language families of the world

This overview article on the world's language families begins with the problem of language identification and language counting. Below is a list of language families with at least one million speakers. The third section provides a statistical overview of all genetic language units worldwide. The main part lists all language families and isolated languages known today for each continent, with the number of their languages and speakers and their main areas of distribution.

There are around 6,500 languages worldwide today, which can be divided into almost 300 genetic units – 180 actual language families with more than one language and 120 isolated languages .

A language is either isolated - that is, there is no genetically related language to it - or it can be assigned to a specific language family, a group of genetically related languages that descended from a common ancestor language - also protolanguage or protolanguage.

language families of the world

Problems of language identification and language counting

In many cases, it is not possible to precisely determine the number of languages in a language family:

So e.g. For example, some researchers consider the 39 Quechua languages listed here to be a single language with 39 – sometimes very different – dialects (“language or dialect” problem).
Another problem are large dialect clusters , in which neighboring dialects are mutually intelligible, but the peripheral dialects are so different that mutual understanding is no longer possible. Different authors have different views of whether it is a language with different dialects or several languages. The unambiguous identification of languages is also made more difficult by the existence of transitional dialects . For example, the modern Indo-Aryan languages of North India represent a continuous language or dialect continuum , making it very difficult to differentiate between individual languages. It follows political, cultural and literary traditions rather than linguistic criteria.
Languages are often also “politically defined”: For example, Serbian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Bosnian are classified as separate languages, although they clearly represent only one language – Serbo-Croatian – according to linguistic criteria.
An attempt to put the identification of languages on a scientific basis are the terms "distance language" and "development language" (see the article distance and deconstruction ). But these terms can also be interpreted subjectively and do not always lead to clear, generally accepted solutions.

The numbers given here for the languages of a family are based on the relevant specialist research on the individual language families and come from the web link "The language families of the world" given below. The variant of classification and language identification preferred by the majority of researchers was used as a basis.

These explanations are intended to make it clear that the apparently "precise" figures should be put into perspective. A statement of the type "The language family X consists of n languages" does not claim absolute truth, but states that, based on a specific classification model and a specific distance definition for language variants, the majority of the relevant researchers of this language family have arrived at this order of magnitude. There may also be other researchers who come to very different conclusions.

Language families with at least one million speakers

There are 24 language families worldwide and one isolated language ( Korean ) with at least one million speakers. Over 99.5% of humanity speak a language that belongs to one of these 25 most spoken language units. In total, there are around 200 language families or isolated languages worldwide today, and another 100 extinct units are known.

Language families and isolated languages with at least one million speakers
rank	language family	languages		number of speakers	distribution area
rank	language family	known	live	number of speakers	distribution area
1	Indo-European	280	220	3,000 million	Europe , Southwest and South Asia ; worldwide today
2	Sino-Tibetan	343	335	1,288 million	China , Himalayan region, Southeast Asia
3	Niger Congo	1386	1364	354 million	West , Central and South Africa
4	Afroasiatic	354	311	347 million	North Africa , Middle East
5	Austronesian	1144	1119	296 million	Taiwan , Philippines , Indonesia , Madagascar , Pacific Ocean
6	Dravidian	27	27	220 million	South and Central India , North India, Pakistan
7	Turkish	41	37	160 million	Western and Central Asia , Eastern Europe , Northeast Siberia
8th	Japanese Ryūkyū	4	4	126 million	Japan , Okinawa
9	Austroasiatic	157	156	95 million	Northeast India, Southeast Asia
10	Tai-Kadai	69	68	83 million	South China , Southeast Asia
11	Korean	1	1	78 million	Korea
12	Nilosaharan	196	188	34 million	Africa: South Sahara Zone, Sudan
13	Uralic	31	28	24 million	Northeast Europe , Hungary , Ural region , Western Siberia
14	Quechua	39	38	10 million	Peru , Ecuador , Colombia , Bolivia , Argentina
15	Mongolian	14	14	7.5 million	Mongolia , North China ; Buryatia , Kalmykia
16	Hmong Mien (Miao Yao)	21	21	6.3 million	South China, North Southeast Asia
17	Tupi	74	60	5.3 million	Paraguay , Bolivia, Brazil
18	Kartvelian	4	4	5.0 million	Georgia ; also Turkey
19	Maya	33	31	4.2 million	Mexico , Guatemala , also Belize
20	Trans New Guinea	533	530	3.2 million	New Guinea ; Timor , Alor , Pantar
21	Nachish-Dagestan	29	29	3.0 million	Russia : Chechnya , Ingushetia , Dagestan
22	Aymara (Aru)	3	3	2.2 million	Bolivia, Peru, Chile , Argentina
23	Oto Mangue	21	19	2.0 million	Mexico, also Nicaragua , Costa Rica
24	Uto-Aztec	32	22	1.6 million	Western USA , Northwest and Central Mexico
25	Abkhaz-Adyghe	5	4	1.1 million	Georgia : Abkhazia , Russia: Adygea , Kabardia

