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Human languages are grouped in families, which usually indicate close interrelation and/or descendence from a common ancestor.  This type is used to document families and related language groups.  Broader/narrower groups of languages can be described by using the "member of"/"subfamilies"... more
   
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x Indo-European languages Indo-European languages   Germanic languages Chhattisgarhi Language
The Indo-European languages are a family (or phylum) of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, Iran, and northern India, and historically also predominant in Anatolia and Central Asia. Attested...
Celtic languages Armenian Language
Indo-Iranian languages Nepali Language
Italic languages Bhili Language
Balto-Slavic languages Romani, Vlax Language
more
x Gallo-Italic languages        
Northern Italian (traditional name in Romance linguistics), Gallo-Italian or Padanian (recent name) or Cisalpine (rare name) is a linguistic set with different definitions. It can be viewed: Traditionally spoken in Northern Italy, Southern...
x Italic languages Iron Age Italy   Romance languages Latin Language
The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family. It includes the Romance languages derived from Latin (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Romanian, etc.), and a number of extinct languages of the Italian Peninsula, including...
Oscan
x Romance languages Map-Romance Language World   Langues d'oïl Occitan language
The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, Latin languages, Neolatin languages or Neo-Latin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all the languages that descend from Latin, the language of...
Galician Language
Romansch Language
Franco-Provençal Language
Sardinian language
more
x Indo-Iranian languages Map of Indo-Iranian Languages      
The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It consists of three language groups: the Indo-Aryan, Iranian and Nuristani. The term Aryan languages is occasionally still used to...
x Celtic languages       Breton
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by...
Irish
Welsh Language
x Germanic languages Germanic languages   North Germanic languages Faroese
The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE) language family. The common ancestor of all the languages in this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC...
East Germanic languages Danish Language
West Germanic languages Yiddish language
Swedish Language
Norwegian language
more
x Baltic languages Distribution of the Baltic languages in the Baltic (simplified).      
The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. The language group is sometimes divided into two sub...
x Algonquian languages Algonquian languages      
The Algonquian languages (also Algonkian; pronounced /ælˈɡɒŋkwiən/ or /ælˈɡɒŋkiən/) are a subfamily of Native American languages that includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is...
x Slavic languages Countries inhabited by West Slavs (in light green) Eastern Europe East Slavic languages  
The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages), a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe,...
South Slavic languages
West Slavic languages
x Austronesian languages Current distribution of Human Language Families     Amis Language
The Austronesian languages are a language family widely dispersed throughout the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, with a few members spoken on continental Asia. It is on par with Bantu, Indo-European, Afro-Asiatic and Uralic as one of the...
Buhid Language
Kambera Language
Makian, East Language
Ghari Language
more
x Niger-Congo languages Niger-Congo     Shona Language
The Niger-Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in...
Myene Language
Nyanja Language
Tumbuka Language
Yoruba Language
more
x Sino-Tibetan languages Sino-Tibetan languages in red.     Bodo Language
The Sino-Tibetan languages form a language family composed of, at least, the Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages, including some 250 languages of East Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of South Asia. They are second only to the Indo-European...
Chinese, Hakka Language
Lisu Language
Naga, Lotha Language
Kok Borok Language
more
x West Papuan languages       Tobelo Language
The West Papuan languages are a hypothetical language family of about two dozen Papuan languages of the Bird's Head Peninsula (Vogelkop or Doberai Peninsula) of far western New Guinea and the island of Halmahera, spoken by about 220 000 people in...
Karon Dori Language
Laba Language
Ternate Language
Tugutil Language
more
x Trans-New Guinea languages     Paniai Lakes languages Sop Language
Trans–New Guinea (TNG) is an extensive family of Papuan languages spoken in New Guinea and neighboring islands, perhaps the third largest language family in the world. (See List of language families#By variety.) The core of the family is considered...
Alor-Pantar languages Meriam Language
Ok languages Golin Language
Mombum languages Aghu Language
Central and South New Guinea languages Wambon Language
more more
x Afro-Asiatic languages Afro-Asiatic languages   Omotic languages Tashelhiyt Language
The Afroasiatic languages constitute a language family with about 375 living languages (SIL estimate) and more than 350 million speakers spread throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Southwest Asia, as well as parts of the Sahel, West...
Semitic languages Bedawi Language
Tera Language
Harari Language
Geez Language
more
x Uto-Aztecan languages Pre-contact distribution of Northern Uto-Aztecan languages (note: this map does not show the distribution in Mexico)   Numic languages Cupeño Language
Uto-Aztecan (also Uto-Aztekan; pronounced /ˈjuːtoʊ.æzˈtɛkən/) is a Native American language family. It is one of the largest (both in geographical extension and number of languages) and most well-established linguistic families of the Americas. Uto...
Tarahumara language Shoshoni Language
Paiute, Northern Language
Mono Language
Mayo Language
more
x Mixe-Zoque languages Mixezoquemap     Zoque, Copainalá Language
The Mixe-Zoque languages constitute a language family whose living members are spoken in and around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico. The Mexican government recognizes three distinct Mixe-Zoquean languages as official: Mixe or ayook with 188,000...
