Indigenous languages of the Americas

{{Short description|none}} {{redirect|Amerindian language||Amerind languages}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} [[File:Dresden codex, page 2.jpg|thumb|Yucatec Maya writing in the ''Dresden Codex'', {{circa}}11–12th century, Chichen Itza]] The '''indigenous languages of the Americas''' are the languages that were used by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, before the arrival of Europeans. Over a thousand of these languages are still used in the 21st century, while many more are now extinct. The indigenous languages of the Americas are not all related to each other; instead, they are classified into a hundred or so language families and isolates, as well as several extinct languages that are unclassified due to the lack of information on them.

Many proposals have been made to relate some or all of these languages to each other, with varying degrees of success. The most widely reported is Joseph Greenberg's Amerind hypothesis;<ref>{{cite book|last=Greenberg|first=Joseph|author-link=Joseph Greenberg|title=Language in the Americas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rdbEBricFRUC|year=1987|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-1315-3}}</ref> however, nearly all specialists reject it because of severe methodological flaws; spurious data; and a failure to distinguish cognation, contact, and coincidence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|author-link=Lyle Campbell|title=American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h36tPYqAZPwC|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-534983-2 |page=253}}</ref>

According to UNESCO, most of the indigenous languages of the Americas are critically endangered, and many are dormant (without native speakers but with a community of heritage-language users) or entirely extinct.<ref name="online">{{cite book |editor-last=Gordon |editor-first=Raymond G. Jr. |year=2005 |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World |edition=15th |location=Dallas |publisher=SIL International |isbn=1-55671-159-X}}. (Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com)</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schwartz|first=Saul|date=2018|title=The predicament of language and culture: Advocacy, anthropology, and dormant language communities|url=https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jola.12204|journal=Journal of Linguistic Anthropology|volume=28|issue=3|pages=332–355|doi=10.1111/jola.12204|s2cid=150209288|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The most widely spoken indigenous languages are Southern Quechua (spoken primarily in southern Peru and Bolivia) and Guarani (centered in Paraguay, where it shares national language status with Spanish), with perhaps six or seven million speakers apiece (including many of European descent in the case of Guarani). Only half a dozen others have more than a million speakers; these are Aymara of Bolivia and Nahuatl of Mexico, with almost two million each; the Mayan languages Kekchi and K'iche' of Guatemala and Yucatec of Mexico, with about 1 million apiece; and perhaps one or two additional Quechuan languages in Peru and Ecuador. In the United States, 372,000 people reported speaking an indigenous language at home in the 2010 census.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Census Shows Native Languages Count|url=https://www.languagemagazine.com/census-shows-native-languages-count/|access-date=2020-08-16|website=Language Magazine|language=en-US}}</ref> In Canada, 133,000 people reported speaking an indigenous language at home in the 2011 census.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Pages/highlight.cfm?TabID=1&Lang=E&tableID=404&queryID=1&PRCode=01|title=Population by Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Aboriginal language spoken on a regular basis at home, for Canada, provinces and territories|access-date=May 18, 2020}}</ref> In Greenland, about 90% of the population speaks Greenlandic, the most widely spoken Eskaleut language.

==Background==

{{Further|Indigenous peoples of the Americas}} Over a thousand known languages were spoken by various peoples in North and South America prior to their first contact with Europeans. These encounters occurred between the beginning of the 11th century (with the Norse settlements in Greenland and failed efforts in Newfoundland and Labrador) and the end of the 15th century (the voyages of Christopher Columbus). Several indigenous cultures of the Americas had also developed their own writing systems,<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QnHf4cpwENEC&q=aztec+maya+writing&pg=PA167 |title=Autochthonous American writing systems: The Aztec and Mayan examples |last1=Premm |first1=Hanns J. |last2=Riese |first2=Berthold |journal=Writing in Focus |publisher=Mouton Publishers |year=1983 |isbn=978-90-279-3359-1 |editor-last=Coulmas |editor-first=Florian |series=Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs |volume=24 |location=Berlin |pages=167–186 |doi=10.1515/9783110822830.167 |access-date=15 March 2019 |editor-last2=Ehlich |editor-first2=Konrad|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the best known being the Maya script.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wichmann|first=Soren|title=Mayan Historical Linguistics and Epigraphy: A New Synthesis|journal=Annual Review of Anthropology|year=2006|volume=35|pages=279–294|doi=10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123257}}</ref> The indigenous languages had widely varying demographics, from the Quechuan languages, Aymara, Guarani, and Nahuatl, which had millions of active speakers, to many languages with only several hundred speakers. After pre-Columbian times, several indigenous creole languages developed in the Americas, based on European, indigenous and African languages.

The European colonizing nations and their successor states had widely varying attitudes towards Native American languages. In Brazil, friars learned and promoted the Tupi language.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Shapiro|first=Judith|title=From Tupã to the Land without Evil: The Christianization of Tupi-Guarani Cosmology|journal=American Ethnologist|year=1987|volume=1|issue=14|pages=126–139|doi=10.1525/ae.1987.14.1.02a00080}}</ref> In many Spanish colonies, Spanish missionaries often learned local languages and culture in order to preach to the natives in their own tongue and relate the Christian message to their indigenous religions. In the British American colonies, John Eliot of the Massachusetts Bay Colony made a Bible translation in the Massachusett language, also called Wampanoag, or Natick (1661–1663); it was the first Bible printed in North America, the ''Eliot Indian Bible''.

The Europeans also suppressed use of indigenous languages, establishing their own languages for official communications, destroying texts in other languages, and insisted that indigenous people learn European languages in schools. As a result, indigenous languages suffered from cultural suppression and loss of speakers. By the 18th and 19th centuries, Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Dutch, brought to the Americas by European settlers and administrators, had become the official or national languages of modern nation-states of the Americas.

Many indigenous languages have become critically endangered, but others are vigorous and part of daily life for millions of people. Several have been given official status in the countries where they occur, such as Guarani in Paraguay. In other cases official status is limited to certain regions where the languages are most spoken. Although sometimes enshrined in constitutions as official, the languages may be used infrequently in ''de facto'' official use. Examples are Quechua in Peru and Aymara in Bolivia, where in practice, Spanish is dominant in all formal contexts.

In the North American Arctic region, Greenland in 2009 elected Kalaallisut<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stm.dk/multimedia/selvstyreloven.pdf|title=Lov om Grønlands Selvstyre Kapitel 7 Sprog|trans-title=Law of Greenland Self-Determination Chapter 7 Language|website=www.stm.dk|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> as its sole official language. In the United States, the Navajo language is the most spoken Native American language, with more than 200,000 speakers in the Southwestern United States. The US Marine Corps recruited Navajo men, who were established as code talkers during World War II.

==Origins== {{see also|Settlement of the Americas}} In ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America'' (1997), Lyle Campbell lists several hypotheses for the historical origins of Amerindian languages.<ref>{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |year=1997 |title=American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America |chapter=The Origin of American Indian Languages |pages=90–106 |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-509427-1}}.</ref>

* A single, one-language migration (not widely accepted) * A few linguistically distinct migrations (favored by Edward Sapir) * Multiple migrations * Multilingual migrations (single migration with multiple languages) * The influx of already diversified but related languages from the Old World * Extinction of Old World linguistic relatives (while the New World ones survived) * Migration along the Pacific coast instead of by the Bering Strait

Roger Blench (2008) has advocated the theory of multiple migrations along the Pacific coast of peoples from northeastern Asia, who already spoke diverse languages. These proliferated in the Americas.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blench |first=Roger |year=2008 |url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Archaeology/New%20World/Peopling%20of%20the%20New%20World%20Canberra%20paper.pdf |title=Accounting for the Diversity of Amerindian Languages: Modelling the Settlement of the New World}} Paper presented at the Archaeology Research Seminar, RSPAS, Canberra, Australia.</ref>

==Numbers of speakers and political recognition== Countries like Mexico, Guatemala, and Guyana recognize most indigenous languages. Bolivia and Venezuela give all indigenous languages official status.{{cn|date=December 2025}} Canada, Argentina, and the US allow provinces and states to decide. Brazil limits recognition to localities. Colombia delegates indigenous language recognition to its departments according to the Colombian Constitution of 1991. In Canada, Bill C-91: the Indigenous Languages Act passed in 2019, and supports indigenous languages through sustainable funding and the Office of the Commissioner of Indigenous Languages. The first Commissioner of Indigenous Languages in Canada is Ronald E. Ignace.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parl.ca/documentviewer/en/42-1/bill/c-91/royal-assent|title=Government Bill (House of Commons) C-91 (42-1) - Royal Assent - Indigenous Languages Act - Parliament of Canada|website=www.parl.ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hudon |first=Marie-Ève |title=Official Languages and Parliament |journal=HillStudy |issue=2015-131-E |publisher=Library of Parliament |location=Ottawa |date=2022 |url=https://lop.parl.ca/staticfiles/PublicWebsite/Home/ResearchPublications/HillStudies/PDF/2015-131-E.pdf |access-date=2025-08-12}}</ref><ref>Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Honouring Indigenous Languages within Parliament, 2019 42-2 Canadian Parliamentary Review 3, 2019 CanLIIDocs 3786, <https://canlii.ca/t/spw6>, retrieved on 2025-08-12</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-education/news-all/meet-robert-falcon-ouellette-veteran-former-parliamentarian-and-professor#:~:text=Professor%20Ouellette%20holds%20a%20doctorate,Chair%20of%20the%20Indigenous%20Caucus. | title=Meet Robert-Falcon Ouellette: Veteran, former parliamentarian, and professor }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.revparlcan.ca/en/honouring-indigenous-languages-within-parliament/|title=Honouring Indigenous Languages within Parliament – Canadian Parliamentary Review – La Revue parlementaire canadienne|date=August 8, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/4901314/indigenous-winnipeg-mp-delivers-historic-speech-in-house-of-commons/|title=Indigenous Winnipeg MP delivers speech in Cree in House of Commons - Winnipeg | Globalnews.ca|website=CJOB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/27/canada-native-languages-parliament-indigenous|title=Sound of native languages in parliament to mark win for indigenous Canadians|first=Leyland|last=Cecco|date=January 27, 2019|newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref>