Statistical overview

The concept of the root continent

The spread of European languages to other continents as a result of modern colonization (from about 1500 AD) is usually not taken into account when assigning language families to major geographic areas (master continents). In particular, e.g. For example, the Indo-European languages English, Spanish, Portuguese and French were counted as part of the parent continent "Eurasia", although they are now spoken worldwide. In other words, only its indigenous language families, languages and their speakers are assigned to each parent continent. “Australian languages” are e.g. e.g. only the languages of the Australian Indigenous People ("Aborigines"), "American languages" are those of the Indigenous American peoples, etc.

Eurasia as the parent continent includes Europe and the Asian mainland. A division into "European" and "Asian" languages is not possible because of the many overlapping units - e.g. B. Indo-European, Uralic, Turkic, Caucasian languages - not useful. The artificial geographic border between Europe and Asia never had any linguistic meaning. The island world of Southeast Asia (Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea), the Malayan peninsula and the islands of the Pacific are combined to form the Greater Indo-Pacific region, which primarily includes the Austronesian and the so -called Papua languages . As usual, the African languages contain the entire Afroasiatic language family , so also the Semitic languages of the Middle East.

Statistics: Languages and language families by home continent

In the following table, the term "main continent" must be taken into account: In this sense, e.g. B. English to the parent continent Eurasia, even if it is spoken worldwide. Like all Indo-European languages, its number of speakers is attributed to the parent continent of Eurasia.

Number of languages, speakers, language families, and isolated languages by parent
continent (extinct = extinct)

root continent	languages known	languages _	languages alive	speakers in million	genetics An H. known	genetics An H. exhibited	genetics An H. live	isolated languages known	isolated languages _	isolated languages alive
WORLD	6,502	895	5.607	5,879	294	98	196	122	59	64
Eurasia	1,063	106	957	4,771	29	5	24	11	4	7
indopacific	1,965	40	1,925	300	19	0	19	5	0	5
Australia	253	174	79	0.04	51	23	28	10	5	5
Africa	1,974	79	1,895	735	9	1	8th	3	1	2
America	982	371	611	29	186	69	117	94	49	45
North America	271	125	146	0.5	56	27	29	27	19	8th
Central America	119	34	85	8.6	17	5	12	7	3	4
South America	592	212	380	19.4	113	37	76	60	27	33
Creole pidgin	138	19	119	27	.	.	.	.	.	.
Unclassified	127	106	21	0.003	.	.	.	.	.	.

Explanations of the statistics

The table gives a statistical overview of all languages and genetic units in the world. A genetic unit is a language family or an isolated language. The source of the table is the web link given below, which is based on the primary sources for each language family.

The dates given include for each parent continent:

the total number of languages
the number of known extinct (but known through tradition) languages
the number of known languages alive today (as of 2009)
the number of native speakers (in millions) of the languages assigned to the home continent
the total number of genetic units (i.e. language families and isolated languages)
the number of extinct genetic units
the number of genetic units existing today
the number of isolated languages
the number of extinct isolated languages
the number of living isolated languages

For the sake of completeness, the numbers of the creole and pidgin languages worldwide are also given, which - like the unclassifiable languages - cannot be assigned to any language unit. (For the difference between "unclassified" and "isolated" see the articles Unclassified Languages and Isolated Languages .)

Notes on the numerical values

When reporting all numbers, the limitations summarized above under “Problems of Language Identification and Language Counting” should be observed. All numbers are therefore not to be regarded as objectively correct and precise values, but as the best possible technical estimate, which depends on the factors mentioned above (language identification, classification, determination of the number of speakers) and can vary from author to author.

The total number of around 6,500 languages worldwide recorded here is now cited by many researchers as a guide value; the range of the total number in the literature is between 5,000 and 7,500. The number of genetic units (about 300 here, 200 of which still exist today) depends on the assessment of the overall genetic structure of all languages worldwide, which is the task of comparative linguistics . Here the current "majority opinion" of research on the individual language families is represented, as it was extracted from the primary sources and finally consolidated.

