Languages are grouped into 135 families consisting of languages that are known or thought to be related. For example, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and other Romance languages all developed from Latin, and form one branch of the Indo-European language family. Languages with no relatives are known as language isolates.
There are 7,164 languages currently spoken, according to Ethnologue. Other sources give different totals. Nearly half of them are considered endangered and have fewer than 10,000 speakers.
Sources: https://www.ethnologue.com/browse/families
https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/how-many-languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_language
This is a list of the languages featured on Omniglot arranged by the language families they belong to, with details of each language family.
Afroasiatic, Algic (Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok), Araucanian, Arawakan, Austroasiatic, Australian, Austronesian, Aymaran, Barbacoan, Bora-Witoto, Boran, Caddoan, Cariban, Cahuapanan, Caucasian, Charruan, Chibchan, Chicham, Chinookan, Chocoan, Chonan, Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Chumashan, Dravidian, Eskimo-Aleut, Great Andamanese, Guaicuruan, Hmong-Mien, Indo-European, Iroquoian, Japonic, Kadu / Kadugli-Krongo, Khoe, Koreanic, Kxʼa, Maiduan, Matacoan, Mayan, Mirndi, Misumalpan, Mixe-Zoque, Mongolic, Muskogean, Na-Dené, Nambikwaran, Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Ongan, Oto-Manguean, Pama-Nyungan, Panoan, Papuan, Peba-Yaguan, Plateau Penutian, Pomoan, Quechuan, Salishan, sepik, Sino-Tibetan, Siouan, South Bougainville, Tai-Kaidai, Tanoan, Timor-Alor-Pantar, Torricelli, Totonacan, Tsimshianic, Tucanoan, Tungusic, Turkic, Tupian, Tuu, Uralic, Uto-Aztecan, Wakashan, Wintuan, Yenisei, Yok-Utian, Yukaghir, Yuman-Cochimí, Zamucoan, Zaparoan, Isolates, Creoles, International Auxiliary Languages
Languages (A-Z) | Languages families | Native names of languages | How to learn languages
The Afroasiatic language family includes around 375 languages which are spoken by over 350 million people in the Middle East, North Africa and parts of the Sahel. These languages are also known as Afro-Asiatic, Afrasian or Hamito-Semitic / Chamito-Semitic.
More information about the Afroasiatic languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afroasiatic_languages
https://oxfordre.com/linguistics/
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/31/
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The Algic languages are spoken mainly in southern Canada and northern parts of the USA, and also in northwern California. Most Aligic languages belong the the Algonquian branch of this family, while Wiyot and Yurok form a separate branch. The family is also known as Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok or Algonquian-Ritwan.
More information about the Algic/Algonquian languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algic_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algonquian_languages
http://www.native-languages.org/famalg.htm
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/649/
Examples of spoken Algonquian languages
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The Araucanian languages are, and were, spoken in central Chile and neighbouring parts of Argentina. Only two of these languages are still spoken: Mapuche and Huilliche, which are also classified as Mapudungu languages.
More information about Araucanian languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucanian_languages
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There are 59 Arawakan languages spoken by about 500,000 people in parts of South and Central America and on Caribbean islands. They are also known as Arahuacan, Maipuran or Maipurean languages.
More information about Arawakan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arawakan_languages
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/arawak-languages
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The 169 Austroasiatic languages are spoken by about 80 million people in Southeast Asia, India, Bangladesh and southern parts of China.
More information about Austroasiatic languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austroasiatic_languages
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/austro-asiatic-languages
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There are 264 Aboriginal languages in Australia belonging to 27 different languages families, although the majority belong to the Pama-Nyungan family. There are also a number of language isolates. They are spoken by a total of around 50,000 people.
More information about Australian Aboriginal languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Aboriginal_languages
http://www.clc.org.au/articles/info/aboriginal-languages/
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The 1,257 Austronesian languages are spoken by about 300 million people in the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and in Madagascar. Some of them are also spoken on the Southeast Asian mainland. They are thought to originate in Taiwan.
