also Piajao, Pixao, Pinao) are an indigenous people from Colombia. Ethnography The Pijao or Pijaos formed a loose federation of Amerindians and were living in the present-day department of Tolima, Colombia. In pre-Columbian time ...

''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Quillacinga ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Quimbaya ''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Sinúfana ''(Colombia)'' (extinct, perhaps Chocoan) *

Yanacona Yanakuna were originally individuals in the Inca Empire who left the ayllu system and worked full-time at a variety of tasks for the Inca, the ''quya'' (Inca queen), or the religious establishment. A few members of this serving class enjoyed high s ...

''(Colombia)'' (extinct) * Arakajú ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Baenan ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *

Bagua The bagua or pakua (八卦) are a set of eight symbols that originated in China, used in Taoist cosmology to represent the fundamental principles of reality, seen as a range of eight interrelated concepts. Each consists of three lines, each lin ...

''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Cabixi-Natterer ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Catuquinaru-Bach ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Gamela ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Huamoé ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Jenipapo-Kanindé ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Kaimbé ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Kambiwá ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Kantarure ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *

Kapinawá The Kapinawâ are an indigenous people of Buíque, Pernambuco in eastern Brazil. In addition to their primary residence in Buíque Buíque is a Brazilian municipality in the state of Pernambuco, mesoregion of Agreste. It has an estimated popul ...

''(Brazil)'' (extinct?) * Karirí-Xocó ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Natú ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *

Panzaleo Panzaleo (''Pansaleo, Quito, Latacunga'') is a poorly attested and unclassified indigenous American language that was spoken in the region of Quito until the 17th century. Attestation Much of the information on Panzaleo comes from toponyms of ...

''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *

Pitaguary The Potiguara (also Potyguara or Pitiguara) are an indigenous people of Brazil. The Potiguara people live in Paraíba, in the municipalities of Marcação, Baía da Traição and Rio Tinto. Their population numbers sixteen thousand individual ...

''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Tapajó ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Tarairiú ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Tembey ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Unainuman ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Urucucús ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Uru-Pa-In ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Waitaká ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Xocó ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) * Caranqui ''(Ecuador)'' (extinct, perhaps Barbacoan) * Imbabura ''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) *

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...

''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) * Malacato ''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) * Palta ''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) *

''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) *

Pasto Pasto, officially San Juan de Pasto (; "Saint John of Pasto"), is the capital of the department of Nariño, in southern Colombia. Pasto was founded in 1537 and named after indigenous people of the area. In the 2018 census, the city had app ...

''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) * Puruguay ''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) *

Puruhá The Puruhá are an indigenous people of Ecuador. Their traditional area in the highlands of the Andes Mountains includes much of Chimborazo Province and parts of Bolívar Province. History In the early period they grew subsistence crops, rais ...

''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) *

Rabona In association football, the rabona is the technique of kicking the football where the kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg. There are several reasons why a player might opt to strike the ball this way: for example, a right ...

''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) * Xiroa ''(Ecuador)'' (extinct) *

''(Peru)'' (extinct) *

Chacha Cha-Cha, Cha Cha, ChaCha or Chacha may refer to: Music * Cha-cha-cha (dance), a dance of Cuban origin * Cha-cha-cha (music), a genre of Cuban music * ''Cha Cha'' (album), a 1978 album by Herman Brood & His Wild Romance * ''Cha Cha'' (soundtrack), ...

''(Peru)'' (extinct) *

Chirino Chirino is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * José Leonardo Chirino (1754–1796), revolutionary *Martín Chirino (1925–2019), Spanish sculptor *Pedro Chirino (1557–1635), Spanish historian and Jesuit missionary *Rogelio C ...

''(Peru)'' (extinct) * Copallén ''(Peru)'' (extinct) * Patagón ''(Peru)'' (extinct) * Quingnam ''(Peru)'' (extinct) * Sácata ''(Peru)'' (extinct) * Tabancale ''(Peru)'' (extinct) *

''(Peru)'' (extinct) * Chholo ''(Bolivia)'' (extinct) *

Gorgotoqui Gorgotoqui is a currently undocumented extinct language of the Chiquitania region of the eastern Bolivian lowlands. It may have been a Bororoan languages, Bororoan language. Spellings Alternate spellings include ''Borogotoqui, Brotoqui, Corocoqui ...

''(Bolivia)'' (extinct) * Majena ''(Bolivia)'' (extinct) * Pacahuaras-Castillo ''(Bolivia)'' (extinct) * Sansimoniano ''(Bolivia)'' (extinct) * Chango ''(Peru, Chile)'' (extinct) *

Chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize land ...

''(Bolivia, Argentina)'' (extinct) * Querandi ''(Uruguay)'' (extinct) * Omaguaca ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Ocloya ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) *

Tastil Tastil is an archaeological site near Santa Rosa de Tastil, Salta Province, Argentina. Overview Located around 2.5 km (1.5 mi) northwest of the settlement are the Ruins of Tastil. Built by the Atacameño people, Tastil thrived during the 15th cen ...