The total number of speakers given here is almost six billion, which is less than the world population, which reached 6.8 billion in 2009. This difference results from the relative age of the available speaker numbers for almost all language families and thus roughly reflects the statistical situation of 2000. However, it is problematic to make a constant percentage markup on the speaker numbers mentioned here, since they have developed extremely differently depending on the language family and continent. It is also possible that some of the languages and language families classified here as "almost extinct" are now extinct. There are reliable estimates that by 2050 over 30% of the languages recorded here will no longer exist.

All language families and isolated languages are listed by their continent of origin in the following sections. The isolated languages are also given because they can be viewed as a language family with a single member. Language federations or areal language groups, on the other hand, are not taken into account because they do not represent a genetic unit. Sources are the information from the current standard works for each individual language group, which have been summarized in the web link given below.

Eurasia: Europe and mainland Asia

The parent continent of Eurasia – defined here as “Europe and mainland Asia” – includes around 1000 languages spoken by around 4.8 billion people worldwide. In particular, the Indo-European colonial languages English, Spanish, Portuguese and French have spread far beyond their home continent.

There are 29 Eurasian genetic units in total, five of which are extinct. Eleven of these units are isolated languages, four of which are extinct.

Language families and isolated languages of Eurasia

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Indo-European	280	220	2,675 million	Europe , Southwest and South Asia ; worldwide today
Sino-Tibetan	343	335	1,288 million	China , Himalayan region, Southeast Asia
Dravidian	27	27	220 million	South and Central India ; North India; Pakistan
Turkish	41	37	160 million	Western and Central Asia , Eastern Europe , Northeast Siberia
Japanese Ryūkyū	4	4	126 million	Japan , Okinawa
Austroasiatic	157	156	95 million	Northeast India, Southeast Asia
Tai-Kadai	69	68	83 million	South China , Southeast Asia
Korean	1	1	78 million	Korea
Uralic	31	28	24 million	Northeast Europe , Hungary , Ural region , Western Siberia
Mongolian	14	14	7.5 million	Mongolia , North China ; Buryatia , Kalmykia
Hmong Mien (Miao Yao)	21	21	6.3 million	South China, north Southeast Asia
Kartvelian	4	4	4.5 million	Georgia ; also Turkey
Nachish-Dagestan	29	29	3.0 million	Russia : Chechnya , Ingushetia , Dagestan
Abkhaz-Adyghe	5	4	1.1 million	Northwest Caucasus : Abkhazia , Adygea , Kabardia
Basque	1	1	800,000	Basque Country : NE Spain, SW France (Pyrenean region)
Burushaski	1	1	100,000	North Pakistan: Hunza Valley and Yasin Valley in the Karakorum Mountains
Tungusic	12	11	75,000	Russia : Eastern Siberia ; Manchuria
Chukcho -Kamchadalian	5	5	14,000	Russia: Chukchi Peninsula, Kamchatka Peninsula
Nahali (Kalto)	1	1	2,000	India: Maharashtra (Nimar District)
Yenisei	6	1	800	Russia: Central Siberia (Yenisei Region)
Nivkh (Gilyak)	1	1	700	Russia: Sakhalin, Amur
Yukagir	3	1	200	Russia: Northeast Siberia
ainu	1	1	nearly †	Russia: Sakhalin/ Japan: Hokkaido
Kusunda	1	1	nearly †	Nepal: Tanhun District
Tyrsenian †	3	0	†	Italy: Etruria, Raetia; lemnos
hat table †	1	0	†	Central Anatolia
Hurro-Urartian †	2	0	†	Eastern Anatolia, Northern Syria
Sumerian †	1	0	†	Southern Mesopotamia
Elamite †	1	0	†	Iran: Southwest

In addition to the extinct language units mentioned, there were a number of other languages in Eurasia, of which only minimal traces have survived. See the articles Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Isolated Languages .

Areal language groups in Eurasia

Eurasian macrofamilies

Indo-Pacific

The Indo-Pacific region, which geographically includes the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Borneo, New Guinea and the islands of the Pacific, includes the widespread Austronesian language tribe , the small Andaman language family and 17 non-Austronesian language units of New Guinea and surrounding islands, which are known as Papuan languages summarized.

The main continent of the Indo-Pacific includes around 2,000 languages spoken by around 300 million people. There are 19 genetic units in total, 5 of which are isolated languages.