More information about the Austronesian languages
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/austronesian-languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austronesian_languages
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Aymaran is a small family of languages spoken in central parts of the Andes mainly in Bolivia, and also in Peru, Chile and Argentina. There are some 2.5 million speakers of these languages, almost all of whom speak Aymara.
More information about the Aymaran languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aymaran_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/324/
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The Barbacoan languages are spoken by about 248,000 people in northern Ecador and southern Columbia.
More information about the Barbacoan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbacoan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/881/
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The Bora-Wototo language family is a proposed grouping of the Boran and Witotoan language families, which are spoken in southwestern Colombia, and in neighbouring parts of Peru and Brazil. There are two Boran languages, and nine or ten Witotoan languages.
More information about the Aymaran languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bora–Witoto_languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boran_languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witotoan_languages
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The Boran languages are spoken in southwestern Colombia and northwestern Brazil. There are only two of them.
More information about the Boran languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boran_languages
The Caddoan languages are spoken on the Great Plains of the USA from North Dakota to Oklahoma. Four Caddoan languages are still spoken, though only by a small number of elderly people.
More information about the Caddoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddoan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2868/
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The Cariban languages are spoken in parts of Venezuela, Colombia, Suriname, Guyana and Brazil. Most only have a hundred speakers, but one, Macushi, is spoken by 30,000 people.
More information about the Cariban languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariban_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3631/
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There are just two Cahuapanan languages, Chayahuita and Jebero, which are spoken about 10,400 people in Peru.
More information about the Cahuapanan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahuapanan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2508/
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The languages of the Caucasus region are grouped into three families, which are not related to one another: Northeast, Northwest and South Caucasian.
The Northeast Caucasian languages are spoken by about 3.8 million people in the Russian republics of Dagestan and Chechnya, the disputed region of Ingushetia, and in northern Azerbaijan and northeastern Georgia.
The Northwest Caucasian languages have about 2.5 million speakers in Adygea, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia, and Abkhazia in the Russian Federation, and also in Turkey.
The South Caucasian or Kartvelian languages have some 5.2 million speakers in Georgia and neighbouring parts of Russia.
More information about the Caucasian languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Caucasus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Caucasian_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Caucasian_languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kartvelian_languages
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The Charruan languages were spoken in parts of Argentina and Uruguay. Only one Charruan language is still spoken in Argentina: Chaná
More information about Chocoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charruan_languages
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The Chinookan languages were spoken in Oregon and Washington states in the USA. The last native speaker died in 2012, however a few people have learnt them. More people have some knowledge of Chinook Jargon, which is based in Chinook.
More information about Chocoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinookan_languages
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The Chocoan languages are spoken in Colombia and Panama. There are two main Choco languages: Emberá and Wounaan with about 60,000 speakers. Emberá is in fact a group of six mutually intelligible dialects that are classified as languages in some sources. This family is also known as Choco, Chocó or Chokó.
More information about Chocoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choco_languages
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The Chonan or Chon languages are spoken in Patagonia in southern Argentina. Two Chonan languages are currently spoken by a handful of people.
More information about Chonan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chonan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3670/
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The Chibchan languages are spoken in parts of Colombia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
More information about Chibchan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chibchan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/884/
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There are four Chicham languages spoken by about 85,630 in northern Peru and eastern Ecuador. They are also known as Jivaroan, Hívaro, Jívaro, Jibaroana or Jibaro languages.
More information about Chicham languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicham_languages
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The Chukotko-Kamchatkan or Chukchi–Kamchatkan languages are spoken in the northeast of Siberia in Russia. There are just five languages in this family: one in the Northern or Kamchatkan branch - Itelmen - and four in the Southern or Chukotko branch.
More information about Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chukotko-Kamchatkan_languages
http://languagesgulper.com/eng/Chukotko.html
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2628/
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/chukotko-kamchatkan-language-family/
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The Chumashan languages were spoken along the southern coast of California in the USA, between San Luis Obispo and Malibu, in the Transverse Ranges valleys, and on San Miguel, Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz islands. The last native speak of a Chumashan language died in 1965, however since then efforts have been made to revive the languages.
