Notes •
Extinct languages or families are indicated by:
†. • The number of family members is indicated in parentheses (for example, Arauan (9) means the Arauan family consists of nine languages). • For convenience, the following list of language families is divided into three sections based on political boundaries of countries. These sections correspond roughly with the geographic regions (
North,
Central, and
South America) but are not equivalent. This division cannot fully delineate indigenous culture areas.
Northern America stop sign in
English and the
Cherokee syllabary (transcription: , ''),
Tahlequah, Oklahoma There are approximately 314 spoken (or formerly spoken) indigenous languages north of Mexico grouped into 30 families and 24 isolates not counting about hundred unclassified languages. The
Na-Dené,
Algic, and
Uto-Aztecan families are the largest in terms of number of languages. Uto-Aztecan has the most speakers (1.95 million) if the languages in Mexico are considered (mostly due to 1.5 million speakers of
Nahuatl); Na-Dené comes in second with approximately 200,000 speakers (nearly 180,000 of these are speakers of
Navajo), and Algic in third with about 180,000 speakers (mainly
Cree and
Ojibwe). Na-Dené and Algic have the widest geographic distributions: Algic currently spans from northeastern Canada across much of the continent down to northeastern Mexico (due to later migrations of the
Kickapoo) with two outliers in
California (
Yurok and
Wiyot); Na-Dené spans from Alaska and western Canada through
Washington,
Oregon, and California to the southwestern US and northern Mexico (with one outlier in the Plains). Several families consist of only 2 or 3 languages. Demonstrating genetic relationships has proved difficult due to the great linguistic diversity present in North America. Two large (super-)family proposals,
Penutian and
Hokan, have been proposed. However, even after decades of research, a large number of families remain. North America is notable for its linguistic diversity, especially in California. This area has 18 language families comprising 74 languages (compared to two indigenous families in Europe:
Indo-European and
Uralic, and one isolate,
Basque). Another area of considerable diversity appears to have been the
Southeastern Woodlands; however, many of these languages became extinct from European contact and as a result they are, for the most part, absent from the historical record. This diversity has influenced the development of linguistic theories and practice in the US. Due to the diversity of languages in North America, it is difficult to make generalizations for the region. Most North American languages have a relatively small number of vowels (i.e. three to five vowels). Languages of the western half of North America often have relatively large consonant inventories. The languages of the
Pacific Northwest are notable for their complex
phonotactics (for example, some languages have words that lack
vowels entirely). The languages of the
Plateau area have relatively rare
pharyngeals and epiglottals (they are otherwise restricted to
Afroasiatic languages and the
languages of the Caucasus).
Ejective consonants are also common in western North America, although they are rare elsewhere (except, again, for the
Caucasus region, parts of Africa, and the
Mayan family).