Language Families and Isolated Languages of the Indo-Pacific

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Austronesian	1.144	1.119	296 million	Philippines , Malaysia , Indonesia , Madagascar , New Guinea , Oceania
Trans New Guinea	533	530	3.2 million	New Guinea ; Timor , Alor , Pantar
West Papua	25	25	310,000	Halmahera ; Papua Barat : Vogelkop
Sepik Ramu	102	102	235,000	Northwest & North-Central Papua New Guinea
East Papua	36	33	120,000	New Britain , Bougainville ; Solomon Islands
Torricelli	47	47	95,000	Northwest Papua New Guinea
East Bird's Head	3	3	40,000	Papua: Vogelkop Peninsula
Geelvink Bay Languages	33	33	22,000	Papua: Cenderawasih Bay , Yapen
sko	7	7	7,000	Border Region Papua New Guinea - Papua (Indonesia)
Kwomtari-Baibai	6	6	4,000	Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
Left May (Arai)	7	7	2,500	Northwest Papua New Guinea
Karkar Yuri	1	1	1,100	Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
kibiri	1	1	1,100	Papua New Guinea: Gulf, Aird Hills
Lower Mamberamo	2	2	800	Papua: Mamberamo River
Yale	1	1	600	Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
Andaman	13	4	500	India: Andaman Islands
Amto-Musan languages	2	2	300	Papua New Guinea: Upper Sepik
Burmese	1	1	300	Papua: Lake Holmes
Busa	1	1	300	Papua New Guinea: West Sepik

Australia and Tasmania

It is based on the classification by Dixon 2002, in which the "genetic unity of all Australian languages" previously represented by him was abandoned. The Pama-Nyunga unit was also not retained, although this has been criticized by other researchers (see the article Australian languages ). Areal closely related groups of typologically similar languages, whose genetic unit could not be conclusively proven, are marked in the table by "(ar)".

There are around 250 known Australian languages, of which 80 are still spoken today by a total of no more than 40,000 people. Most Australian languages are on the brink of extinction, with only ten languages still having at least 1,000 speakers. The 250 Australian languages are grouped into about 50 genetic or narrow areal units, 23 of which are entirely extinct. The table lists all language groups and isolated languages that have not yet become extinct. The extinct language units are then listed alphabetically.

Language families, areal groups and isolated languages of Australia

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Nyungar (creole language)	2	1	8,000	Western Australia, South West
Western Desert	1	1	6,000	Western Desert
Aranda (Arrernte)	2	2	5,700	Northern Territories
Northern Desert Fringe	7	5	4,700	Northern Territories
West Torres	1	1	4,000	Queensland, Torres Strait
Arnhem land (ar)	23	16	3,000	Northern Territory, Arnhem Land
Yolngu	8th	6	2,500	Northern Territory, Arnhem Land
Tiwi	1	1	1,500	Bathurst & Melville Islands
Daly River (ar)	9	5	1,000	Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, Daly River
North Cape York	17	6	800	Queensland, Cape York
Gascoyne to Pilbara (ar)	13	6	700	Western Australia, Gascoyne - Pilbara River
Magunj (ar)	3	3	500	Western Australia, Port Hedlund
Waanji Garrwa	2	1	200	Northern Territories, Queensland
Whyungu	1	1	200	Northern Territory, Tennant Creek
Bunaba	2	2	200	Western Australia, South Kimberley
Northwest Arnhem Land	5	2	200	Northern Territory, Arnhem Land
West Cape York (ar)	10	2	200	Queensland, West Cape York
North Kimberley (ar)	3	1	200	Western Australia, North Kimberley
Kitja-Miriwung	2	2	100	Western Australia, Turkey Creek
Ngarna	4	1	100	Northern Territories; Queensland
Kuku Yalanji	1	1	nearly †	Queensland, Cape York, Cooktown
cairns	2	1	nearly †	Queensland, Cairns
Tangk	4	2	nearly †	Northern Territories; Queensland
mindy	5	3	nearly †	Northern Territory, north-central
Fitzroy River	2	2	nearly †	Western Australia, Fitzroy river
Herbert River (ar)	4	2	nearly †	Queensland, Herbert River
Spencer Gulf (ar)	3	1	nearly †	Central-South Australia, Spencer Gulf Basin
Moore to Gascoyne	9	2	nearly †	Western Australia, Moore - Gascoyne River

Extinct language families, language groups and isolated languages of Australia
(Area language groups are indicated by (ar), isolated languages by •.) Baagandji • – Central East Coast (ar) – Central New South Wales (ar) – Darambala-Bayali – Darwin (ar) - Giimbiyu (Erre) • - Kalkatungu-Yalarnnaga (ar) - Lake Eyre Basin (ar) - Lower Burdekin (ar) - Lower Murray River (ar) - Makro-Mari (ar) - Mayi - Mukhtang - Sidney - South-East Cape York (ar) - South New South Wales (ar) - Umbidhamu • - Upper Murray River (ar) - West Victoria (ar) - Western Bight (ar) - Wirangu • - Yota Yabala (ar)