In the following table, languages marked with asterisks (*) have minority status. Political entities bestowing official language status are highlighted in bold. International and unrecognized organizations are in italics. {| {{Table|sort}} |+Widely-spoken and officially-recognized indigenous languages ! Language ! data-sort-type=number | Number of speakers ! Official recognition ! Geographic distribution ! Source |- |Guarani | {{sigfig|6,540,000|2}} |{{ubl|'''Paraguay'''|'''Bolivia'''|Corrientes, Argentina|Tacuru, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil|'''''Mercosur'''''}} |Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021">Ethnologue (2021)</ref> |- |Southern Quechua | {{sigfig|4,906,000|1}} (outdated){{When|date=January 2025}} |{{ubl|'''Bolivia'''|'''Peru'''|Jujuy, Argentina|Chile*|'''''Comunidad Andina'''''}} |Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, Chile |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Nahuatl | {{sigfig|1,740,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/yuto-nahua/yuto-nahua1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Aymara | {{sigfig|1,677,100|2}} |{{ubl|'''Bolivia'''|'''Peru'''|Chile*|'''''Comunidad Andina'''''}} |Bolivia, Peru, Chile |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Q'eqchi' | {{sigfig|1,147,600|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Belize|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Belize, Mexico |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |K'iche' | {{sigfig|1,050,000|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Yucatec Maya | {{sigfig|887,520|2}} |{{ubl|Mexico|Belize}} |Mexico, Belize |<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/maya/maya1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Ancash Quechua | {{sigfig|728,000|1}} (outdated){{When|date=December 2025}} | |Peru |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Mam | {{sigfig|602,400|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico|'''''Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities''''' (de facto)}} |Guatemala, Mexico | |- |Tzeltal | {{sigfig|557,000|2}} |{{ubl|Mexico|'''''Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities''''' (de facto)}} |Mexico |<ref name="auto2" /> |- |Mixtec | {{sigfig|518,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/oto-mangue/oto-mangue1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Tzotzil | {{sigfig|488,000|2}} |{{ubl|Mexico|'''''Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities''''' (de facto)}} |Mexico |<ref name="auto2" /> |- |Zapotec | {{sigfig|479,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto" /> |- |Kichwa | {{sigfig|454,750|2}} |{{ubl|'''Ecuador'''|Colombia (Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo)}} |Ecuador, Colombia (Cauca, Nariño, Putumayo) |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Wayuu (Guajiro) | {{sigfig|416,000|2}} |{{ubl|'''Venezuela'''|La Guajira, Colombia}} |Venezuela, Colombia | |- |Kaqchikel | {{sigfig|411,000|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Otomi | {{sigfig|308,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto" /> |- |Totonac | {{sigfig|268,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/totonaco-tepehua/totonaco-tepehua1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015 |website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Mapuche | {{sigfig|258,410|2}} |Cautín, Araucanía, Chile ('''Galvarino''' and '''Padre Las Casas''') |Cautín, Araucanía, Chile and Argentina |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Ch'ol | {{sigfig|252,000|2}} |{{ubl|Mexico|'''''Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities''''' (de facto)}} |Mexico |<ref name="auto2" /> |- |Mazateco | {{sigfig|239,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto" /> |- |Q'anjob'al | {{sigfig|174,420|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico | |- |Huasteco | {{sigfig|174,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto2" /> |- |Navajo | {{sigfig|167,000|2}} |'''Navajo Nation''', United States |Southwestern US |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Mazahua | {{sigfig|147,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto" /> |- |Miskito | {{sigfig|143,000|2}} (outdated){{when|date=December 2025}} |{{ubl|'''North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region''', Nicaragua|Gracias a Dios, Honduras}} |Nicaragua, Honduras | |- |Chinanteco | {{sigfig|139,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto" /> |- |Mixe | {{sigfig|134,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/mixe-zoque/mixe-zoque1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Tlapaneco | {{sigfig|134,000|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto" /> |- |Poqomchi' | {{sigfig|133,000|2}} |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Purepecha/Tarasco | {{sigfig|124,494|2}} |Mexico |Mexico |<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/tarasca/tarasca1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Achí | {{sigfig|124,000|2}} |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Ixil | {{sigfig|115,000|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico | |- |Yaru Quechua | 100,000 (outdated){{when|date=December 2025}} | |Peru |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Cree | {{sigfig|96,360|2}} (including Naskapi and Montagnais) |Canada:{{ubl|'''Northwest Territories'''|Alberta*|Manitoba*|Ontario*|Quebec*|Saskatchewan*}} |Canada |<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=41&Geo=01 |title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census – Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data |publisher=Canada Statistics |access-date=2017-11-22|date=2017-08-02 }}</ref> |- |Tarahumara | {{sigfig|73,900|2}} |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Tz'utujil | {{sigfig|72,400|2}} |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Guna | {{sigfig|60,600|2}} |Colombia (Chocó and Antioquia) |Colombia (Chocó, Antioquia), Panama (Guna Yala) | |- |Paez |60,000 |Colombia (Cauca, Huila, Valle del Cauca) |Colombia (Cauca, Huila, Valle del Cauca) | |- |Chuj |59,000 |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico | |- |Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) |57,000 |'''Greenland''' |Greenland |<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stat.gl/dialog/main.asp?lang=en&version=201603&sc=SA&subthemecode=t4&colcode=t|title=Greenland's statistics|website=www.stat.gl/|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Amuzgo |55,588 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Tojolab'al |51,733 |{{ubl|Mexico|'''''Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities''''' (de facto)}} |Mexico | |- |Garifuna |50,000 (circa; outdated) |{{ubl|Guatemala|Belize|'''North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region''', Nicaragua|Honduras (Atlántida, Colón, Gracias a Dios) |Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Ojibwe | {{sigfig|48,080|2}} |{{ubl|Canada|United States}} |Canada, United States |<ref name="Ethnologue 2021" /> |- |Tikuna |47,000 |Colombia (Leticia and Puerto Nariño, Amazonas) |Amazonas regions of Brazil and Colombia |<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2014-12-11|title=Brasil tem cinco línguas indígenas com mais de 10 mil falantes|url=https://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/cultura/noticia/2014-12/brasil-tem-cinco-linguas-indigenas-com-mais-de-10-mil-falantes|access-date=2020-08-30|website=Agência Brasil|language=pt-br}}</ref> |- |Chatino |45,000 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Huichol |44,800 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Mayo |39,600 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Inuktitut |39,475 |{{ubl|'''Nunavut'''|'''Northwest Territories'''|Nunavik*, Quebec|Nunatsiavut*, Newfoundland and Labrador|Inuvialuit Settlement Region*, Yukon and NWT}} |Canada (Nunavut, Northwest Territories, Quebec, Labrador) |<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016022/98-200-x2016022-eng.cfm|title=Census in Brief: The Aboriginal languages of First Nations people, Métis and Inuit|date=25 October 2017|publisher=Statistics Canada|access-date=2017-11-12}}</ref> |- |Chontal Maya |37,072 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Wichi |36,135 |'''Chaco''', Argentina |Chaco Province, Argentina | |- |Tepehuán |36,000 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Soteapanec |35,050 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Shuar |35,000 |'''Ecuador''' |Ecuador |<ref>Shuar at ''Ethnologue'' (18th ed., 2015)</ref> |- |Sikuani |34,000 |Colombia (Meta, Vichada, Arauca, Guainía, Guaviare) |Colombia (Meta, Vichada, Arauca, Guainía, Guaviare) | |- |Jakaltek | {{sigfig|33,130|2}} |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico | |- |Kom |31,580 |'''Chaco''', Argentina |Chaco Province, Argentina | |- |Poqomam |30,000 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Ch'orti' |30,000 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Kaiwá |26,500 | |Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Sioux |25,000 |'''South Dakota''', United States |US |<ref name="Ethnologue 18th ed., 2015">Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)</ref> |- |O'odham |23,313 |{{ubl|Tohono Oʼodham Nation, US|Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community, US|Mexico}} |Arizona, United States | |- |Kaigang |22,000 | |Brazil |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Guambiano |21,000 |Cauca, Colombia |Cauca, Colombia | |- |Cora |20,100 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Yanomamö |20,000 |'''Venezuela''' |Brazil, Venezuela |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Nheengatu |19,000 |{{ubl|'''São Gabriel da Cachoeira''', Amazonas, Brazil|'''Venezuela'''}} |Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela |<ref name="Ethnologue 18th ed., 2015" /> |- |Yup'ik (Central Alaskan) and Yupik (Siberian) |18,626 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Huave |17,900 |Mexico |Mexico |<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/huave/huave1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Yaqui |17,546 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Piaroa |17,000 |Vichada, Colombia |Vichada, Colombia | |- |Sakapultek |15,000 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Western Apache |14,012 |{{ubl|San Carlos Apache Nation, US|Fort Apache Indian Reservation, US}} |Arizona, United States | |- ||Nivaclé |14,000 | |Paraguay (Chaco Region), Argentina (Salta Province) | |- |Xavante |13,300 | |Mato Grosso, Brazil |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Keresan |13,073 | |New Mexico, United States | |- |Cuicatec |13,000 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Awa Pit |13,000 |Nariño, Colombia |Nariño, Colombia | |- |Karu (Baníwa) |12,000 |{{ubl|'''Venezuela'''|Guaviare Department, Colombia|'''São Gabriel da Cachoeira''', Amazonas, Brazil}} |Guaviare, Colombia and Amazonas, Brazil | |- |Awakatek |11,607 |{{ubl|Guatemala|Mexico}} |Guatemala, Mexico | |- |Chipewyan |11,325 |'''Northwest Territories''', Canada |Northwest Territories, Canada |<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=41&Geo=01|title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census – Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data|publisher=Government of Canada, Statistics|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=2 August 2017|language=en|access-date=2017-11-22}}</ref> |- |Pame |11,000 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Wounaan |10,800 |Colombia (Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca) |Colombia (Chocó, Cauca, Valle del Cauca) | |- |Moxo |10,000 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Kogi |9,900 |Magdalena, Colombia |Magdalena, Colombia | |- |Zuni |9,620 | |New Mexico, United States |<ref>Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)</ref> |- |Choctaw |9,600 |Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma |Oklahoma and Mississippi, United States |<ref name="Ethnologue 21st ed., 2018">Ethnologue (21st ed., 2018)</ref> |- |Guajajara |9,500 | |Maranhão, Brazil |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Sumo |9,000 |'''North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region''', Nicaragua |North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua | |- |Mopán |9,000–12,000 |{{ubl|Guatemala|Belize}} |Guatemala, Belize |<ref>Hofling, ''Mopan Maya–Spanish–English Dictionary'', 1.