Mixe, Isthmus Language
Popoluca, Texistepec Language
Zoque, Francisco León Language
Zoque, Rayón Language
more
x Austro-Asiatic languages Map showing present distribution of Austro-Asiatic languages throughout Southeast Asia     Santali Language
The Austro-Asiatic languages are a large language family of Southeast Asia, and also scattered throughout India and Bangladesh. The name comes from the Latin word for "south" and the Greek name of Asia, hence "South Asia." Among these languages,...
Sora Language
Mon Language
Semai Language
Vietnamese Language
more
x Nilo-Saharan languages Map showing the distribution of Nilo-Saharan languages     Dinka, Southwestern Language
The Nilo-Saharan languages are African languages spoken mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers (hence the term "Nilo-"), including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of Nile meet. The languages extend through 17...
Tedaga Language
Assangori Language
Bari Language
Berta Language
more
x Sign language Interp     French Sign Language
A sign language (also signed language) is a language which, instead of acoustically conveyed sound patterns, uses visually transmitted sign patterns (manual communication, body language and lip patterns) to convey meaning—simultaneously combining...
Providencia Sign Language
Russian Sign Language
Adamorobe Sign Language
Taiwan Sign Language
more
x Zaparoan languages Zaparo     Cahuarano Language
Zaparoan (also Sáparoan, Záparo, Zaparoano, Zaparoana) is an endangered language family of Peru and Ecuador with fewer than 100 speakers. Zaparoan speakers seem to have been very numerous before the arrival of the Europeans but their groups have...
Arabela Language
Iquito Language
Záparo Language
Andoa Language
more
x Tai-Kadai languages Verspreiding en onderverdeling van de Tai-Kadai-talen volgens de classificatie van David B. Solnit     Shan Language
The Kradai or Kra-Dai languages, also known as Daic, Kadai, or Tai-Kadai, are a language family of highly tonal languages found in southern China and Southeast Asia. The diversity of the Kradai languages in southeastern China, especially on Hainan,...
Tai Nüa Language
Lao Language
Thai Language
Phuan Language
more
x Oto-Manguean languages Oto-Manguean languages     Zapotec, Isthmus Language
Oto-Manguean languages (also Otomanguean, pronounced /ˌoʊtoʊˈmæŋɡiən, ˌoʊtoʊˈmɑːŋɡiən/) are a large family comprising several families of Native American languages. All of the Oto-Manguean languages that are now spoken are indigenous to Mexico, but...
Mixtec, Western Juxtlahuaca Language
Chiapanec Language
Cuicatec, Teutila Language
Chinantec, Lealao Language
more
x East Papuan languages       Naasioi Language
The term East Papuan languages refers to a defunct proposal for a family of Papuan languages spoken on the islands to the east of New Guinea, including New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, the Solomon Islands, and the Santa Cruz Islands. There is...
Kazukuru Language
Lavukaleve Language
Pele-Ata Language
Anem Language
more
x Na-Dené languages /wikipedia/images/commons_id/147052     Gwich'in Language
Na-Dene (also Nadene, Na-Déné, etc., pronounced /ˌnɑːdɨˈneɪ/, and Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit) is a Native American language family which includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. An inclusion of Haida is controversial. In...
Tanaina Language
Apache, Western Language
Tlingit Language
Tanana, Lower Language
more
x Sepik-Ramu languages       Kwanga language
The Sepik-Ramu languages are a hypothetical language family linking the Sepik, Ramu, Nor-Pondo (Lower Sepik), Leonhard Schultze (Walio-Papi), and Yuat families, together with the Taiap language isolate, and proposed by Donald Laycock in 1973. All...
Taiap Language
Ak Language
Kaian Language
Romkun Language
more
x Tupian languages Tupi languages     Chiripá Language
The Tupi or Tupian language family comprises some 70 languages spoken in South America, of which the best known are Tupi proper and Guarani. When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil, they found that wherever they went along the vast coast of this newly...
Tapieté Language
Cocama-Cocamilla Language
Kaiwá Language
Guaraní, Mbyá Language
more
x Dravidian languages Dravidische Sprachen Indian subcontinent   Kurux Language
The Dravidian family of languages includes approximately 73 languages, spoken by around 200 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh,...
Badaga Language
Tulu Language
Malayalam Language
Maria Language
more
x Penutian languages Penutian languages     Nez Perce Language
Penutian is a proposed grouping of language families that includes many Native American languages of western North America, predominantly spoken at one time in Washington, Oregon, and California. The existence of a Penutian stock or phylum has been...
Gitxsan Language
Maidu, Northwest Language
Maidu, Northeast Language
Tsimshian Language
more
x Tucanoan languages       Tetete Language
Tucanoan (also Tukanoan, Tukánoan) is a language family of Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru. Tucanoan consists of 15 languages: I. Western Tucanoan II. Central Tucanoan III. Eastern Tucanoan Macaguaje, Yupuá-Durina, and Cueretú are now extinct....