Tasmanian †

Africa and Middle East

Thanks to the pioneering work of the American linguist Joseph Greenberg in the 1950s, the world of languages in Africa has become very clear. The nearly 2000 African languages have been grouped into just four major families (“phyla”), namely Afroasiatic , Niger-Congo , Nilo-Saharan and Khoisan . However, today the Khoisan languages are no longer understood as a genetic unit , but broken down into the groups North , Central and South . The languages of the Sandawe , Hadza and Kwadi - which Greenberg also included in the Khoisan languages - are now generally regarded as isolated . (See also the review article African languages .)

Language families and isolated languages of Africa and the Middle East

language family	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Niger Congo	1,386	1,364	354 million	West , Central and South Africa
Afroasiatic	354	311	347 million	North Africa , Middle East , Horn of Africa
Nilosaharan	196	188	34 million	Africa: South Sahara Zone, Sudan , Eritrea
Central Khoisan (Khoe)	15	13	290,000	Namibia , South Africa , Botswana
Sandawe	1	1	40,000	Tanzania : Kondoa District
North Khoisan (Ju)	4	4	20,000	Angola , Northern Namibia, Botswana
Southern Khoisan ( Taa-ǃWi )	6	3	5,000	Botswana, South Africa
Hadza	1	1	200	Tanzania: Lake Eyasi
kwadi †	1	0	†	Southwest Angola

America

Joseph Greenberg (1987) divided the indigenous American languages into only three language families:

Eskimo-Aleut
Na-Dené (which, according to Greenberg , includes Tlingit , Haida , Eyak , and the Athabaskan languages )
Amerindian (all rest of all Indigenous American languages)

This tripartite division was supported by human genetic studies by Cavalli-Sforza (cf. Cavalli-Sforza 1996) and by archaeological research which shows that these three groups migrated from Siberia across the Bering Strait to America at different times, first the carriers of the so-called Amerindian languages, then the Na Dené peoples, finally the Eskimos.

However, the vast majority of Americanists are of the opinion that Amerindian does not represent any, or at least no demonstrable , genetic unit , but on the contrary breaks down into well over a hundred language families and isolated languages. The present account essentially follows the widely accepted classifications by Campbell (1997) and Mithun (1999) (see also the article Amerindian languages ).

Almost 1,000 languages known by name belong to the parent continent of America, 370 of which are extinct. The remaining approximately 600 languages are spoken by 28.5 million people. The indigenous American languages can be divided into about 190 genetic units, 70 of which are already extinct. Of the 120 surviving units, 45 are isolated single languages. In the following, the language families of the Americas are divided into North America , Central America , and South America .

North America

About 270 languages belong to the parent continent of North America, 125 of which are extinct. The remaining approximately 150 languages are spoken by 500,000 people. The North American languages can be divided into 56 genetic units, 27 of which are already extinct. Of the 29 units that still exist, 8 are isolated languages.

The most important North American language families are Athabaskan (182,000 speakers), the Algonquian languages (146,000) and the Eskimo languages (80,000).

Language families and isolated languages of North America
(NW = Northwest, NE = Northeast, SE = Southeast)

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Athabaskan Tlingit	43	30	182,000	western North America
Algonquian-Ritwan	29	16	146,000	NE, Eastern and Central North America; USA : California
Eskimo-Aleut	8th	8th	80,000	Greenland , Northern Canada , USA: Alaska , NE Siberia
Muskogee	7	6	26,000	SO-USA
Sioux Catawba	18	8th	22,000	South-Central Canada, Central USA: Carolina
Kiowa Tano	7	5	6,400	USA: Oklahoma, New Mexico
Sahaptin-Nez Perce	4	4	4,000	USA: Idaho, Oregon
Salish	26	17	3,800	Canada: British Columbia; USA: Washington, Oregon
Tsimshian	2	2	3,000	Canada: British Columbia; USA: Alaska
Yuma Cochimi	11	10	3,000	USA: Southern California, Mexico: Northern Baja California
Wakashan	7	6	800	Canada: British Columbia (Vancouver Island); United States: Washington
Caddo Pawnee	5	4	250	USA: Oklahoma (North Dakota Reservation)
Ktunaxa	1	1	200	Canada: British Columbia; United States: Washington, Idaho, Montana
Karuk	1	1	100	USA: NW California
haida	1	1	nearly †	Canada: British Columbia (Queen Charlotte Islands); USA: Southern Alaska
Chimacum	2	1	nearly †	USA: NW Washington
Chinook	3	2	nearly †	USA: Washington, Oregon
Klamath Modoc	1	1	nearly †	USA: Oregon, California
Wintu	4	3	nearly †	USA: North Central California
maidu	4	1	nearly †	USA: South-Central California
Miwok Costano	12	2	nearly †	USA: Central California
shasta	4	1	nearly †	USA: California
pomo	7	4	nearly †	USA: North Central California
washo	1	1	nearly †	USA: East-Central California, Western Nevada
Yokuts	3	3	nearly †	USA: South-Central California
Yuchi	1	1	nearly †	USA: Oklahoma, Georgia