</ref> |- |Tepehua |8,900 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Mawé |8,900 | |Brazil (Pará and Amazonas) |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Terêna |8,200 | |Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil |<ref name=":0" /> |- |Sipakapense |8,000 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Ika |8,000 |Colombia (Cesar and Magdalena) |Colombia (Cesar and Magdalena) | |- |Mi'kmaq |7,140 | |Canada and United States | |- |Tukano |7,100 |{{ubl|'''São Gabriel da Cachoeira''', Amazonas, Brazil|'''Mitú''', Vaupés, Colombia}} |Amazonas, Brazil and Vaupés, Colombia |<ref name=":1" /> |- |Minica Huitoto |6,800 |Amazonas, Colombia |Amazonas, Colombia | |- |Hopi |6,780 | |Arizona, United States |<ref name="Ethnologue 18th ed., 2015" /> |- |Enlhet |6,400 | |Presidente Hayes, Paraguay |- |Piapoco |6,400 |Colombia (Guainía, Vichada, Meta) |Colombia (Guainía, Vichada, Meta) | |- |Cubeo |6,300 |Vaupés, Colombia |Vaupés, Colombia | |- |Kayapo |6,200 | |Brazil (Pará and Mato Grosso) |<ref name=":1" /> |- |Yukpa |6,000 |{{ubl|'''Venezuela'''|Cesar, Colombia}} |Venezuela, Colombia | |- |Chiquitano |5,900 |Bolivia |Brazil and Bolivia | |- |Guarayu |5,900 |Bolivia |Bolivia | |- |Macushi |5,800 |{{ubl|Venezuela|Guyana}} |Brazil, Venezuela, Guyana |<ref name=":1" /> |- |Chimané |5,300 |Bolivia |Bolivia | |- |Tewa |5,123 | |New Mexico, United States | |- |Timbira |5,100 | |Brazil (Maranhão, Tocantins, Pará) |<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etnolinguistica.wdfiles.com/local--files/tese%3Anikulin-2020/Nikulin_2020_Proto-Macro-Je.pdf|title=Proto-Macro-Jê: Um Estudo Reconstrutivo}}</ref> |- |Sanumá |5,100 |'''Venezuela''' |Brazil and Venezuela |<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=IBGE – Indigenous languages census|url=https://indigenas.ibge.gov.br/images/pdf/indigenas/folder_indigenas_web.pdf}}</ref> |- |Muscogee |5,072 |'''Muscogee (Creek) Nation''', Oklahoma, US |United States (Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida) |<ref name="Ethnologue 21st ed., 2018" /> |- |Chontal of Oaxaca |5,039 |Mexico |Oaxaca, Mexico |<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/chontal-oaxaca/chontal-oaxaca1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Tektitek |5,000 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Barí |5,000 |Colombia (Cesar and Norte de Santander) |Colombia (Cesar and Norte de Santander) | |- |Blackfoot |4,700 | |Alberta, Canada and Montana, United States |<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Genee |first1=Inge |last2=Junker |first2=Marie-Odile |date=2018 |title=The Blackfoot Language Resources and Digital Dictionary project: Creating integrated web resources for language documentation and revitalization |url=https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24770/genee_junker.pdf |journal=Language Documentation & Conservation |volume=12 |issue= |publisher=University of Hawai{{okina}}i |pages=274–314 |doi= |access-date=24 September 2025 |archive-date=2020-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611223016/https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24770/genee_junker.pdf}} {{open access}}</ref>{{rp|278}} |- |Camsá |4,000 |Putumayo, Colombia |Putumayo, Colombia | |- |Kulina |3,900 | |Brazil (Amazonas) and Peru |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Crow |3,862 | |Montana, United States | |- |Mohawk |3,875 |'''Mohawk Nation of Akwesasne''', Canada |Canada (Ontario and Quebec) and United States (New York) |<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/moh|title=Mohawk|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2018-06-09|language=en}}</ref><ref name="census">{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=112132&PRID=10&PTYPE=109445&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2017&THEME=122&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=|title=Aboriginal Mother Tongue (90), Single and Multiple Mother Tongue Responses (3), Aboriginal Identity (9), Registered or Treaty Indian Status (3) and Age (12) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2016 Census – 25% Sample Data|website=Statistics Canada|date=28 March 2018|language=en|access-date=2018-06-09}}</ref> |- |Kashinawa |3,588 | |Brazil and Peru | |- |Munduruku |3,563 | |Pará and Amazonas, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Tunebo/Uwa |3,550 |Boyacá, Colombia |Boyacá, Colombia | |- |Ayoreo |3,160 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia, Paraguay | |- |Desano |3,160 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Wapishana |3,154 |{{ubl|'''Bonfim''', Roraima, Brazil|Guyana}} |Bonfim, Roraima, Brazil, and Guyana |<ref>{{Cite web|title=Idiomas indígenas Macuxi e Wapixana são oficializados em município de Roraima – Amazônia.org|url=https://amazonia.org.br/2015/05/idiomas-ind%c3%adgenas-macuxi-e-wapixana-s%c3%a3o-oficializados-em-munic%c3%adpio-de-roraima/|access-date=2020-10-26|language=pt-BR|archive-date=2019-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190526031909/https://amazonia.org.br/2015/05/idiomas-ind%C3%ADgenas-macuxi-e-wapixana-s%C3%A3o-oficializados-em-munic%C3%ADpio-de-roraima/}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> |- |Yaminawa |3,129 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Mocoví |3,000 |'''Chaco''', Argentina |Chaco, Argentina | |- |Iñupiaq |3,000 |{{ubl|'''Alaska''', US|'''Northwest Territories''', Canada}} |Alaska, US and Northwest Territories, Canada | |- |Puinave |3,000 |{{ubl|Guainía, Colombia|'''Venezuela'''}} |Guainía, Colombia and Venezuela | |- |Cuiba |2,900 |Colombia (Casanare, Vichada, Arauca Departments) |Colombia (Casanare, Vichada, Arauca) | |- |Tupi-Mondé |2,886 | |Rondônia, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Yuracaré |2,700 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Wanano |2,600 |Vaupés, Colombia |Vaupés, Colombia | |- |Shoshoni |2,512 | |US | |- |Bora |2,400 |Amazonas, Colombia |Amazonas, Colombia | |- |Cofán |2,400 |Colombia (Nariño, Putumayo) |Colombia (Nariño, Putumayo) | |- |Kanamari |2,298 | |Amazonas, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Fox (Mesquakie-Sauk-Kickapoo) |2,288 |{{ubl|Sac and Fox Nation, United States|Mexico}} |US and Mexico | |- |Cherokee |2,320 |{{ubl|Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina, US|Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, US}} |US (Oklahoma and North Carolina) | |- |Waiwai |2,217 |Guyana |Brazil, Guyana | |- |Karajá |2,137 | |Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Huarijio |2,136 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Slavey |2,120 |'''Northwest Territories''', Canada |Northwest Territories, Canada | |- |Chichimeca |2,100 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Koreguaje |2,100 |Caquetá, Colombia |Caquetá, Colombia | |- |Tiriyó |2,100 | |Brazil, Suriname | |- |Xerente |2,051 | |Tocantins, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Uspanteko |2,000 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Iatê |1,871 | |Pernambuco, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Wari' |1,854 | |Rondônia, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Wiwa |1,850 |Cesar, Colombia |Cesar, Colombia | |- |Weenhayek |1,810 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Matlatzinca |1,800 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Tacana |1,800 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Tłįchǫ Yatiì |1,735 |'''Northwest Territories''', Canada |Northwest Territories, Canada | |- |Cavineña |1,700 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Jupda |1,700 |Amazonas, Colombia |Amazonas, Colombia | |- |Zacatepec Mixtec |1,500 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Seneca |1,453 |Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada |Ontario, Canada |<ref name="Ethnologue 18th ed., 2015" /> |- |Movima |1,400 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Tlingit |1,360 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Inuinnaqtun |1,310 |{{ubl|'''Nunavut''', Canada|'''Northwest Territories''', Canada}} |Alaska, United States, and Northwest Territories and Nunavut, Canada | |- |Kiowa |1,274 | |Oklahoma, United States | |- |Ka'apor |1,241 | |Maranhão, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Aleut |1,236 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Gwich'in |1,217 |{{ubl|'''Alaska''', United States|'''Northwest Territories''', Canada}} |Alaska, US and Northwest Territories, Canada | |- |Inuvialuktun |1,150 |{{ubl|'''Nunavut''', Canada|'''Northwest Territories''', Canada}} |Nunavut and Northwest Territories, Canada | |- |Arapaho |1,087 | |US | |- |Macuna |1,032 |Vaupés, Colombia |Vaupés, Colombia | |- |Guayabero |1,000 |Colombia (Meta, Guaviare) |Colombia (Meta, Guaviare) | |- |Chocho |810 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Maricopa/Piipaash |800 |Salt River Pima–Maricopa Indian Community, Arizona, United States |Arizona, United States | |- |Rama |740 |'''North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region''', Nicaragua |North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, Nicaragua | |- |Seri |729 |Mexico |Mexico |<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://site.inali.gob.mx/Micrositios/estadistica_basica/estadisticas2015/pdf/familias/seri/seri1A.pdf|title=Estadística básica de la población hablante de lenguas indígenas nacionales 2015|website=site.inali.gob.mx|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref> |- |Ese Ejja |700 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Nukak |700 |Guaviare, Colombia |Guaviare, Colombia | |- |Pima Bajo |650 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Cayuvava |650 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Chácobo-Pakawara |600 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Lacandon |600 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Oneida |574 |{{ubl|Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada|Oneida Nation of the Thames, Ontario, Canada}} |Ontario, Canada |<ref name="census" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-269.html|access-date=2018-06-09|website=www.unesco.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-1535.html|access-date=2018-06-09|website=www.unesco.org|language=en}}</ref> |- |Cocopah |515 |Mexico |Mexico |<ref>Cocopah at ''Ethnologue'' (19th ed., 2016)</ref> |- |Sirionó |500 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Siona |500 |Putumayo, Colombia |Putumayo, Colombia | |- |Havasupai–Hualapai |445 |Havasupai Indian Reservation, Arizona, United States |Arizona, United States |<ref>Havasupai‑Walapai‑Yavapai at ''Ethnologue'' (18th ed., 2015)</ref> |- |Kumeyaay |427 (525 including Ipai and Tiipai languages) |{{ubl|Mexico|Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, California, US (ballot recognition)*}} |Baja California, Mexico and California, US |<ref name="ReferenceA">INALI (2012) ''México: Lenguas indígenas nacionales''</ref><ref>"Kumiai". ''Ethnologue''. Retrieved 2018-04-14.</ref> |- |Tembé |420 | |Maranhão, Brazil |<ref name=":2" /> |- |Yurok |414 | |California, United States | |- |Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) |400 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Tatuyo |400 |Vaupés, Colombia |Vaupés, Colombia | |- |Andoque |370 |Caquetá, Colombia |Caquetá, Colombia | |- |Guajá |365 | |Maranhão, Brazil | |- |Chimila |350 |Magdalena, Colombia |Magdalena, Colombia | |- |Koyukon |300 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Hitnü |300 |Arauca, Colombia |Arauca, Colombia | |- |Mikasuki |290 | |Florida, United States (Georgia, Alabama, and Oklahoma (historical)) |<ref name="Ethnologue 21st ed., 2018" /> |- |Quechan |290 |Imperial County, California, United States (ballot recognition)* Yuma County, Arizona, United States (ballot recognition)* |California, Arizona |<ref>Quechan at ''Ethnologue'' (19th ed., 2016)</ref> |- |Cabiyari |270 |Colombia (Mirití-Paraná and Amazonas) |Colombia (Mirití-Paraná and Amazonas) | |- |Reyesano |250 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Achagua |250 |Meta, Colombia |Meta, Colombia | |- |Kakwa |250 |Vaupés, Colombia |Vaupés, Colombia | |- |Yavapai |245 | |Arizona, United States |<ref>Yavapai at ''Ethnologue'' (19th ed., 2016)</ref> |- |Siriano |220 |Vaupés, Colombia |Vaupés, Colombia | |- |Mojave |200 | |Arizona, United States |<ref>Mojave language at ''Ethnologue'' (18th ed., 2015)</ref> |- |Paipai |200 |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="ReferenceA" /> |- |Toromono |200 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Ixcatec |190 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Ocaina |190 |Amazonas, Colombia |Amazonas, Colombia | |- |Haida |168 |{{Ubl|'''Alaska''', United States|'''Council of the Haida Nation''', Canada}} |Alaska, United States and British Columbia, Canada | |- |Muinane |150 |Amazonas, Colombia |Amazonas, Colombia | |- |Deg Xinag |127 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Warázu |125 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Araona |110 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Upper Tanana |100 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Itene |90 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Ahtna |80 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Tsimshian |70 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Tanacross |65 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Cayuga |61 |{{ubl|Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada|Cattaraugus Reservation, New York, US}} |Ontario, Canada and New York, US |<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/hlt-fst/lang/Table.cfm?Lang=E&T=41&Geo=01|title=Language Highlight Tables, 2016 Census – Aboriginal mother tongue, Aboriginal language spoken most often at home and Other Aboriginal language(s) spoken regularly at home for the population excluding institutional residents of Canada, provinces and territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data|publisher=Government of Canada|website=www12.statcan.gc.ca|date=2 August 2017|language=en|access-date=2017-11-23}}</ref> |- |Dena'ina |50 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Onondaga |50 |Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada |Ontario, Canada |<ref name="Ethnologue 18th ed., 2015" /> |- |Bauré |40 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Upper Kuskokwim |40 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Tanana |30 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Ayapaneco |24 |Mexico |Mexico |<ref name="auto1" /> |- |Leco |20 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Xincan |16 |Guatemala |Guatemala | |- |Hän |12 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Holikachuk |12 |'''Alaska''', United States |Alaska, United States | |- |Kallawaya |10-20 (L2) |'''Bolivia''' | | |- |Comanche |9 | |United States | |- |Carijona |6 |Colombia (Amazonas, Guaviare) |Colombia (Amazonas, Guaviare) | |- |Kiliwa |4 |Mexico |Mexico | |- |Selk'nam |1 (L2) | |Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Argentina (extinct) |<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Thurman |first1=Judith |title=A loss for words: Can a dying language be saved? |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/30/a-loss-for-words |access-date=15 October 2022 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=23 March 2015 |publisher=Condé Nast}}</ref> |- |Itonama |0 |'''Bolivia''' |Bolivia | |- |Nonuya |0 |Amazonas, Colombia |Colombia, Peru | |- |Yahgan |0 | |Tierra del Fuego, Chile and Argentina (extinct) | |- |Taíno |0 | |Formerly all of the Caribbean | |- |Cochimí |0 |'''Mexico''' (extinct, but retains recognition) | | |- |Puquina |0 |'''Bolivia''' (extinct, but retains recognition) | | |- |Eyak |0 |'''Alaska''', United States (extinct, but retains recognition) | | |- |Tuscarora |0 |{{ubl|Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation, Ontario, Canada|Tuscarora Reservation, New York, US}} |Ontario, Canada, and New York, US |<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/languages-atlas/en/atlasmap/language-id-279.html|title=UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in danger|website=www.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=2018-05-20}}</ref> |}

