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Spurious languages are
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
s that have been reported as existing in reputable works, while other research has reported that the language in question did not exist. Some spurious languages have been proven to not exist. Others have very little evidence supporting their existence, and have been dismissed in later scholarship. Others still are of uncertain existence due to limited research. Below is a sampling of languages that have been claimed to exist in reputable sources but have subsequently been disproved or challenged. In some cases a purported language is tracked down and turns out to be another, known language. This is common when language varieties are named after places or ethnicities. Some alleged languages turn out to be hoaxes, such as the Kukurá language of Brazil or the
Taensa language The Taensa language was an attempt at creating a fake Natchez language-variant, supposedly spoken by the Taensa people originally of northeastern Louisiana, and later with historical importance in Alabama. The language is was created by two you ...
of Louisiana. Others are honest errors that persist in the literature despite being corrected by the original authors; an example of this is ', the name given in 1892 to two Colonial word lists, one of Tlingit and one of a Salishan language, that were mistakenly listed as Patagonian. The error was corrected three times that year, but nonetheless "Hongote" was still listed as a Patagonian language a century later in Greenberg (1987). In the case of
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...
, one of the most linguistically diverse areas on Earth, some spurious languages are simply the names of language surveys that the data was published under. Examples are '', Kia, , '', listed as Indo-Pacific languages in Ruhlen 1987; these are actually rivers that gave their names to language surveys in the
Greater Awyu languages The Greater Awyu or Digul River languages, known in earlier classifications with more limited scope as Awyu–Dumut (Awyu–Ndumut), are a family of perhaps a dozen Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in eastern West Papua in the region of the D ...
and
Ok languages The Ok languages are a family of about a dozen related Trans–New Guinea languages spoken in a contiguous area of eastern Irian Jaya and western Papua New Guinea. The most numerous language is Ngalum, with some 20,000 speakers; the best known i ...
of New Guinea.


Dubious languages

Dubious languages are those whose existence is uncertain. They include: * Oropom (
Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
) * Nemadi (
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
) *
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 Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
) – extinct, if it ever existed *
Tapeba The Tapeba people are an indigenous people of Brazil, who formed from the remnant populations of tribes around the Village of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres de Caucaia in Ceará, Brazil. They are native Portuguese-speakers and are also known as Tapeb ...
(
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
) [] – a recently created indigenous ethnicity, not a language * Ladakhi Sign Language – no community to use it * Dek language, Dek (Cameroon)


Spurious according to ''Glottolog''