Extinct language families and isolated languages of North America
(Isolated languages are denoted by •.) Adai • - Alsea • - Aranama • - Beothuk • - Cayuse • - Chimariko • - Chitimacha • - Chumash - Coahuiteco • - Comecrudo - Coos - Cotoname • - Esselen • - Karankawa • - Molala • - Natchez • - Palaihni • - Salinan • - Siuslaw • - Solano • - Takelma • - Kalapuya • - Timucua • - Tonkawa • - Tunica • - Yana • - Yuki-Wappo

Area language groups of North America

The following groupings are considered by some researchers to be larger genetic units, but this is rejected in the standard classifications (Campbell 1997, Mithun 1999).

Na Dené languages . They include Haida and Tlingit-Athabaskan
Penuti languages . They include Tsimshian , Chinook , Sahaptin-Nez Perce , Klamath-Modoc , Wintu , Maidu , Miwok-Costano , Yokuts , and the extinct entities Alsea , Siuslaw , Coos , Takelma , Kalapuya , Molala , and Cayuse
Hoka languages . They include Karuk , Shasta , Pomo , Washo , Yuma-Cochimi , and the extinct entities Chimariko , Palaihni , Yana , Salinan , and Esselen

Central America

About 120 languages belong to the parent continent of Central America, 35 of which are extinct. The remaining approximately 85 languages are spoken by almost 9 million people. The Central American languages can be divided into 17 genetic units, 5 of which are extinct. Of the 12 units that still exist, 4 are isolated languages.

The most important Mesoamerican language families are the Mayan languages (4.2 million speakers), the Oto-Mangue languages (2 million) and the Uto-Aztec (1.6 million). In addition, there are another 6 units with more than 100,000 speakers. Overall, the proportion of indigenous native speakers in the total population in Central America is much larger than in North America.

Language families and isolated languages of Central America

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Maya	33	31	4.2 million	Mexico , Guatemala , also Belize
Oto Mangue	21	19	2.0 million	Mexico, also Nicaragua , Costa Rica
Uto-Aztec	32	22	1.6 million	Western USA , Northwest and Central Mexico
Totonac Tepehua	2	2	280,000	Mexico: Puebla , Veracruz , Hidalgo
Misumalpa	4	2	193,000	Honduras , Nicaragua, El Salvador
Mixe Zoque	3	2	165,000	Mexico: Oaxaca, Gulf, Chiapas, etc.
Tarascan	1	1	120,000	Mexico: Michoacan
Huave	1	1	18,000	MEXICO: South Oaxaca
Tequistlatecan	3	2	4,500	MEXICO: South Oaxaca
serial	1	1	700	Mexico: Sonora
Jicaque (Tol)	2	1	500	Honduras: La Montana de Flor
lenca	1	1	nearly †	Honduras, El Salvador
Cuitlatec †	1	0	†	Mexico: Guerrero
Guaicura †	8th	0	†	Mexico: Baja California
Maratino †	1	0	†	Northeast Mexico
Naolan †	1	0	†	Mexico: Taumalipas
xinca †	4	0	†	South Guatemala

South America

About 600 languages belong to the parent continent of South America, of which over 200 have become extinct. The remaining approximately 400 languages are spoken by almost 20 million people. The South American languages are divided into 113 genetic units (Campbell 1997, Adelaar et al. 2004, Dixon & Aikhenvald 1999), 37 of which are already extinct. This makes South America the continent with the greatest linguistic diversity. Of the 76 units that still exist, 33 are isolated languages.

The most important South American language families are the Quechua languages with 10 million speakers, the Tupí languages (5.3 million) and the Aymará (2.2 million). Another four language families have more than 100,000 speakers.

The South American language families are presented in two tables and a list below: first the genetic units with at least or fewer than 1,000 speakers, then the extinct units.