==Language families and unclassified languages== {{Further|Classification of indigenous languages of the Americas}}

===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.

==={{anchor|Greenland.2C_Canada_.26_USA}}Northern America=== {{Infobox language family | name = Indigenous languages of North America | familycolor = american | iso2 = nai | acceptance = geographic | family = Not a family | region = North America | glotto = none | ethnicity = Indigenous peoples of North America | children = 54 distinct families | map = Langs N.Amer.svg | mapcaption = Pre-contact distribution of North American language families, including northern Mexico }} [[File:Cherokee stop sign.png|thumb|right|upright=0.7|Bilingual stop sign in English and the Cherokee syllabary (transcription: {{lang|chr|ᎠᎴᏫᏍᏗᎭ}}, '{{lang|chr-Latn|alehwisdiha}}'), 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |chapter=North American Indian Languages North of Mexico |date=2024-06-25 |title=The Indigenous Languages of the Americas |pages=28–145 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/book/57386/chapter/464713514 |access-date=2025-04-27 |edition=1 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |language=en |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0002 |isbn=978-0-19-767346-1 |chapter-url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{efn|Campbell counts Keres, Yokuts and Salinan as small families. Here, in Wikipedia, they are considered isolates.}} 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).{{efn|If the Caucasus is considered to be a part of Europe, Northwest Caucasian, Northeast Caucasian and Kartvelian would be included, resulting in five language families within Europe. Other language families, such as the Turkic, Mongolic and Afroasiatic families, have entered Europe in later migrations.}}

Another area of considerable diversity appears to have been the Southeastern Woodlands;{{citation needed|date=December 2012}} 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.{{citation needed|date=June 2017}} 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).<ref>Nater 1984, pg. 5</ref> 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).

{{div col|colwidth=20em}} * 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) {{small|(also known as Shahapwailutan)}} * Pomoan (7) * Salinan ''†'' * Salishan (23) * Shastan (4) ''†'' * Siouan (19) * Siuslaw ''†'' * Solano ''†'' * Takelma ''†'' * Tanoan (7) * Timucua ''†'' * Tonkawa ''†'' * Tsimshianic (2) * Tunica ''†'' * Utian (15) {{small|(also known as Miwok–Costanoan)}} * Uto-Aztecan (33) * Wakashan (7) * Washo * Wintuan (4) * Yana ''†'' * Yokutsan (6) * Yuchi ''†'' * Yuki-Wappo (2) ''†'' * Yuman–Cochimí (12) * Zuni {{div col end}}

===Central America and Mexico=== thumb|Pre-contact distribution of native American languages in New Spain (Mexico, Southwest US, Central America) thumb|The indigenous languages of Mexico that had more than 100,000 speakers as of the year 2000 [[File:Chibcha lang.png|thumb|The Chibchan languages]]

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. {{See also|Mesoamerican languages}}

{{div col|colwidth=20em}} * 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) {{div col end}}

=== South America and the Caribbean === {{Main|Indigenous languages of South America|Indigenous languages of the Caribbean}} {{Infobox language family | name = Indigenous languages of South America | familycolor = american | iso2 = sai | acceptance = geographic | family = Not a family | region = South America | glotto = none | ethnicity = Indigenous peoples of South America | children = Over 100 distinct families | map = SouthAmerican families 03.png | mapcaption = Some of the greater families of South America: dark spots are language isolates or quasi-isolate, grey spots unclassified languages or languages with doubtful classification. Note that Quechua, Aymara, and Mapuche are not displayed. }} [[File:Urarina shaman B Dean.jpg|thumb|A Urarina 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:

<blockquote> 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 area{{spaced ndash}}much smaller than SA, to be sure{{spaced ndash}}is in general much better documented than any part of Indigenous SA of comparable size. </blockquote>

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.