''
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 ...
'', maintained at the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (german: Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Plan ...
in Leipzig, classifies several languages, some with
ISO 639 ISO 639 is a set of standards by the International Organization for Standardization that is concerned with representation of names for languages and language groups. It was also the name of the original standard, approved in 1967 (as ''ISO 639/R ...
codes, as spurious/unattested. These include: *
Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
[] (a dialect of Gujarati) and -Dari [] (Zoroastrian Dari language, Zoroastrian Dari) – an ethnicity, not a language * Adabe language, Adabe [] – a dialect of Wetarese, taken for a Papuan language * – the people spoke
Old Tupi Old Tupi, Ancient Tupi or Classical Tupi (also spelled as Tupí) is an extinct Tupian language which was spoken by the aboriginal Tupi people of Brazil, mostly those who inhabited coastal regions in South and Southeast Brazil. It belongs to the ...
* – a word list of mislabeled ǀXam mixed with other !Ui languages *
Chamar Chamar is a Dalit community classified as a Scheduled Caste under modern India's system of affirmative action. Historically subject to untouchability, they were traditionally outside the Hindu ritual ranking system of castes known as varna. ...
i [], a caste, not a language * Judeo-Berber language, Judeo-Berber [] – According to Glottolog, Jewish Berbers speak no differently than Muslim BerbersHammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices However, there are claims, listed in the linked article, that this is not true. * Pisabo [] – reported to be mutually intelligible with Matsés language, Matsés, so perhaps not a distinct language Also some Aeta ethnic names with no cultural memory of an extinct language:Lobel, Jason William. 2013
''Philippine and North Bornean languages: issues in description, subgrouping, and reconstruction''
Ph.D. dissertation. Manoa: University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
* ys* yy* yg Other ISO codes that Glottolog regards as spurious, because they are not a distinct language, are polyphyletic (not a single language), or have not been shown to exist, include: *
Guajajara The Guajajara are an indigenous peoples of Brazil, indigenous people in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. They are one of the most numerous indigenous groups in Brazil, with an estimated 13,100 individuals living on indigenous land. History In ...
ub– mutually-intelligible with Tenetehara qb* Norra rr* South Ucayali Ashéninka py* Moabite bm
Ammonite Ammonoids are a group of extinct marine mollusc animals in the subclass Ammonoidea of the class Cephalopoda. These molluscs, commonly referred to as ammonites, are more closely related to living coleoids (i.e., octopuses, squid and cuttlefish) ...
gg and
Edomite Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east. ...
dm* Syenara hzand Shempire eb* ca– presumed to be from the Cauca Valley, but no such language is known, unless it is the undemonstrated
Quimbaya The Quimbaya (/kɪmbaɪa/) were a small indigenous group in present-day Colombia noted for their gold work characterized by technical accuracy and detailed designs. The majority of the gold work is made in ''tumbaga'' alloy, with 30% copper, ...
* gi(an ambiguous ethnic term; all varieties already covered by ISO) * ym– purportedly the original language of the Kpatili people, who now speak Gbayi, but any such language is unattested * az– all likely candidates in the area already have ISO codes Ir rr Skagit ka Snohomish no
Ahirani Khandeshi is a language spoken in the Maharashtra state of India. It is spoken in the Khandesh region (Districts Dhule, Jalgaon and Nandurbar ुळे, जळगाव आणि नंदुरबार wedged between the territory of Bhi ...
hr Pokangá ok Chetco tc Arakwal kw Anasi po Yarí* ri Yola ol Seru* zd Gowli ok Mina (India) yi Degaru* gu Bubia bx Gbati-ri ti Tetete* eb Kannada Kurumba fi Vatrata* lr Kofa* so Old Turkish tk Tingui-Boto* gv Imeraguen me Yauma ax
Rufiji Rufiji may refer to: * Rufiji Delta, a region in Tanzania * Rufiji District, in the Pwani Region of Tanzania * Rufiji River The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania. It is also the largest and longest river in the country. The river is fo ...
ui Ngong nx Dombe ov Subi* sj Mawayana* zx
Kwak Kwak or KWAK may refer to: *Kwak (surname), a Korean surname (郭, 霍) *KWAK (AM), a radio station (1240 AM) licensed to serve Stuttgart, Arkansas, United States *KWAK-FM, a radio station (105.5 FM), licensed to serve Stuttgart, Arkansas *KWAK-LP, ...
wq Potiguára* og Coxima* ox Chipiajes* be
Cagua Cagua () is a city of Venezuela, capital of the Sucre Municipality of Aragua State. Cagua is part of the metropolitan area of Maracay. History Cagua was established in 1620 as "Cagua La Vieja", a town of original Spaniards. Cagua was rebuilt ...
* bh Kakauhua(*) bf Yangho* nh
Takpa The Takpa is a linguistic northern sub-group of the Monpa people, while the southern sub-group is identified as the Tshangla. Monpas of the Takpa group are found in Tawang and Dirang of Arunachal Pradesh, Cuona of Tibet as well as Trashigang in Bhu ...
* kk
N'Ko N'Ko () is a script devised by Solomana Kante in 1949, as a modern writing system for the Mandé languages of West Africa. The term ''N'Ko'', which means ''I say'' in all Mandé languages, is also used for the Mandé literary standard written i ...
(*) qo Sara Dunjo oj Putoh ut Bainouk-Samik cb Kamba (Brazil)* ba Bikaru-Bragge* ic Baga Binari(*) cg Baga Sobané(*) sv Ontenu* nt Baga Kaloum(*) qf Munda nx Aduge* du Khalaj** jf Buso* so
Uokha Uokha lies on the latitude 7 07’N and longitude 6 04’E in a deciduous derived rainforest zone of Edo State. The climate is sub humid tropical with an average annual rainfall of about 1967mm. Uokha is a town in Owan East, a local government a ...
* ok
Ihievbe Ihievbe (also spelled Sebe or Isebe) is a town in Owan East local government area of Edo State, Nigeria, Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million ...
* hi
Coyaima Coyaima is a town and municipality in the Tolima Department, Tolima department of Colombia. The population of the municipality was 27,733 as of the 2005 census. Municipalities of Tolima Department {{Tolima-geo-stub ...
* oy Natagaimas* ts Odut* da
Chilean Quechua South Bolivian Quechua, also known as Central Bolivian Quechua, is a dialect of Southern Quechua spoken in Bolivia and adjacent areas of Argentina, where it is also known as ''Colla''. It is not to be confused with North Bolivian Quechua, which i ...
qu Quetzaltepec Mixe xm Kang yp Thu Lao yl Pu Ko* uk Gey(*) uv Kakihum* xe
Bonjo Bonjo, or Impfondo, is a Gbaya language spoken by 3,000 people of the Republic of Congo. It is not classified in Moñino (2010), though it is listed with the southern Gbaya languages according to areal features. References Languages of ...
* ok Katukína* av
Lui ''Lui'' (; ) is a French adult-entertainment magazine created in November 1963 by Daniel Filipacchi, a fashion photographer turned publisher, Jacques Lanzmann, a jack of all trades turned novelist, and Frank Ténot, a press agent, pataphysic ...
(*) ba Lama (Myanmar)(*) ay Inpui Naga* kf Puimei Naga* pu
Purum The Purums are an indigenous tribe of Manipur. They are (or were) notable because their marriage system is the subject of ongoing statistical and ethnographical analysis; Buchler states that "they are perhaps the most over-analyzed society in ant ...
(*) ub Welaung* eu Lumba-Yakkha* uu Phangduwali hw/ Lambichhong* mh Lingkhim(*) ii Northwestern Tamang(*) mk Southwestern Tamang sf Kayort* yv Loarki rk Con no Gengle eg Kuanhua* nh Yarsun rs Kabixí* bx Vasekela Bushman aj Maligo wj Pao pa Bhalay hx/ Gowlan* oj Balau* lg Kuku-Mangk mq Buya* yy
Aramanik The Asa (Aasá) language, commonly rendered Aasax (also rendered as Aasá, Aasáx, Aramanik, Asak, Asax, Assa, Asá), was spoken by the Asa people of Tanzania. The language is extinct; ethnic Assa in northern Tanzania remember only a few words th ...
am
Mediak Ogiek (also Okiek and Akiek)The initial vowel varies by dialect. The first consonant is , but is pronounced or between vowels. is a Southern Nilotic language of the Kalenjin family spoken or once spoken by the Ogiek peoples, scattered groups of ...
wx
Kisankasa The Kisankasa are an ethnic and linguistic group based in Arusha Region and Mara Region in northern Tanzania. In 1987 the Kisankasa population was estimated to number 4,670. The Kisankasa are distinct from other groups often called Dorobo Dorobo ( ...
qh Southwestern Nisu are any valid? sv
Tawang Monpa The Takpa or Dakpa language (), ''Dakpakha'', known in India as Tawang Monpa, also known as Brami in Bhutan, is an East Bodish language spoken in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh, and in northern Trashigang District in eastern Bhutan, m ...
* wm Adap dp Southern Lolopo sp Eastern Lalu it Ndonde Hamba* jd Lang'e* ne Lopi* ov Laopang bg Kunggara vs
Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao Hmong / Mong (; Romanized Popular Alphabet, RPA: ''Hmoob,'' ; Nyiakeng Puachue Hmong, Nyiakeng Puachue: ; Pahawh: , ) is a dialect continuum of the West Hmongic branch of the Hmongic languages spoken by the Hmong people of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizho ...
qd Karipuna do Amapa* gm