More information about Chumashan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumashan_languages
http://www.native-languages.org/chumash.htm
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3675/
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The 85 Dravidian languages are spoken by around 215 million people, mainly in southern India and parts of eastern and central India, and also in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
More information about Dravidian languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dravidian_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1265/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/171083/Dravidian-languages
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There are eleven Eskimo-Aleut languges spoken in Greenland, northern Canada, northern Alaska, and on the Chukchi Peninsula in eastern Siberia by about 77,415 people. They are also known as Eskaleutian, Eskaleutic, or Inuit-Yupik-Unangan.
More information about Eskimo-Aleut languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo%E2%80%93Aleut_languages
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/192563/Eskimo-Aleut-languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/690/
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The Great Andamnese languages were spoken in the Andaman Islands, part of the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. There were ten of these languages, but no native speakers remain. A few people have learnt Aka-Jeru as a second language.
More information
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Andamanese_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1261/
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There are five Guaicuruan languages spoken by about 48,590 people in northern Argentina, western Paraguay, and in Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. They are also known as Guaykuruan, Waikurúan, Guaycuruano, Guaikurú, Guaicurú or Guaycuruana languages.
More information about Guaicuruan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaicuruan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3728/
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The Hmong-Mien, or Miao-Yao, language family consists of 38 languages spoken by about 7-10 million people in southern China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Burma.
More information about Hmong-Mien languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong%E2%80%93Mien_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/813/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/379726/Hmong-Mien-languages
http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Hmong.html
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The 445 or so Indo-European languages have about 3 billion native speakers and many more second and foreign language speakers. They are are spoken in most of Europe, parts of the Middle East, South and Central Asia, the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and many parts of Africa.
More information about Indo-European languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3/
http://www.languagesgulper.com/eng/Indoeuropean.html
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There are seven Iroquoian languages in parts of the eastern and northeastern USA and southeastern Canada by about 386,000 people.
More information about Iroquoian languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquoian_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/671/
http://www.languagegeek.com/rotinonhsonni/iroquoian.html
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The Japonic or Japanese-Ryukyuan languages are spoken in Japan by about 122 million people. There are 12 of them, the largest of which is Japanese.
More information about Japonic languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japonic_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1710/
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The Kadu / Kadugli-Krongo languages are spoken in central Sudan by about 75,000 people. There are about 30 of them.
More information about Kadu languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadu_languages
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The Khoe languages are spoken in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa. There are just eight languages in this family.
More information about Khoe languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoe_languages
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/khoe-languages/
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/4284/
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The Koreanic language family consists of Korean, and Jeju, which is considered a separate language by some, or a dialect of Korean by others. There are other dialects of Korean in North Korea and South Korea, and in Japan, China and Central Asian countries.
More information about Koreanic languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koreanic_languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_dialects
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/4302/
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The Kxʼa or Ju–ǂHoan language family consist of a few languages spoken in Angola, Namibia and Botswana. Before 2010 they were classified as Khoisan languages.
More information about Kxʼa languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kxʼa_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/4285/
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The Maiduan languages were spoken in central California in the USA until the late 20th or early 21st century. Efforts are being made to revive one of them Northwest Maidu / Konkow.
More information about Maiduan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiduan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3851/
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The Matacoan languages are spoken in northern Argentina, western Paraguay and southeastern Boliva. They are classified as three, four or seven separate languages.
More information about Maiduan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matacoan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3729/
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There 31 Mayan languages spoken by over 7 million people mainly in southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras, and also in El Salvador.
More information about Mayan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/268/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/370823/Maya-languages
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The Misumalpan language family consists of three languages spoken by about 192,000 people on the east coast of Nicaragua and neighbouring areas. They are also known as Misumalpa or Misuluan languages.
More information about Misumalpan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misumalpan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1065/
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The Mixe-Zoque languages are spoken by about 153,000 people in southern Mexico, in particular in the states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco and Veracruz. There are 17 languages in this family, although only three are officially recognised by the Mexican government.