{{see also|List of unclassified languages of South America}} {{div col|colwidth=25em}} * Aguano ''†'' * Aikaná ''(Brazil: Rondônia)'' {{small|(also known as Aikanã, Tubarão)}} * Andaquí {{small|(also known as Andaqui, Andakí)}} ''†'' * Andoque ''(Colombia, Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Andoke)}} * Andoquero ''†'' * Arauan (9) * Arawakan (South America and Caribbean) (64) {{small|(also known as Maipurean)}} * Arutani * Aymaran (3) * Baenan ''(Brazil: Bahia)'' {{small|(also known as Baenán, Baenã)}} ''†'' * Barbacoan (8) * Betoi ''(Colombia)'' {{small|(also known as Betoy, Jirara)}} ''†'' * Bororoan * Botocudoan (3) {{small|(also known as Aimoré)}} * Cahuapanan (2) {{small|(also known as Jebero, Kawapánan)}} * Camsá ''(Colombia)'' {{small|(also known as Sibundoy, Coche)}} * Candoshi {{small|(also known as Maina, Kandoshi)}} * Canichana ''(Bolivia)'' {{small|(also known as Canesi, Kanichana)}} ''†'' * Cariban (29) {{small|(also known as Caribe, Carib)}} * Cayubaba ''(Bolivia)'' ''†'' * Chapacuran (9) {{small|(also known as Chapacura-Wanham, Txapakúran)}} ''†'' * Charruan {{small|(also known as Charrúan)}} ''†'' * Chibchan (Central and South America) (22) * Chimuan (3) ''†'' * Chipaya–Uru {{small|(also known as Uru–Chipaya)}} * Chiquitano * Choco (10) {{small|(also known as Chocoan)}} * Chon (5) {{small|(also known as Patagonian)}} ''†'' * Chono ''†'' * Cofán ''(Colombia, Ecuador)'' * Cueva ''†'' * Culle ''(Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Culli, Linga, Kulyi)}} ''†'' * Cunza ''(Chile, Bolivia, Argentina)'' {{small|(also known as Atacama, Atakama, Atacameño, Lipe, Kunsa)}} ''†'' * Esmeraldeño {{small|(also known as Esmeralda, Takame)}} ''†'' * Fulnió * Gamela ''(Brazil: Maranhão)'' ''†'' * Gorgotoqui ''(Bolivia)'' ''†'' * Guaicuruan (7) {{small|(also known as Guaykuruan, Waikurúan)}} * Guajiboan (4) {{small|(also known as Wahívoan)}} * Guamo ''(Venezuela)'' {{small|(also known as Wamo)}} ''†'' * Guató * Harakmbut (2) {{small|(also known as Tuyoneri)}} * Hibito–Cholon ''†'' * Himarimã * Hodï ''(Venezuela)'' {{small|(also known as Jotí, Hoti, Waruwaru)}} * Huamoé ''(Brazil: Pernambuco)'' ''†'' * Huaorani ''(Ecuador, Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Auca, Huaorani, Wao, Auka, Sabela, Waorani, Waodani)}} * Huarpe {{small|(also known as Warpe)}} ''†'' * Irantxe ''(Brazil: Mato Grosso)'' * Itonama ''(Bolivia)'' {{small|(also known as Saramo, Machoto)}} ''†'' * Jabutian * Je (13) {{small|(also known as Gê, Jêan, Gêan, Ye)}} * Jeikó ''†'' * Jirajaran (3) {{small|(also known as Hiraháran, Jirajarano, Jirajarana)}} ''†'' * Jivaroan (2) {{small|(also known as Hívaro)}} * Jukude {{small|(Maku of Auari)}} ''†'' * Kaimbe ''†'' * Kaliana {{small|(also known as Caliana, Cariana, Sapé, Chirichano)}} ''†'' * Kamakanan ''†'' * Kapixaná ''(Brazil: Rondônia)'' {{small|(also known as Kanoé, Kapishaná)}} * Karajá * Karirí ''(Brazil: Paraíba, Pernambuco, Ceará)'' ''†'' * Katembrí ''†'' * Katukinan (3) {{small|(also known as Catuquinan)}} * Kawésqar ''(Chile)'' {{small|(Kaweskar, Alacaluf, Qawasqar, Halawalip, Aksaná, Hekaine)}} * Kwaza (Koayá) ''(Brazil: Rondônia)'' * Leco {{small|(Lapalapa, Leko)}} ''†'' * Lule-Vilela (2) ''(Argentina)'' ''†'' * Malibú {{small|(also known as Malibu)}} ''†'' * Mapudungun ''(Chile, Argentina)'' {{small|(also known as Araucanian, Mapuche, Huilliche)}} * Mascoyan (5) {{small|(also known as Maskóian, Mascoian)}} * Matacoan (4) {{small|(also known as Mataguayan)}} * Matanawí ''†'' * Maxakalían (3) {{small|(also known as Mashakalían)}} * Mocana ''(Colombia: Tubará)'' ''†'' * Mosetenan {{small|(also known as Mosetén)}} * Movima ''(Bolivia)'' * Munichi ''(Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Muniche)}} ''†'' * Muran (4) * Nadahup (5) * Nambiquaran (5) * Natú ''(Brazil: Pernambuco)'' ''†'' * Ofayé * Old Catío–Nutabe ''(Colombia)'' ''†'' * Omurano ''(Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Mayna, Mumurana, Numurana, Maina, Rimachu, Roamaina, Umurano)}} ''†'' * Otí ''(Brazil: São Paulo)'' ''†'' * Otomakoan (2) ''†'' * Paez (also known as Nasa Yuwe) * Palta ''†'' * Pankararú ''(Brazil: Pernambuco)'' ''†'' * Pano–Tacanan (33) * Panzaleo ''(Ecuador)'' {{small|(also known as Latacunga, Quito, Pansaleo)}} ''†'' * Peba–Yaguan (2) {{small|(also known as Yaguan, Yáwan, Peban)}} * Pijao ''†'' * Pre-Arawakan languages of the Greater Antilles (Guanahatabey, Macorix, Ciguayo) ''†'' ''(Cuba, Hispaniola)'' * Puinave {{small|(also known as Makú)}} * Puquina ''(Bolivia)'' ''†'' * Purian (2) ''†'' * Quechuan (46) * Rikbaktsá * Saliban (2) {{small|(also known as Sálivan)}} * Sechura {{small|(Atalan, Sec)}} ''†'' * Tabancale ''†'' ''(Peru)'' * Tairona ''(Colombia)'' ''†'' * Tallan (Peru) ''†'' * Tarairiú ''(Brazil: Rio Grande do Norte)'' ''†'' * Taruma ''†'' * Taushiro ''(Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Pinchi, Pinche)}} ''†'' * Tequiraca ''(Peru)'' {{small|(also known as Tekiraka, Avishiri)}} ''†'' * Teushen ''†'' ''(Patagonia, Argentina)'' * Ticuna-Yuri ''(Colombia, Peru, Brazil)'' * Timotean (2) ''†'' * Tiniguan (2) {{small|(also known as Tiníwan, Pamiguan)}} ''†'' * Trumai ''(Brazil: Xingu, Mato Grosso)'' * Tucanoan (15) * Tupian (70, including Guarani) * Tuxá ''(Brazil: Bahia, Pernambuco)'' ''†'' * Urarina {{small|(also known as Shimacu, Itukale, Shimaku)}} * Wakona ''†'' * Warao ''(Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela)'' {{small|(also known as Guarao)}} * Witotoan (6) {{small|(also known as Huitotoan, Bora–Witótoan)}} * Xokó ''(Brazil: Alagoas, Pernambuco)'' {{small|(also known as Shokó)}} ''†'' * Xukurú ''(Brazil: Pernambuco, Paraíba)'' ''†'' * Yaghan ''(Chile)'' {{small|(also known as Yámana)}} ''†'' * Yanomaman (6) * Yaruro {{small|(also known as Jaruro)}} * Yuracare ''(Bolivia)'' * Yurumanguí ''(Colombia)'' {{small|(also known as Yurimangui, Yurimangi)}} ''†'' * Zamucoan (2) * Zaparoan (5) {{small|(also known as Záparo)}} {{div col end}}

==Language stock proposals==  {{Main|Classification of indigenous languages of the Americas}}

Hypothetical language-family proposals of American languages are often cited as uncontroversial in popular writing. However, many of these proposals have not been fully demonstrated, or even demonstrated at all. Some proposals are viewed by specialists in a favorable light, believing that genetic relationships are very likely to be established in the future (for example, the Penutian stock). Other proposals are more controversial, with many linguists believing that some genetic relationships of a proposal may be demonstrated but much of it undemonstrated (for example, Hokan–Siouan, which Edward Sapir called his "wastepaper basket stock").<ref>Ruhlen, Merritt. (1991 [1987]). ''A Guide to the World's Languages Volume 1: Classification'', p.216. Edward Arnold. Paperback: {{ISBN|0-340-56186-6}}.</ref> Still other proposals are almost unanimously rejected by specialists (for example, Amerind). Below is a (partial) list of some such proposals:

{{div col|colwidth=25em}} * Algonquian–Wakashan   {{small|''(also known as Almosan)''}} * Almosan–Keresiouan   {{small|''(Almosan and Keresiouan)''}} * Amerind   {{small|''(all languages excepting Eskaleut and Na-Dené)''}} * Algonkian–Gulf   {{small|''(Algic, Beothuk and Gulf)''}} * (macro-)Arawakan * Arutani–Sape {{small|''(Ahuaque–Kalianan)''}} * Aztec–Tanoan   {{small|''(Uto-Aztecan and Tanoan)''}} * Chibchan–Paezan * Chikitano–Boróroan * Chimu–Chipaya * Coahuiltecan   {{small|''(Coahuilteco, Cotoname, Comecrudan, Karankawa and Tonkawa)''}} * Cunza–Kapixanan * Dené–Caucasian * Dené–Yeniseian * Esmeralda–Yaruroan * Ge–Pano–Carib * Guamo–Chapacuran * Gulf   {{small|''(Muskogean, Natchez and Tunica)''}} * Macro-Kulyi–Cholónan * Hokan   {{small|''(Karok, Chimariko, Shastan, Palaihnihan, Yana, Pomoan, Washo, Esselen, Yuman, Salinan, Chumashan, Seri and Tequistlatecan)''}} * Hokan–Siouan   {{small|''(Hokan, Keresiouan, Subtiaba–Tlappanec, Coahuiltecan, Yukian, Tunican, Natchez, Muskogean and Timucua)''}} * Je–Tupi–Carib * Jivaroan–Cahuapanan * Kalianan * Kandoshi–Omurano–Taushiro * (Macro-)Katembri–Taruma * Kaweskar language area * Keresiouan   {{small|''(Macro-Siouan, Keresan and Yuchi)''}} * Lule–Vilelan * Macro-Andean * Macro-Carib * Macro-Chibchan * Macro-Gê   {{small|''(also known as Macro-Jê)''}} * Macro-Jibaro * Macro-Lekoan * Macro-Mayan * Macro-Otomákoan * Macro-Paesan * Macro-Panoan * Macro-Puinavean * Macro-Siouan   {{small|''(Siouan, Iroquoian and Caddoan)''}} * Macro-Tucanoan * Macro-Tupí–Karibe * Macro-Waikurúan * Macro-Warpean   {{small|''(Muran, Matanawi and Huarpe)''}} * Mataco–Guaicuru * Mosan   {{small|''(Salishan, Wakashan and Chimakuan)''}} * Mosetén–Chonan * Mura–Matanawian * Sapir's Na-Dené including Haida   {{small|''(Haida, Tlingit, Eyak and Athabaskan)''}} * Nostratic–Amerind * Paezan {{small|''(Andaqui, Paez and Panzaleo)''}} * Paezan–Barbacoan * Penutian   {{small|''(many languages of California and sometimes languages in Mexico)''}} **California Penutian   {{small|''(Wintuan, Maiduan, Yokutsan and Utian)''}} **Oregon Penutian   {{small|''(Takelma, Coosan, Siuslaw and Alsean)''}} **Mexican Penutian   {{small|''(Mixe–Zoque and Huave)''}} * Puinave–Maku * Quechumaran * Saparo–Yawan   {{small|''(also known as Zaparo–Yaguan)''}} * Sechura–Catacao {{small|''(also known as Sechura–Tallan)''}} * Takelman   {{small|''(Takelma and Kalapuyan)''}} * Tequiraca–Canichana * Ticuna–Yuri (Yuri–Ticunan) * Totozoque   {{small|''(Totonacan and Mixe–Zoque)''}} * Tunican   {{small|''(Tunica, Atakapa and Chitimacha)''}} * Yok–Utian * Yuki–Wappo {{div col end}}

Discussions of past proposals can be found in Campbell (1997) and Campbell & Mithun (1979).

Amerindian linguist Lyle Campbell also assigned different percentage values of probability and confidence for various proposals of macro-families and language relationships, depending on his views of the proposals' strengths.<ref>Campbell, Lyle (1997). ''American Indian languages: the historical linguistics of Native America''. Ch. 8 ''Distant Genetic Relationships'', pp. 260–329. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-509427-1}}.</ref> For example, the Germanic language family would receive probability and confidence percentage values of +100% and 100%, respectively. However, if Turkish and Quechua were compared, the probability value might be −95%, while the confidence value might be 95%.{{clarify | reason = The concept of a negative probability is just weird. Some explanation of what this could possibly mean is required.|date=January 2015}} 0% probability or confidence would mean complete uncertainty.

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" !c=fam| Language family !c=prb| Probability !c=con| Confidence |- |c=fam| '''Algonkian–Gulf''' |c=prb| −50% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Almosan (and beyond)''' |c=prb| −75% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Atakapa–Chitimacha''' |c=prb| −50% |c=con| 60% |- |c=fam| '''Aztec–Tanoan''' |c=prb| 0% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Coahuiltecan''' |c=prb| −85% |c=con| 80% |- |c=fam| '''Eskaleut, Chukotan'''<ref>American-Arctic–Paleosiberian Phylum, Luoravetlan – and beyond</ref> |c=prb| −25% |c=con| 20% |- |c=fam| '''Guaicurian–Hokan''' |c=prb| 0% |c=con| 10% |- |c=fam| '''Gulf''' |c=prb| −25% |c=con| 40% |- |c=fam| '''Hokan–Subtiaba''' |c=prb| −90% |c=con| 75% |- |c=fam| '''Jicaque–Hokan''' |c=prb| −30% |c=con| 25% |- |c=fam| '''Jicaque–Subtiaba''' |c=prb| −60% |c=con| 80% |- |c=fam| '''Jicaque–Tequistlatecan''' |c=prb| +65% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Keresan and Uto-Aztecan''' |c=prb| 0% |c=con| 60% |- |c=fam| '''Keresan and Zuni''' |c=prb| −40% |c=con| 40% |- |c=fam| '''Macro-Mayan'''<ref>Macro-Mayan includes Mayan, Totonacan, Mixe–Zoquean, and sometimes Huave.</ref> |c=prb| +30% |c=con| 25% |- |c=fam| '''Macro-Siouan'''<ref>Siouan–Iroquoian–Caddoan–[Yuchi]</ref> |c=prb| −20% |c=con| 75% |- |c=fam| '''Maya–Chipaya''' |c=prb| −80% |c=con| 95% |- |c=fam| '''Maya–Chipaya–Yunga''' |c=prb| −90% |c=con| 95% |- |c=fam| '''Mexican Penutian''' |c=prb| −40% |c=con| 60% |- |c=fam| '''Misumalpan–Chibchan''' |c=prb| +20% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Mosan''' |c=prb| −60% |c=con| 65% |- |c=fam| '''Na-Dene'''{{Clarify|reason=Also has Tlingit-Eyak-Athabaskan (which is synonymous with Na-Dene) with a higher probability.|date=March 2026}} |c=prb| 0% |c=con| 25% |- |c=fam| '''Natchez–Muskogean''' |c=prb| +40% |c=con| 20% |- |c=fam| '''Nostratic–Amerind''' |c=prb| −90% |c=con| 75% |- |c=fam| '''Otomanguean–Huave''' |c=prb| +25% |c=con| 25% |- |c=fam| '''Purépecha–Quechua''' |c=prb| −90% |c=con| 80% |- |c=fam| '''Quechua as Hokan''' |c=prb| −85% |c=con| 80% |- |c=fam| '''Quechumaran''' |c=prb| +50% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Sahaptian–Klamath–(Molala)''' |c=prb| +75% |c=con| 50% |- |c=fam| '''Sahaptian–Klamath–Tsimshian''' |c=prb| +10% |c=con| 10% |- |c=fam| '''Takelman'''<ref>Alternatively Takelma–Kalapuyan</ref> |c=prb| +80% |c=con| 60% |- |c=fam| '''Tlapanec–Subtiaba as Otomanguean''' |c=prb| +95% |c=con| 90% |- |c=fam| '''Tlingit–Eyak–Athabaskan''' |c=prb| +75% |c=con| 40% |- |c=fam| '''Tunican''' |c=prb| 0% |c=con| 20% |- |c=fam| '''Wakashan and Chimakuan''' |c=prb| 0% |c=con| 25% |- |c=fam| '''Yukian–Gulf''' |c=prb| −85% |c=con| 70% |- |c=fam| '''Yukian–Siouan''' |c=prb| −60% |c=con| 75% |- |c=fam| '''Zuni–Penutian''' |c=prb| −80% |c=con| 50% |}

== Pronouns == {{main|N–M pronouns}}

It has long been observed that a remarkable number of Native American languages have a pronominal pattern with first-person singular forms in ''n'' and second-person singular forms in ''m''. (Compare first-person singular ''m'' and second-person singular ''t'' across much of northern Eurasia, as in English ''me'' and ''thee'', Spanish ''me'' and ''te'', and Hungarian ''-m'' and ''-d''.) This pattern was first noted by Alfredo Trombetti in 1905. It caused Sapir to suggest that ultimately all Native American languages would turn out to be related.{{cn |date=August 2025}} Joseph Greenberg used the pattern as evidence to support his Amerind languages proposal,<ref name="Zamponi" /> a controversial grouping. Johanna Nichols suggests that the pattern had spread through diffusion.<ref>Nichols & Peterson 1996</ref> This notion was rejected by Lyle Campbell, who argued that the frequency of the n/m pattern was not statistically elevated in either area compared to the rest of the world.<ref name="Campbell 1997">Campbell 1997</ref> Zamponi found that Nichols's findings were distorted by her small sample size. Looking instead at data from protolanguages and isolates to represent whole families rather than individual languages, he found that about 30% of 70 languages analyzed followed the n/m pattern in North America, compared to only 5% in South America and 7% of non-American languages. Nevertheless, Zamponi concludes that because most languages of the world base their pronouns on common consonants (like ''m'', ''n'', ''t'', ''k'' and ''s''), this shared pattern cannot be used as the only proof of common ancestry.<ref name="Zamponi">{{cite journal |first=Raoul |last=Zamponi |year=2017 |title=First-person ''n'' and second-person ''m'' in Native America: a fresh look |journal=Italian Journal of Linguistics |volume=29 |issue=2 |url=https://www.italian-journal-linguistics.com/app/uploads/2021/05/6_Zamponi_.pdf |doi=10.26346/1120-2726-113 |pages=189–230|doi-broken-date=12 July 2025 }}</ref>

==Linguistic areas== {{main|Linguistic areas of the Americas}}

==Unattested languages== Several languages are only known by mention in historical documents or from only a few names or words. It cannot be determined that these languages actually existed or that the few recorded words are actually of known or unknown languages. Some may simply be from a historian's errors. Others are of known people with no linguistic record (sometimes due to lost records). A short list is below.