''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Tilianes ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Toara ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Fiscara ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) *

Humahuaca Humahuaca () is a small city in the province of Jujuy, Argentina. Since 2003 declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO at the Paris conference. It has 11,369 inhabitants as per the , and is the principal town (seat) of the Department of Humahuaca. T ...

''(Argentina)'' (extinct) *

Guachipas Guachipas is a village and rural municipality in Salta Province in northwestern Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina ...

''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Kakán ''(Argentina/Chile)'' (in the process of revitalization) * Tonokoté ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Fayjatases ''(Chile)'' (extinct) * Chiquillan ''(Chile)'' (extinct) *

Sanavirón This is a list of indigenous languages of the Americas, Indigenous languages that are or were spoken in the present territory of Argentina. Although the official language of Argentina is Spanish language, Spanish, several Indigenous peoples of th ...

''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Comechingón ''(Argentina)'' (extinct) *

Querandí The Querandí were one of the Het peoples, indigenous South Americans who lived in the Pampas area of Argentina; specifically, they were the eastern Didiuhet. The name Querandí was given by the Guaraní people, as they would consume animal fat i ...

''(Argentina)'' (extinct) * Poyas ''(Argentina/Chile)'' (extinct) * Guaicaro ''(Argentina/Chile)'' (extinct)

Unattested languages

Unattested languages may be names of purported languages for which no direct evidence exists, languages for which all evidence has been lost, or hypothetical proto-languages proposed in linguistic reconstruction.

Africa

* Mawa ''(Nigeria)'' (extinct) * Kwisi ''(Angola)'' (extinct) * Weyto ''(Ethiopia)'' (extinct) *

Rer Bare The Rer Bare (or Rerebere, Rer Shabelle) are a tribe in Ethiopia's eastern Ogaden region on the Shabele River, near Somalia, who currently speak Somali. They appear to have shifted to Somali from a now-extinct language. Language and origins T ...

''(Ethiopia)'' (extinct) *

Arusha Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...

''(Tanzania)''

Eurasia

* Harappan ''(India)'' (extinct, perhaps related to either

Dravidian languages The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant ...

Indo-Aryan languages The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily ...

) *Sentinelese language, Sentinelese ''(India)'' (possibly Ongan languages, Ongan)

Oceania

*Moksela language, Moksela ''(Indonesia)'' (extinct) *Hukumina language, Palumata ''(Indonesia)'' (extinct) *Giyug language, Giyug ''(Australia)'' (extinct) *Sörsörian language, Sörsörian ''(Vanuatu)'' (extinct)

North America

*Jumano language, Jumano ''(Mexico)'' (extinct) *Lumbee language, Lumbee ''(United States)'' (extinct) *

''(United States)'' (extinct) *Yamasee ''(United States)'' (extinct)

South America

*Apoto ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *Flecheiros ''(Brazil)'' *Miarrã ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *Tremembé language, Tremembé ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *Pankararé ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *Truká language, Truká ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *Wasu language, Wasu ''(Brazil)'' (extinct) *Wakoná language, Wakoná ''(Brazil)'' (extinct)

Extinct families and unclassified languages

This section lists extinct languages and families which have no known living relatives; while a minority of these is well known but is still classified as genetically independent (like the ancient Sumerian language), the lack of Attested language, attestation makes many of these hard to put into larger groups.

Other language classifications

The classification of languages into families, assumes that all of them develop from a single parent proto-language and evolve over time into different daughter language(s). While the vast majority of tongues fit this description fairly well, there are exceptions. A mixed language often refers to a particular combination of existing ones, which may stem from different families: a pidgin is a simple language used for communication between groups; this may involve simplification and/or mixing of multiple languages. When a pidgin develops into a more stable language which children learn from birth, it is usually called a "creole". Whether for ease of use or created for use in fiction, languages can also be constructed from the ground up, rather than develop from existing ones; these are known as constructed languages.

Sign languages

The family relationships of sign languages are not well established due to a lagging in linguistic research, and many are :Sign language isolates, isolates (cf. Henri Wittmann, Wittmann 1991). Beyond these language families, there exist many isolates, including: * Al-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language * Hawaiʻi Sign Language * Inuit Sign Language * Mauritian Sign Language * Nicaraguan Sign Language * Peruvian Sign Language

Proposed language families

The following is a list of proposed language families, which connect established families into larger genetic groups; support for these proposals varies; the Dené–Yeniseian languages for example, are a recent proposal which has been generally well received, whereas reconstructions of the Proto-World language are often viewed as fringe science; proposals which are themselves based on other proposals have the likelihood of their parts noted in parentheses.

References

External links

GlottologEthnologueMultiTree Project

Comparative Swadesh list tables of various language families
(from Wiktionary)

Major language families

By number of languages

Language families by region

Africa

Americas

Eurasia

Pacific

Australia

Language families (non-sign)

Language isolates

Africa

Eurasia

Oceania

North America

South America

Unclassified languages

Africa

Eurasia

Oceania

North America

South America

Unattested languages

Africa

Eurasia

Oceania

North America

South America

Extinct families and unclassified languages

Other language classifications

Sign languages

Proposed language families

See also

References

External links