More information about Mixe-Zoque languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixe-3Zoque_languages
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenguas_mixezoqueanas
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3774/
https://www.sorosoro.org/es/familia-de-las-lenguas-mixe-zoqueanas/
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The Mongolic language family has eleven members which are spoken by about 6.5 million people, mainly in Mongolia. There are also speakers of Mongolic languages in northern China, in Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia, and in Herat in Afghanistan.
More information about Mongolic languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolic_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/16/
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There are six Muskogean languages spoken by about 17,000 people in parts of Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas and Tennessee in the USA.
More information about Muskogean languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskogean_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2856/
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The Na-Dené grouping of languages includes the Athabaskan languages, Eyak and Tlingit languages, and possibly the Yeniseian languages of Siberia. These languages are spoken by about 180,000 people in Alaska, northwestern Canada, southwestern parts of the USA, and in central Siberia. This grouping is somewhat controversial, and is also known as Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit or Tlina-Den.
More information about Na-Dené languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na-Dené_languages
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There are some six Nambikwaran languages spoken in the states of Mato Grosso and Rondônia in western Brazil. They are traditionally considered dialects of one language, and divided into three groups: Mamindê or Northern Nambikwara, (Southern) Nambikwara, and Sabanê
More information about Nambikwaran languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nambikwaran_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/416/
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With some 1,400 members, the Niger-Congo language family is the largest in the world. They are spoken in most of sub-Saharan Africa by around 600 million people.
More information about Niger-Congo languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niger%E2%80%93Congo_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/47/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/414793/Niger-Congo-
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The Nilo-Saharan language family consists of around 200 languages which are spoken in central and east Africa by about 50 million people, particularly along the River Nile and in central parts of the Sahara.
More information about Nilo-Saharan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilo-Saharan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/39/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/415424/Nilo-Saharan
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The Ongan languages are spoken in the southern Andaman Islands, a part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union territory of India. There are currently two known Ongan languages with about 300 speakers between them. The language spoken on North Sentinel Island, Sentinelese, is possibly related, however as no outsiders can visit the island, it is not certain. Another possible Ongan language, Jangil, was spoken on Rutland Island in the southern Andaman Islands until the late 19th or early 20th century.
More information about Ongan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ongan_languages
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The Oto-Manguean languages are spoken by about 2 million people in central Mexico in the states of Oaxaca, Mexico, Hidalgo, Querétaro. They were formerly spoken in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Costa Rica.
More information about Oto-Manguean languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oto-Manguean_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3810/
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There are about 20 Panoan languages spoken by about 40,000 people in parts of Peru, western Brazil and Bolivia.
More information about Panoan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oto-Manguean_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/330/
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The Papuan languages are a family of languages, or several language families spoken in New Guinea. They language within each group are known to be or thought to be related. However, the groups of languages are probably not related to each other.
More information about Papuan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papuan_languages
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Papuan-languages
https://languagesgulper.com/eng/Papuan.html
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1038/
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The Plateau Penutian languages are Native American languages spoken in northern California, central Oregon, northern Washington and central Idaho. There are four languages in this family, although one of them, Molala, has not been spoken since the 1950s.
More information about Plateau Penutian languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plateau_Penutian_languages
http://www.native-languages.org/fampen.htm
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The Peba-Yaguan languages were spoken in northwestern parts of the Amazon. The only surviving member of this language family is Yagua, which is spoken in northeastern Peru. The other members, Peba and Yameo, are extinct.
More information about Panoan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peba%E2%80%93Yaguan_languages
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The seven Pomoan or Pomo languages are spoken in northern Californian in the USA by about 50 or 60 people.
More information about Pomoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomoan_languages
http://www.native-languages.org/pomo.htm
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3686/
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The Quechuan language family consists of 46 languages spoken by about 8-10 million people mainly in Peru, Ecuador and Boliva, and also in Argentina and Colombia. The Quechuan languages are the most widely-spoken indigenous languages in South America.