Language families and isolated languages of South America with at least 1,000 speakers

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Quechua	39	38	10 million	Peru , Ecuador , Colombia , Bolivia , Argentina
Tupi	74	60	5.3 million	Paraguay , Bolivia, Brazil
Aymara (Aru)	3	3	2.2 million	Bolivia, Peru, Chile , Argentina
Arawak (Maipure)	83	45	640,000	Central America , Caribbean , North and Central South America
Araucan	2	2	260,000	Chile, Argentina
Chibcha	25	15	255,000	Mesoamerica , Colombia
paez	1	1	120,000	Colombia, Ecuador
Jivaro	7	4	90,000	Ecuador, Peru
chocolate	7	2	78,000	Panama , Colombia
Mataco	6	6	64,000	Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina
Guaicuru	7	4	60,000	Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina
caribbean	46	32	55,000	Colombia, Venezuela , Guyana , Brazil
Barbacoa	10	5	50,000	Colombia, Ecuador
Pano Tacana	38	23	47,000	Peru, Bolivia, Brazil
ge	13	9	41,000	Brazil
Tucano	30	24	28,000	Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil
ticuna	1	1	25,000	Colombia, Peru, Brazil
Guahibo	6	5	24,000	Colombia, Venezuela
Yanomam	4	4	20,000	Venezuela, Brazil
Guarao (Warao)	1	1	18,000	Venezuela, Guiana, Suriname
Piaroa-Sáliba	2	2	14,000	Colombia, Venezuela
Cahuapana	2	2	9,000	Peru
Bora Witoto	6	6	8,500	Colombia, Peru
Zamuco	2	2	6,500	Bolivia, Paraguay
Moses	2	2	6,000	Bolivia
Chiquitano	1	1	6,000	Bolivia
arahua	6	5	4,600	Brazil, Peru
Camsa	1	1	4,000	Colombia
Makú	9	8th	4,000	Brazil, Colombia
Peba Yagua	3	1	4,000	Peru
urarina	1	1	3,500	Peru
Kandoshi	3	1	3,000	Peru
Puinave	1	1	3,000	Colombia, Venezuela
Yaruro	1	1	3,000	Venezuela
Fulnio	1	1	3,000	Brazil
Karaja	1	1	3,000	Brazil
Yuracare	1	1	2,700	Bolivia
chapacura	11	6	2,300	Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela
Uru Chipaya	4	2	2,000	Bolivia
movema	1	1	1,500	Bolivia
Sabela	1	1	1,200	Ecuador, Peru
Rickbatsa	1	1	1,000	Brazil
bororo	3	2	1,000	Brazil, Bolivia
Nambikwara	3	3	1,000	Brazil: Mato Grosso

Language families and isolated languages of South America with fewer than 1,000 speakers

Language family/ Isolated language	languages known	languages alive	speaker number	distribution area
Katukina	3	3	800	Brazil
Mashakali	6	1	800	Brazil
Harakmbut	2	2	700	Peru
Joti	1	1	500	Venezuela
Zaparo	8th	3	300	Peru, Ecuador
mura	3	1	250	Brazil
timothy	3	1	200	Venezuela
Irantxev	1	1	200	Brazil: Mato Grosso
Yuri	1	1	200	Brazil: Amazon area
Itona	1	1	100	Bolivia
Trumai	1	1	100	Brazil: Xingu, Mato Grosso
Aikana (Tubarao)	1	1	100	Brazil: Rondonia
Andoque	1	1	100	Colombia, Peru
Alacaluf (Kaweskar)	2	1	nearly †	Chile
Arutani	1	1	nearly †	Brazil: Roraima; Venezuela
Kallawaya	1	1	nearly †	Bolivia
Canichana	1	1	nearly †	Bolivia
Cayubaba	1	1	nearly †	Bolivia
Chon	5	2	nearly †	Argentina: Tierra del Fuego
Guato	1	1	nearly †	Brazil
Jabuti	2	2	nearly †	Brazil
Kapixana	1	1	nearly †	Brazil: Rondonia
koaya	1	1	nearly †	Brazil: Rondonia
Lule-Vilela	2	1	nearly †	Argentina
ofaye	1	1	nearly †	Brazil
sap	1	1	nearly †	Venezuela
Taushiro	1	1	nearly †	Peru
Tinygua	3	1	nearly †	Colombia
Yamana (Yagan)	1	1	nearly †	Chile