{{div col|colwidth=25em}} * Ais * Akokisa * Aranama * Ausaima<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shaul |first=David Leedom |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1007131161 |title=Ausaima language and culture: perspectives on ancient California |date=2017 |publisher=Lincom GmbH |isbn=978-3-86288-839-9 |series=LINCOM studies in native American linguistics |location=Muenchen |oclc=on1007131161}}</ref> * Avoyel * Bayagoula * Bidai * Cacán (Diaguita–Calchaquí) * Calusa – Mayaimi – Tequesta * Cusabo * Eyeish * Grigra * Guale * Houma * Koroa * Mayaca (possibly related to Ais) * Mobila * Okelousa * Opelousa * Pascagoula * Pensacola – Amacano - Chacato - Chine (Muscogean languages) * Pijao language * Pisabo (possibly the same language as Matsés) * Quinipissa * Taensa * Tiou * Yamacraw * Yamasee * Yazoo {{div col end}}

Loukotka (1968) reports the names of hundreds of South American languages which do not have any linguistic documentation.

==Pidgins and mixed languages== Various miscellaneous languages such as pidgins, mixed languages, trade languages, and sign languages are given below in alphabetical order.

{{div col|colwidth=25em}} # American Indian Pidgin English # Algonquian-Basque pidgin {{small|(also known as Micmac-Basque Pidgin, Souriquois; spoken by the Basques, Micmacs, and Montagnais in eastern Canada)}} # Broken Oghibbeway {{small|(also known as Broken Ojibwa)}} # Broken Slavey # Bungee {{small|(also known as Bungi, Bungie, Bungay, or the Red River Dialect)}} # Callahuaya {{small|(also known as Machaj-Juyai, Kallawaya, Collahuaya, Pohena, Kolyawaya Jargon)}} # Carib Pidgin {{small|(also known as Ndjuka-Amerindian Pidgin, Ndjuka-Trio)}} # Carib Pidgin–Arawak Mixed Language # Catalangu # Chinook Jargon # Delaware Jargon {{small|(also known as Pidgin Delaware)}} # Eskimo Trade Jargon {{small|(also known as Herschel Island Eskimo Pidgin, Ship's Jargon)}} # Greenlandic Pidgin (West Greenlandic Pidgin) # Guajiro-Spanish # Güegüence-Nicarao # Haida Jargon # Inuktitut-English Pidgin (Quebec) # Jargonized Powhatan # Keresan Sign Language # Labrador Eskimo Pidgin {{small|(also known as Labrador Inuit Pidgin)}} # Lingua Franca Apalachee # Lingua Franca Creek # Lingua Geral Amazônica {{small|(also known as Nheengatú, Lingua Boa, Lingua Brasílica, Lingua Geral do Norte)}} # Lingua Geral do Sul {{small|(also known as Lingua Geral Paulista, Tupí Austral)}} # Loucheux Jargon {{small|(also known as Jargon Loucheux)}} # Media Lengua # Mednyj Aleut {{small|(also known as Copper Island Aleut, Medniy Aleut, CIA)}} # Michif {{small|(also known as French Cree, Métis, Metchif, Mitchif, Métchif)}} # Mobilian Jargon {{small|(also known as Mobilian Trade Jargon, Chickasaw-Chocaw Trade Language, Yamá)}} # Montagnais Pidgin Basque {{small|(also known as Pidgin Basque-Montagnais)}} # Nootka Jargon {{small|(spoken during the 18th–19th centuries; later replaced by Chinook Jargon)}} # Ocaneechi {{small|(also known as Occaneechee; spoken in Virginia and the Carolinas in early colonial times)}} # Pidgin Massachusett # Plains Indian Sign Language {{div col end}}

== Writing systems == While most indigenous languages have adopted the Latin script as the written form of their languages, a few languages have their own unique writing systems after encountering the Latin script (often through missionaries) that are still in use. All pre-Columbian indigenous writing systems are no longer used as the primary script, but many are undergoing revitalization. {| class="wikitable sortable" |+Indigenous writing systems of the Americas !Writing system !Type !Language(s) !Region(s) !Dates in use !Status !Inventor |- |Quipu |Undeciphered. Potentially logographic with phonetic elements (syllabary) at least during the colonial period and possibly the pre-Columbian era. |Aymara, Quechua, Puquina, Mapuche and other Andean languages |Andean civilizations (Central Andes) |2600s BCE – 1900s CE |Extinct | |- |Olmec hieroglyphs |rowspan="3"|Undeciphered, likely logosyllabary |Likely Mixe–Zoque languages, but linguistic status remains debatable |Isthmus of Tehuantepec |1500 BCE – 400 BCE |Extinct | |- |Zapotec script |Likely Zapotecan languages |Oaxaca |500 BCE – 900 CE |Extinct | |- |Epi-Olmec script |Likely Zoque languages |Isthmus of Tehuantepec |400 BCE – 500 CE |Extinct | |- |Izapan scripts |Undeciphered, likely logosyllabary |Likely an unknown Mixe–Zoquean language, Highland Mayan languages |Southern Guatemala |300s BCE – 100s CE (Late Preclassic) |Extinct | |- |Maya script |Logographic Syllabary |Mayan languages: *Chʼolan languages, most notably Classic Maya (Ch'olti') *Tzeltalan languages *Yucatec Maya |Maya civilization: Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize |200s BCE – 1700 CE |Extinct | |- |Teotihuacan script |Incipient decipherment, logosyllabary |Potentially Proto-Nahuan-Corachol<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pharao Hansen |first=Magnus |last2=Helmke |first2=Christophe |date=2025 |title=The Language of Teotihuacan Writing |url=https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/publications/the-language-of-teotihuacan-writing/ |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=66 |issue=5 |pages=705–739 |issn=0011-3204}}</ref> |Central Mexico |100 BCE – 750 CE |Extinct | |- |Mixtec script (Mixteca-Puebla script) |Logographic Syllabary |Classical Mixtec |Oaxaca, Puebla, Guerrero |1100s–1600s |Extinct | |- |Aztec script (Mixteca-Puebla script) |Logographic Syllabary |Classical Nahuatl |Central Mexico |1100s–1600s |Extinct | |- |Komqwejwi'kasikl (Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphs) |Logographic Syllabary

Alphabet |Mi'kmaq |Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick |1675–1800s (as codified) |Extinct |Father Le Clercq (as codified, previously pictographic) |- |Cherokee syllabary |Syllabary |Cherokee |Cherokee Nation, US |1820s–present |Active |Sequoyah ᏍᏏᏉᏯ |- |Canadian Aboriginal syllabics |rowspan="3"|Abugida | *Algonquian languages (Cree, Naskapi, and Anishinaabemowin) *Eskaleut languages (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun) *Athabaskan languages (Dane-zaa, Slavey, Chipewyan, and Sekani) |Canada, Midwestern United States |1840s–present |Active |James Evans |- |Blackfoot Syllabics |Blackfoot |Alberta, Canada Montana, United States |1888–present |Endangered |John Tims |- |Carrier syllabics |Dakelh and some other Athabaskan languages |British Columbia, Canada |1885–1920s |Endangered |Adrien-Gabriel Morice |- |Great Lakes Algonquian syllabics |Alphasyllabary (much like Hangul) |Anishinaabemowin, Fox, Ho-Chunk, Potawatomi |Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska, US Coahuila, Mexico |1800s–present |Endangered | |- |Yugtun script |Syllabary |Central Alaskan Yup'ik |Alaska |1900–present |Endangered |Uyaquq |- |Afaka syllabary |Syllabary |Ndyuka |Suriname, French Guiana |1910–present |Endangered |Afáka Atumisi |- |Saanich alphabet |Alphabet |North Straits Salish (Saanich dialect) |Southern Salish Sea islands: British Columbia and Washington state |1978–present |Active |Dave Elliott |- |Osage script |Alphabet |Osage |Osage Nation, United States |2006–present |Active |Herman Mongrain Lookout |}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== {{refbegin|25em}} *{{cite book |last=Bright |first=William |year=1984 |title=American Indian linguistics and literature |location=Berlin |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |isbn=3-11-009846-6}}. *{{cite book |last=Brinton |first=Daniel G |year=1891 |title=The American race |location=New York |publisher=D. C. Hodges}} *{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Lyle |year=1997 |title=American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-509427-1}} *{{cite book |editor-last1=Campbell |editor-first1=Lyle |editor-last2=Mithun |editor-first2=Marianne |year=1979 |title=The languages of native America: Historical and comparative assessment |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press}} {{refend}}