Spurious according to ''Ethnologue'' and ISO 639-3

Following is a list of
ISO 639-3 ISO 639-3:2007, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages – Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage of languages'', is an international standard for language codes in the ISO 639 series. It defines three-letter codes for i ...
language codes which have been retired since the standard was established in 2006, arranged by the year in which the change request was submitted; in most cases the actual retirement took effect in the beginning of the following year. Also included is a partial list of languages (with their SIL codes) that appeared at one time in ''
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 ...
'' but were removed prior to 2006, arranged by the first edition in which they did not appear. The list includes codes that have been retired from ISO 639-3 or languages removed from ''Ethnologue'' because the language apparently does not exist and cannot be identified with an existing language. The list does not include instances where the "language" turns out to be a spelling variant of another language or the name of a village where an already known language is spoken; these are cases of duplicates, which are resolved in ISO 639-3 by a code merger. It does include "languages" for which there is no evidence or which cannot be found. (In some cases, however, the evidence for nonexistence is a survey among the current population of the area, which would not identify extinct languages such as
Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada *Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom *Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire *Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County, Al ...
below.) SIL codes are upper case; ISO codes are lower case. Once retired, ISO 639-3 codes are not reused. SIL codes that were retired prior to 2006 may have been re-used or may have reappeared as ISO codes for other languages.


Removed from ''Ethnologue'', 12th ed., 1992

* (PNG) [] * (Brazil) [] * (PNG) [] * , (Brazil) [] * () [] * (PNG) [] * (Mexico) [] – added to ''Ethnologue'' 1988 by mistake due to a misunderstanding, removed in 1992. No evidence that it ever existed. * Senoufo [] – the Tyeliri are a caste of leather workers, and do not have their own language * [] * – name of an ethnic group that speaks Yongkom language, Yongkom [yon]


Removed from ''Ethnologue'', 13th ed., 1996

* (PNG) [] – described as "isolate in need of survey" in the 12th ed.