Extinct language families and isolated languages of South America

Andaqui • - Baenan • - Betoi • - Canari-Puruhua - Charrua - Cholon-Hibito - Culli • - Cunza • - Esmeralda • - Gamela • - Guamo • - Huarpe - Jirajara - Kamaka - Katembri • - Kariri • - Kukura • - Leco • – Matanawi • – Mochica • – Muchik – Munichi • – Natu • – Oti • – Otomaco – Pankararu • – Puquina – Puri – Secura-Tallan – Tarairu • – Taruma • – Tequiraca • – Tuxa • – Uamoe • – Xoco • – Xukuru (Ichikele) • – Yurumangui

Most of the extinct languages of South America could not be assigned to any language family, so they are isolated or unclassified. Isolated extinct languages are marked by •. The list is based on Campbell (1997).

literature

Current review literature

Worldwide

Raymond G. Gordon (ed.): Ethnologue. Languages of the World. 15th edition. SIL International, Dallas TX 2005, ISBN 1-55671-159-X .
Ernst Kausen : The language families of the world. Part 1: Europe and Asia. Buske, Hamburg 2013, ISBN 978-3-87548-655-1 .
Ernst Kausen: The language families of the world. Part 2: Africa - Indo-Pacific - Australia - America. Buske, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-87548-656-8 .
Merritt Ruhlen : A Guide to the World's Languages. Volume 1: Classification. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1987, ISBN 0-8047-1250-6 .
Charles F. Voegelin, Florence M. Voegelin: Classification and Index of the World's Languages. Elsevier, New York NY et al. 1977, ISBN 0-444-00155-7 .

Eurasia

Bernard Comrie : The Languages of the Soviet Union. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1981, ISBN 0-521-23230-9 .
Miloš Okuka (ed.): Lexicon of the languages of the European East (= Wieser encyclopedia of the European East. Vol. 10). Wieser, Klagenfurt and others 2002, ISBN 3-85129-510-2 .
Glanville Price (ed.): Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford et al. 1998, ISBN 0-631-19286-7 .
George van Driem : Languages of the Himalayas. An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the greater Himalayan Region (= Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 2: India. Vol. 10, 1-2). 2 volumes. Brill, Leiden et al. 2001, ISBN 90-04-10390-2 .

Africa

Bernd Heine , Derek Nurse (eds.): African Languages. An Introduction. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2000, ISBN 0-521-66178-1 .

indopacific

John Lynch: Pacific Languages. An Introduction. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu HI 1998, ISBN 0-8248-1898-9 .

Australia

Robert MW Dixon : Australian Languages. Their Nature and Development. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2002, ISBN 0-521-47378-0 .

America

Willem FH Adelaar , Pieter C Muysken : The Languages of the Andes. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2004, ISBN 0-521-36275-X .
Lyle Campbell : American Indian Languages. The historical Linguistics of Native America (= Oxford Studies in Anthropological Linguistics. 4). Oxford University Press, New York NY et al. 1997, ISBN 0-19-509427-1 .
Robert MW Dixon, Alexandra Y Aikhenvald (eds): The Amazonian Languages. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1999, ISBN 0-521-57021-2 .
Joseph Harold Greenberg : Languages in the Americas. Stanford University Press, Stanford CA 1987, ISBN 0-8047-1315-4 .
Marianne Mithun: The Languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 1999, ISBN 0-521-23228-7 .

Ancient Orient

Roger D. Woodard (ed.): The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge et al. 2004, ISBN 0-521-56256-2 .

bibliography

A comprehensive bibliography on language families worldwide is available in:
Ernst Kausen: Bibliography Language and Writing. (DOC; 1.2MB)

historical literature

Franz Nikolaus Finck : The language tribes of the world (= from nature and the spirit world. Volume 267, ZDB -ID 516263-4 ). Teubner, Berlin 1909, ( digital copy ).
Ernst Kieckers : The language tribes of the earth (= culture and language. 7, ZDB -ID 534544-3 ). Winter, Heidelberg 1931.
Wilhelm Schmidt : The language families and language groups of the earth (= Cultural History Library . Series 1: Ethnological Library. 5, ZDB -ID 1137195-X ). Winter, Heidelberg 1926, (Reprint: Buske, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-87118-277-X ).

web links

Ethnologue: Languages of the World
MultiTree (scientific database on hypotheses about language relationships; English)
Otto Weikopf, The World of Languages - The Languages of the World (popular science)

itemizations

↑ (see picture above) The languages of the Horn of Africa also belong to the Afroasiatic language family, as shown in the picture above.

[1] (see picture above) The languages of the Horn of Africa also belong to the Afroasiatic language family, as shown in the picture above.