More information about Quechuan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quechuan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/80/
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The Salishan languages are spoken in the Canadian province of British Columbia, and in the US states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. There are 23 Salishan languages, and many dialects and sub-dialects, and all are endangered. Few are spoken by more than a thousand people, and most have only a small number of elderly speakers.
More information about the Salishan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salishan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3884/
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The Sepik languages are spoken mainly in East Sepik Province in the northwest of Papua New Guinea. There are 50 of them, and they are divided into Upper Sepik, Middle Sepik, Sepik Hill and Other subdivisions.
More information about the Sepik languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepik_languages/
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There are over 400 Sino-Tibetan languages spoken by over a billion people in East Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia.
More information about Sino-Tibetan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/236/
Examples of Sinitic languages
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There are 14 Siouan languages spoken mainly in central parts of the USA and Canada by about 20,000 people. This language family is also known as Siouan-Catawban.
More information about the Siouan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siouan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/654/
http://www.languagegeek.com/siouan/siouan.html
Sample of spoken Lakota Sioux
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The South Bougainville languages are a group of nine languages spoken on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea.
More information about the South Bougainville languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Bougainville_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2358/
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The Tai-Kaidai languages includes 95 languages spoken in southern China and Southeast Asia by about 85 million people. This language family is also known as Daic, Kadai, Kradai or Kra-Dai.
More information about the Tai-Kaidai languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai-Kadai_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/801/
http://aboutworldlanguages.com/tai-kadai-language-family
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The Tanoan language family consists of just six languages that are spoken mainly in the pueblos of New Mexico, and also in Arizona. The family is also known as Kiowa-Tanoan or Tanoan-Kiowa, and has about 7,250 speakers all together.
More information about the Tanoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanoan_languages
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/kiowa-tanoan-languages/
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Timor-Alor-Pantar languages are spoken in southern Indonesia in Timor, Kisar and the Alor archipelago. There are about 20 languages in this family.
More information about the Timor-Alor-Pantar languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timor-Alor-Pantar_languages
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There are about 50 Torricelli languages which are spoken in the northwest of Papua New Guinea by about 80,000 people in total. They are named after the Torricelli Mountains.
More information about the Torricelli languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torricelli_languages
http://olac.ldc.upenn.edu/language/tei
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Totonacan languages are spoken in the states of Veracruz, Puebla and Hidalgo in central Mexico. There are 12 Totonac languages which are spoken by about 290,000 people.
More information about the Tucanoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totonacan_languages
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Totonacan-languages
https://elalliance.org/languages/meso-america/totonac/
http://www.artsrn.ualberta.ca/totonaco2/?page_id=123
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1903/
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The four Tsimshianic languages are spoken in northwestern British Columbia in Canada and in Southeast Alaska on Annette Island and Ketchikan in the USA. About 2,170 people speak these languages.
More information about Tsimshianic languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsimshianic_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3855/
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Tucanoan languages are spoken by about 30,000 people in parts of southern and central Colombia, northwestern Brazil, northeastern Ecuador and northeastern Peru.
More information about the Tucanoan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucanoan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/373/
http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Tucanoan+Languages
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The Tungusic or Manchu-Tungus language family includes 11 languages spoken by about 75,000 people in Eastern Siberia and northeast China.
More information about Tungusic languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tungusic_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/844/
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The Tupian or Tupi language family includes about 70 languages spoken in Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. The Tupian language with the most speakers if Guaraní, which is mainly spoken in Paraguay and has about 6.5 million speakers. Other members of this language family have far fewer speakers.
More information about the Tupian languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupian_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3913/
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The Turkic language family consists of 41 languages spoken by about 170 million people in parts of eastern Europe, and in West, Central, North and East Asia.
Altay, Äynu, Azerbaijani, Bashkir, Chagatai, Chelkan, Chulym, Chuvash, Crimean Tatar, Dolgan, Fuyu Kyrgyz, Gagauz, Ili Turki, Karachay-Balkar, Karaim, Karakalpak, Karamanli Turkish, Kazakh, Khakas, Khalaj, Khorasani Turkic, Krymchak, Kumandy, Kumyk, Kyrgyz, Lop, Nogai, Old Turkic, Qashqai, Romanian Tatar, Salar, Shor, Siberian Tatar, Soyot, Tatar, Teleut, Tofa, Turkish, Turkmen, Tuvan, Urum, Uyghur, Uzbek, Western Yugur, Yakut (Sakha)
More information about Turkic languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/27/
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The Tuu languages are spoken in South Africa and Botswana. Four of these languages are currently spoken by about 2,500 people.