Removed from ''Ethnologue'', 14th ed., 2000

* 2 [] – a mislabeled fragment of a word list * [], [], [], [], () [], [] – old names for Qiangic languages, some of uncertain correspondence to currently recognized names * [] – an ethnic name for people speaking a variety of Qiangic or Jiarongic languages * Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language [] – normal inter-language contact, not an established pidgin * Wutana language, Wutana (Nigeria) [] – an ethnic name


Removed from ''Ethnologue'', 15th ed., 2005

* [] * [] *- [], incl. / * [] (though other languages without ISO codes, such as Wila' language, Wila', are also called Lowland Semang) *Mutús language, Mutús [] – suspected to exist, e.g. by Adelaar 2005 * [] * [] – same as Tanjijili language, Tanjijili? Also a possible synonym for Kwak (retired in 2015) * () [] – no evidence it is distinct from Fungom and Bum * [] * []


Retired 2006

* [] – unattested * [] – an old town name * Creole []


Retired 2007

* () [] * Land Dayak languages, Land Dayak [] – language family name, not individual language *
Ware Ware may refer to: People * Ware (surname) * William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian Places Canada *Fort Ware, British Columbia United Kingdom *Ware, Devon *Ware, Hertfordshire *Ware, Kent United States * Ware, Elmore County, Al ...
[] – Ware is listed as extinct in Maho (2009). When an SIL team in Tanzania were not able to find any evidence of it being spoken, the code was retired. * River Kenyah [], River Kenyah [], Kenyah [], Kenyah [] – Any current use is likely either Mainstream Kenyah [] or Uma' Lung language, Uma' Lung []


Retired 2008

*Aariya language, Aariya [] * [] – name given to several uncontacted groups * [] – prison jargon *Europanto [] – a jest *- [] (Borana & Somali) *Sufrai [] – two languages, Tarpia language, Tarpia and Kaptiau language, Kaptiau, which are not close


Retired 2010

* Ayi (China) [] * (India) [] * []


Retired 2011

* [] *Pongyong language, Pongyong [] *Elpaputih language, Elpaputih [] – could be either of two existing languages


Retired 2012

* Malakhel [] – likely Ormuri *Forest Maninka language, Forest Maninka [] – generic *Wirangu language, Wirangu-Nauo language, Nauo [] – the two varieties which do not form a unit


Retired 2013

*
Gugu Mini The Kokomini (''Gugumini'') are reported to have been an indigenous Australian people of the state of Queensland, though some indications suggest the term may refer to a loose confederation of tribal groups. Name The ethnonym Gugumini means ''g ...
[] – a generic name * Pidgin [] – never existed * [] – never existed *Yugh language, Yugh [] – duplicate of Yugh language, Yug [] *Lamam language, Lamam [] – duplicate of Romam language, Romam []


Retired 2014

*Mator-Taygi-Karagas language, Mator-Taygi-Karagas [] – duplicate of Mator *Yiddish Sign Language [] – no evidence that it existed *The language, The [] – duplicate of Oy * Imraguen (
Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...
) [] * (') [] – perhaps a typo for Boma language, Boma (''Eboma'') *Bemba language (Congo), Bemba [] – a tribal name *Songa language (Democratic Republic of Congo), Songa [] – a tribal name * Daza [] * Buya [] *Kawésqar language, Kakauhua [] – Kakauhua/Caucahue is an ethnonym, language unattested – see Alacalufan languages * Subi [] – duplicate of Shubi ujbut that decision was reversed in 2018, bringing sjback * [] – does not exist *=/Kx'au//'ein language, =/Kx'au//'ein [] – dialect of Juǀ'hoan language, Juǀʼhoan [ktz]


Retired 2015

* [btl] * [cbh] * [cbe] – a Saliba and Guahibo surname * ox* [] – uncontacted, and likely one of the neighboring languages * [xbx] – generic name for Pareci language, Parecis, Nambiquaras, or any hostile group (see Cabixi language for one specific use) * na* (Dravidian) [] * Shipibo language, Xipináwa [] * [yri] And several supposed extinct Arawakan languages of Venezuela and Colombia: * [] * [] * [] – a Sáliba surname, perhaps just Piapoco language, Piapoco or Achagua language, Achagua * [] Additional languages and codes were retired in 2015, due to a lack of evidence that they existed, but were not necessarily spurious as languages.


Retired 2016

* Lua people, Lua' [] * Rennellese Sign Language [] – a home sign system, not a full language * [] * [] * [] – no substantive evidence that the language ever existed.


Retired 2017

* [] – no substantive evidence that the language ever existed. * [] * [] – a clan name


Retired 2018

* [] * [] – duplicate of Ta’Oi language, Kriang [] * [] – Meena, a tribe and caste name in India


Retired 2019

* [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * [] * []


Retired 2020

*Bikaru language, Bikaru [bic] – posited based on a poor elicitation of ordinary Bisorio


Retired 2021

* [] * []


References and notes


External links

*{{cite web, url=http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/codes_retired.asp, title=Retired Code Elements Index, website=
SIL International SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics) is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document languages, especially those that are lesser-known, in order to ex ...
.