Head-marking is found in many languages of North America (as well as in Central and South America), but outside of the Americas it is rare. Many languages throughout North America are
polysynthetic (
Eskaleut languages are extreme examples), although this is not characteristic of all North American languages (contrary to what was believed by 19th-century linguists). Several families have unique traits, such as the
inverse number marking of the
Tanoan languages, the lexical
affixes of the
Wakashan,
Salishan and
Chimakuan languages, and the unusual verb structure of Na-Dené. The classification below is a composite of Goddard (1996), Campbell (2024), and
Mithun (1999). •
Adai † •
Algic (30) •
Alsea † •
Atakapa † •
Beothuk † •
Caddoan (5) •
Cayuse † •
Chimakuan (2)
† •
Chimariko † •
Chinookan (3)
† •
Chitimacha † •
Chumashan (6)
† •
Coahuilteco † •
Comecrudan (United States and Mexico) (3)
† •
Coosan (2)
† •
Cotoname † •
Eskaleut (7) •
Esselen † •
Haida •
Iroquoian (11) •
Kalapuyan (3)
† •
Karankawa † •
Karuk •
Keresan (2) •
Kutenai •
Maiduan (4) •
Muskogean (9) •
Na-Dené (United States, Canada and Mexico) (39) •
Natchez † •
Palaihnihan (2)
† •
Plateau Penutian (4) •
Pomoan (7) •
Salinan † •
Salishan (23) •
Shastan (4)
† •
Siouan (19) •
Siuslaw † •
Solano † •
Takelma † •
Tanoan (7) •
Timucua † •
Tonkawa † •
Tsimshianic (2) •
Tunica † •
Utian (15) •
Uto-Aztecan (33) •
Wakashan (7) •
Washo •
Wintuan (4) •
Yana † •
Yokutsan (6) •
Yuchi † •
Yuki-Wappo (2)
† •
Yuman–Cochimí (12) •
Zuni Central America and Mexico In Central America the Mayan languages are among those used today. Mayan languages are spoken by at least six million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. In 1996, Guatemala formally recognized 21 Mayan languages by name, and Mexico recognizes eight more. The Mayan language family is one of the best documented and most studied in the Americas. Modern Mayan languages descend from Proto-Mayan, a language thought to have been spoken at least 4,000 years ago; it has been partially reconstructed using the comparative method. •
Alagüilac (Guatemala) † •
Chibchan (
Central and South America) (22) •
Coahuilteco † •
Comecrudan (
Texas and Mexico) (3)
† •
Cotoname † •
Cuitlatec (Mexico: Guerrero) † •
Epi-Olmec (Mexico, undeciphered language) † •
Huave •
Jicaquean (2) •
Lencan (2)
† •
Maratino (northeastern Mexico) † •
Mayan (31) •
Misumalpan (5) •
Mixe–Zoquean (19) •
Naolan (Tamaulipas, Mexico) † •
Oto-Manguean (27) •
Pericú † •
Purépecha •
Quinigua (northeast Mexico) † •
Seri •
Solano † •
Tequistlatecan (3) •
Totonacan (2) •
Uto-Aztecan (United States and Mexico) (33) •
Waikuri † •
Xincan (5)
† •
Yuman (United States and Mexico) (12)
South America and the Caribbean shaman, 1988 Although both North and
Central America are very diverse areas, South America has a linguistic diversity rivalled by only a few other places in the world with approximately 330 languages still spoken and several hundred more spoken at first contact but now extinct. The situation of language documentation and classification into genetic families is not as advanced as in North America (which is relatively well studied in many areas). Kaufman (1994: 46) gives the following appraisal: Since the mid 1950s, the amount of published material on SA [South America] has been gradually growing, but even so, the number of researchers is far smaller than the growing number of linguistic communities whose speech should be documented. Given the current employment opportunities, it is not likely that the number of specialists in SA Indian languages will increase fast enough to document most of the surviving SA languages before they go out of use, as most of them unavoidably will. More work languishes in personal files than is published, but this is a standard problem. It is fair to say that SA and