More information about Tuu languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuu_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/4286/
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There are 38 Uralic languages spoken in Finland, Estonian, Hungary, Russia, Norway and Sweden by about 25 million people. This family is named after the Ural mountains, which is thought to be where they originated. This language family is also known as Finno-Ugric, which generally excludes the Samoyedic languages.
More information about the Uralic languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uralic_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1083/
Hear spoken examples of the Uralic languages
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The Uto-Aztecan languages are spoken mainly in western parts of the USA and in Mexico, and also in El Salvador. There are 61 members of this language family spoken by about 1.9 million people.
More information about the Uto-Aztecan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uto-Aztecan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1066/
Hear spoken and sung samples of Uto-Aztecan languages
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The Wakashan languages are spoken in British Columbia and on Vancouver Island in Canada, and on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state in the USA. There are eight languages in this family with about 1,000 speakers.
More information about the Wakashan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakashan_languages
http://depts.washington.edu/wll2/languages.html
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/687/
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The Wintuan languages is a small family of four languages that were spoken in the Sacramento Valley in northern California in the USA. There are no native speakers of these languages, except perhaps Patwin, however efforts are being made to revitalize them.
More information about the Wintuan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wintuan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/3856/
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There is just one Yenisei language spoken by just about 200 people along the Yenisei river in central Siberia in the Russian Federation. The only other Yeniseian language to survive into the 20th century was Yug(h), which became extinct in 1990.
More information about the Yenisei languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeniseian_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2647/
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The Yuman-Cochimí languages are spoken in Baja California and northern Sonora in Mexico, and in southern California and western Arizonia in the USA. There are 12 Yuman-Cochimí languages currently spoken. All are endangered.
More information about the Yuman-Cochimí languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuman-Cochimí_languages
http://www.sorosoro.org/en/yuman-cochimi-languages/
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Yok-Utian, or Hotian, is a proposed language family consisting of the Yokutsan and Utian languages, which are spoken in parts of California. There are only a small number of languages in this family, and all are endangered.
More information about the Yok-Utian languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yok-Utian_languages
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The Yukaghir languages are spoken in the Far East of the Russian Federation along the Kolyma River. There are just two languages in this family, and they are possibly related to the Uralic languages.
More information about the Yukaghir languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukaghir_languages
http://anothersumma.net/Yukaghir.htm
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/2656/
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The Zamucoan languages are spoken in Paraguay and Boliva. There are only two languages in this family with about 5,000 speakers between them. More Zamucoan languages were spoken in the past, but are now extinct.
More information about the Zamucoan languages
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zamucoan_languages
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The five Zaparoan languages have fewer than 100 speakers and are spoken in parts of Peru and Ecuador.
More information about the Zaparoan languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zaparoan_languages
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/1061/
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Languages isolates are languages with no known connection to any other languages. Some languages are isolates because all their relatives are extinct, others, such as Basque, have been isolates for all their documented existence.
More information about the language isolates
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_isolate
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Creole languages develop from contact languages or pidgins when they are learned by children as native languages. Pidgins emerge in situations where people who do not share a common language need to communicate.
More information about the Creole languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creole_language
https://www.ethnologue.com/subgroup/70/
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International Auxiliary Languages are used as second languages for communication between people from different countries without a common languages. They are also known as IALs, auxlangs or interlanguages, and this name often refers to planned or constructed languages.
More information about the international auxiliary languages
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_auxiliary_language
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More information about language families
http://aboutworldlanguages.com/families
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_family
https://www.ethnologue.com/statistics/family
Languages (A-Z) | Languages families | Native names of languages | How to learn languages
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