===North America=== {{refbegin|25em}} *{{cite book |last=Boas |first=Franz |year=1911 |title=Handbook of American Indian languages |volume=1 |series=Bureau of American Ethnology |location=Washington |publisher=Government Print Office |url=https://archive.org/details/b24881831_0001/page/n3/mode/2up}} *{{cite book |last=Boas |first=Franz |year=1911 |title=Handbook of American Indian languages |volume=2 |series=Bureau of American Ethnology |location=Washington |publisher=Government Print Office |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofameric03boas}} *{{cite book |last=Boas |first=Franz |year=1911 |title=Handbook of American Indian languages |volume=3 |series=Bureau of American Ethnology |location=Glückstadt |publisher=J.J. Augustin |url=https://archive.org/details/handbookofameric04boas/page/n3/mode/2up}} *{{cite journal |last=Boas |first=Franz |year=1929 |title=Classification of American Indian languages |journal=Language |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=1–7 |doi=10.2307/408990 |jstor=408990}} *{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bright |first=William |year=1973 |title=North American Indian language contact |editor-first=T. A. |editor-last=Sebeok |encyclopedia=Linguistics in North America |volume=10 |pages=713–726 |series=Current trends in linguistics |location=The Hauge |publisher=Mouton}} *{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Goddard |editor-first=Ives |year=1996 |title=Handbook of North American Indians |volume=17 |location=Washington |publisher=Smithsonian Institution |isbn=0-16-048774-9}} * Goddard, Ives. (1999). ''Native languages and language families of North America'' (rev. and enlarged ed. with additions and corrections). [Map]. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press (Smithsonian Institution). (Updated version of the map in Goddard 1996). {{ISBN|0-8032-9271-6}}. *{{cite journal |last=Goddard |first=Ives |year=2005 |title=The indigenous languages of the southeast |journal=Anthropological Linguistics |volume=47 |issue=1 |pages=1–60}} *{{cite journal |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |year=1990 |url=http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.001521 |title=Studies of North American Indian Languages |journal=Annual Review of Anthropology |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=309–330 |doi=10.1146/annurev.an.19.100190.001521 |url-access=subscription}} *{{cite book |last=Mithun |first=Marianne |year=1999 |title=The languages of Native North America |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-23228-7}} * Nater, Hank F. (1984). The Bella Coola Language. Mercury Series; Canadian Ethnology Service (No. 92). Ottawa: National Museums of Canada. * Powell, John W. (1891). Indian linguistic families of America north of Mexico. Seventh annual report, Bureau of American Ethnology (pp. 1–142). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. (Reprinted in P. Holder (Ed.), 1966, ''Introduction to Handbook of American Indian languages by Franz Boas and Indian linguistic families of America, north of Mexico, by J. W. Powell'', Lincoln: University of Nebraska). * Powell, John W. (1915). ''Linguistic families of American Indians north of Mexico by J. W. Powell, revised by members of the staff of the Bureau of American Ethnology''. (Map). Bureau of American Ethnology miscellaneous publication (No. 11). Baltimore: Hoen. * Sebeok, Thomas A. (Ed.). (1973). ''Linguistics in North America'' (parts 1 & 2). Current trends in linguistics (Vol. 10). The Hauge: Mouton. (Reprinted as Sebeok 1976). * Sebeok, Thomas A. (Ed.). (1976). ''Native languages of the Americas''. New York: Plenum. * Sherzer, Joel. (1973). Areal linguistics in North America. In T. A. Sebeok (Ed.), ''Linguistics in North America'' (part 2, pp. 749–795). Current trends in linguistics (Vol. 10). The Hauge: Mouton. (Reprinted in Sebeok 1976). * Sherzer, Joel. (1976). ''An areal-typological study of American Indian languages north of Mexico''. Amsterdam: North-Holland. * Sletcher, Michael, 'North American Indians', in Will Kaufman and Heidi Macpherson, eds., ''Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History'', (2 vols., Oxford, 2005). * Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978–present). ''Handbook of North American Indians'' (Vol. 1–20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1–3, 16, 18–20 not yet published). * Vaas, Rüdiger: 'Die Sprachen der Ureinwohner'. In: Stoll, Günter, Vaas, Rüdiger: ''Spurensuche im Indianerland.'' Hirzel. Stuttgart 2001, chapter 7. * Voegelin, Carl F.; & Voegelin, Florence M. (1965). Classification of American Indian languages. ''Languages of the world'', Native American fasc. 2, sec. 1.6). ''Anthropological Linguistics'', ''7'' (7): 121–150. *{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Zepeda |first1=Ofelia |last2=Hill |first2=Jane H. |year=1991 |title=The condition of Native American Languages in the United States |editor-first1=R. H. |editor-last1=Robins |editor-first2=E. M. |editor-last2=Uhlenbeck |encyclopedia=Endangered languages |pages=135–155 |location=Oxford |publisher=Berg}} {{refend}}

===South America=== {{refbegin|25em}} * Adelaar, Willem F. H.; & Muysken, Pieter C. (2004). ''The languages of the Andes''. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge University Press. * Fabre, Alain. (1998). "Manual de las lenguas indígenas sudamericanas, I-II". München: Lincom Europa. * Kaufman, Terrence. (1990). Language history in South America: What we know and how to know more. In D. L. Payne (Ed.), ''Amazonian linguistics: Studies in lowland South American languages'' (pp. 13–67). Austin: University of Texas Press. {{ISBN|0-292-70414-3}}. * Kaufman, Terrence. (1994). The native languages of South America. In C. Mosley & R. E. Asher (Eds.), ''Atlas of the world's languages'' (pp. 46–76). London: Routledge. * Key, Mary R. (1979). ''The grouping of South American languages''. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. * Loukotka, Čestmír. (1968). ''Classification of South American Indian languages''. Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California. * Mason, J. Alden. (1950). The languages of South America. In J. Steward (Ed.), ''Handbook of South American Indians'' (Vol. 6, pp. 157–317). Smithsonian Institution Bureau of American Ethnology bulletin (No. 143). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. * Migliazza, Ernest C.; & Campbell, Lyle. (1988). ''Panorama general de las lenguas indígenas en América''. Historia general de América (Vol. 10). Caracas: Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia. * Rodrigues, Aryon. (1986). ''Linguas brasileiras: Para o conhecimento das linguas indígenas''. São Paulo: Edições Loyola. * Rowe, John H. (1954). Linguistics classification problems in South America. In M. B. Emeneau (Ed.), ''Papers from the symposium on American Indian linguistics'' (pp. 10–26). University of California publications in linguistics (Vol. 10). Berkeley: University of California Press. * Sapir, Edward. (1929). Central and North American languages. In ''The encyclopædia britannica: A new survey of universal knowledge'' (14 ed.) (Vol. 5, pp. 138–141). London: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company, Ltd. * Voegelin, Carl F.; & Voegelin, Florence M. (1977). ''Classification and index of the world's languages''. Amsterdam: Elsevier. {{ISBN|0-444-00155-7}}. * [http://wiki.debian.org/I18n/NorthAmericanIndigenousLanguages Debian North American Indigenous Languages Project] {{refend}}

==External links== {{commons category|Indigenous languages of the Americas}} * [http://www.etnolinguistica.org/linguas Catálogo de línguas indígenas sul-americanas] * [http://www.ling.fi Diccionario etnolingüístico y guía bibliográfica de los pueblos indígenas sudamericanos] * [http://www.ling.fi/typologydatabase.html Towards a general typology of South American indigenous languages. A bibliographical database] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20180929134719/http://www.athenapub.com/salang1.htm South American Languages] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100908060541/http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_fjrelated&view=fjrelated&id=0&Itemid=115 Indigenous Peoples Languages: Articles, News, Videos] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120216191804/http://www.uni-lueneburg.de/fb3/suk/akpam/ Documentation Center of the Linguistic Minorities of Panama] * [https://www.ailla.utexas.org/ The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America] * [http://www.ilinative.org/ Indigenous Language Institute] * [http://www.ssila.org/ The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas] (SSILA) * [http://soda.sou.edu/tribal.html Southern Oregon Digital Archives First Nations Tribal Collection] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209110219/http://soda.sou.edu/tribal.html |date=2012-02-09 }} (collection of ethnographic, linguistic, & historical material) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060911231020/http://stripe.colorado.edu/~linguist/cesnalps.html Center for the Study of the Native Languages of the Plains and Southwest] * [http://www.albany.edu/anthro/maldp/ Project for the Documentation of the Languages of Mesoamerica] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318125917/http://www.albany.edu/anthro/maldp/ |date=2012-03-18 }} * [http://www.proeibandes.org/ Programa de Formación en Educación Intercultural Bilingüe para los Países Andinos] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150603190524/http://nas.ucdavis.edu/NALC/home.html Native American Language Center] (University of California at Davis) * [http://www.native-languages.org/ Native Languages of the Americas] * [http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/IJAL/home.html ''International Journal of American Linguistics''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071123080902/http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/IJAL/home.html |date=2007-11-23 }} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927052049/http://www.sicc.sk.ca/heritage/sils/ourlanguages/index.html Our Languages] (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211073529/http://paginas.terra.com.br/educacao/GICLI/ListasEnglish.htm Swadesh Lists of Brazilian Native Languages] * [https://www.uaf.edu/anlc/ Alaska Native Language Center]

{{Indigenous peoples of the Americas}} {{North American languages}} {{South American languages}} {{Americas topic|Indigenous languages of}} {{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indigenous Languages Of The Americas}} Category:Indigenous languages of the Americas Languages Category:Proposed language families