New Guinea are linguistically the poorest documented parts of the world. However, in the early 1960s fairly systematic efforts were launched in
Papua New Guinea, and that areamuch smaller than SA, to be sureis in general much better documented than any part of Indigenous SA of comparable size. As a result, many relationships between languages and language families have not been determined and some of those relationships that have been proposed are on somewhat shaky ground. The list of language families, isolates, and unclassified languages below is a rather conservative one based on Campbell (1997). Many of the proposed (and often speculative) groupings of families can be seen in Campbell (1997), Gordon (2005), Kaufman (1990, 1994), Key (1979), Loukotka (1968), and in the
Language stock proposals section below. •
Aguano † •
Aikaná (Brazil: Rondônia) •
Andaquí † •
Andoque (Colombia, Peru) •
Andoquero † •
Arauan (9) •
Arawakan (South America and Caribbean) (64) •
Arutani •
Aymaran (3) •
Baenan (Brazil: Bahia) † •
Barbacoan (8) •
Betoi (Colombia) † •
Bororoan •
Botocudoan (3) •
Cahuapanan (2) •
Camsá (Colombia) •
Candoshi •
Canichana (Bolivia) † •
Cariban (29) •
Cayubaba (Bolivia) † •
Chapacuran (9)
† •
Charruan † •
Chibchan (Central and South America) (22) •
Chimuan (3)
† •
Chipaya–Uru •
Chiquitano •
Choco (10) •
Chon (5)
† •
Chono † •
Cofán (Colombia, Ecuador) •
Cueva † •
Culle (Peru) † •
Cunza (Chile, Bolivia, Argentina) † •
Esmeraldeño † •
Fulnió •
Gamela (Brazil: Maranhão) † •
Gorgotoqui (Bolivia) † •
Guaicuruan (7) •
Guajiboan (4) •
Guamo (Venezuela) † •
Guató •
Harakmbut (2) •
Hibito–Cholon † •
Himarimã •
Hodï (Venezuela) •
Huamoé (Brazil: Pernambuco) † •
Huaorani (Ecuador, Peru) •
Huarpe † •
Irantxe (Brazil: Mato Grosso) •
Itonama (Bolivia) † •
Jabutian •
Je (13) •
Jeikó † •
Jirajaran (3)
† •
Jivaroan (2) •
Jukude † •
Kaimbe † •
Kaliana † •
Kamakanan † •
Kapixaná (Brazil: Rondônia) •
Karajá •
Karirí (Brazil: Paraíba, Pernambuco, Ceará) † •
Katembrí † •
Katukinan (3) •
Kawésqar (Chile) •
Kwaza (Koayá)
(Brazil: Rondônia) •
Leco † •
Lule-Vilela (2)
(Argentina) † •
Malibú † •
Mapudungun (Chile, Argentina) •
Mascoyan (5) •
Matacoan (4) •
Matanawí † •
Maxakalían (3) •
Mocana (Colombia: Tubará) † •
Mosetenan •
Movima (Bolivia) •
Munichi (Peru) † •
Muran (4) •
Nadahup (5) •
Nambiquaran (5) •
Natú (Brazil: Pernambuco) † •
Ofayé •
Old Catío–Nutabe (Colombia) † •
Omurano (Peru) † •
Otí (Brazil: São Paulo) † •
Otomakoan (2)
† •
Paez (also known as Nasa Yuwe) •
Palta † •
Pankararú (Brazil: Pernambuco) † •
Pano–Tacanan (33) •
Panzaleo (Ecuador) † •
Peba–Yaguan (2) •
Pijao † •
Pre-Arawakan languages of the Greater Antilles (
Guanahatabey,
Macorix,
Ciguayo)
† (Cuba, Hispaniola) •
Puinave •
Puquina (Bolivia) † •
Purian (2)
† •
Quechuan (46) •
Rikbaktsá •
Saliban (2) •
Sechura † •
Tabancale † (Peru) •
Tairona (Colombia) † •
Tallan (Peru)
† •
Tarairiú (Brazil: Rio Grande do Norte) † •
Taruma † •
Taushiro (Peru) † •
Tequiraca (Peru) † •
Teushen † (Patagonia, Argentina) •
Ticuna-Yuri (Colombia, Peru, Brazil) •
Timotean (2)
† •
Tiniguan (2)
† •
Trumai (Brazil: Xingu, Mato Grosso) •
Tucanoan (15) •
Tupian (70, including Guarani) •
Tuxá (Brazil: Bahia, Pernambuco) † •
Urarina •
Wakona † •
Warao (Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela) •
Witotoan (6) •
Xokó (Brazil: Alagoas, Pernambuco) † •
Xukurú (Brazil: Pernambuco, Paraíba) † •
Yaghan (Chile) † •
Yanomaman (6) •
Yaruro •
Yuracare (Bolivia) •
Yurumanguí (Colombia) † •
Zamucoan (2) •
Zaparoan (5) ==Language stock proposals==