Tucano Language
Yurutí Language
Siona Language
Tama Language
more
x Creole language       Jamaican Creole English Language
A creole language is a language that originated from a mixture of various languages. The creole language consists of words inherited from the parent languages, except for phonetic and semantic shifts. On the other hand, the grammar and words often...
Sãotomense Language
Chavacano Language
Tsotsitaal Language
Papiamentu Language
more
x Quechuan languages       Quechua, South Bolivian Language
The neologism 'Quechuan' is synonymous with Quechua, the name of the most widely spoken Native American language family of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, with a total of probably some 6 to 8 million speakers (estimates vary widely). Quechua...
Quechua, Chilean Language
Quichua, Santiago del Estero Language
Quechua, Sihuas Ancash Language
Quechua, Napo Lowland Language
more
x Panoan languages Pano-Takanan languages     Amahuaca Language
Panoan (also Pánoan, Panoano, Panoana, Páno) is a family of languages spoken in Peru, western Brazil, and Bolivia. It is a sub-family of the larger Pano-Tacanan family. Panoan consists of 27 languages: Kulino, Nocamán, Pánobo, Huariapano, Remo,...
Cashibo-Cacataibo Language
Cashinahua Language
Capanahua Language
Remo Language
more
x Pidgin       Motu, Hiri Language
A pidgin (pronounced /ˈpɪdʒɪn/) language is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common, in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different...
Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin Language
Barikanchi Language
Lingua Franca Language
Liberian English Language
more
x Arawakan languages       Garifuna Language
The Arawakan languages (also Arahuacan, Arawakanas, Arahuacano, Maipurean, Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúrean) are an indigenous language family of South America and the Caribbean. Originally the name Arawak was used exclusively for a powerful tribe in...
Saraveca Language
Terêna Language
Ashéninka Pajonal Language
Ajyíninka Apurucayali Language
more
x East Geelvink Bay languages       Tunggare Language
The East Geelvink Bay or East Cenderawasih languages are a language family of a dozen Papuan languages along the eastern coast of Geelvink Bay in Indonesian Papua, which is also known as Sarera Bay or Cenderawasih. The East Geelvink Bay languages...
Woria Language
Fayu Language
Kaiy Language
Awera Language
more
x North Caucasian languages       Dargwa Language
North Caucasian languages (sometimes called simply Caucasic as opposed to Kartvelian, and to avoid confusion with the concept of "Caucasian race") is a blanket term for two language phyla spoken chiefly in the north Caucasus and Turkey: the...
Lezgi Language
Ubykh Language
Lak Language
Tsakhur Language
more
x Torricelli languages       Au Language
The Torricelli languages are a language family of about fifty languages of the northern Papua New Guinea coast, spoken by only about 80,000 people in all. Named after Torricelli Mountains. The most populous and best known Torricelli languages are...
Urat Language
Yil Language
Torricelli Language
Monumbo Language
more
x Language isolate       Burushaski Language
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other...
Abinomn Language
Yámana Language
Puelche Language
Gilyak Language
more
x Chimakuan languages Pre-contact distribution of Chimakuan languages     Quileute language
The Chimakuan language family consists of two languages spoken in northwestern Washington, USA on the Olympic Peninsula. It is part of the Mosan sprachbund, and one of its languages is famous for having no nasal consonants. The two languages were...
Chemakum
x Cariban languages Cariban languages     Hixkaryána Language
The Cariban languages are an indigenous language family of South America. Carib languages are widespread across northern South America, from the mouth of the Amazon River to the Colombian Andes and from Maracaibo (Venezuela) to Central Brazil....
Macushi Language
Akawaio Language
Eñepa Language
Trió Language
more
x Hmong-Mien languages Hmong-mien languages     Iu Mien Language
The Hmong-Mien or Miao-Yao languages are a small language family of southern China and Southeast Asia. They are spoken in mountainous areas of southern China, including Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Hubei provinces, where its...
She Language
Hmong, Chonganjiang Language
Hmong, Northern Qiandong Language
Hmong, Northern Mashan Language
more
x Altaic languages Altaic languages     Khorasani Turkish Language
Altaic is a language family that is generally held by its proponents to include the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic, Korean, and Japonic language families (Georg et al. 1999:73–74). These languages are spoken in a wide arc stretching from northeast Asia...
Khakas Language
Turkmen Language
Kazakh Language
Tuvin Language
more
x Algic languages Pre-contact distribution of Algic languages (in red). Note distribution in northwestern California     Atikamekw Language
The Algic (also Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok or Algonquian-Ritwan) languages are an indigenous language family of North America. They are all thought to descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto language reconstructed using Proto-Algonquian and the...
Algonquin Language
Cree, Swampy Language
Wampanoag Language
Micmac Language
more
x Hokan languages       Salinan Language
The Hokan language family is a hypothetical grouping of a dozen small language families spoken in California and Mexico. In nearly a century since Edward Sapir first proposed the "Hokan" hypothesis, little additional evidence has been found that...
Shasta Language
Achumawi Language
Maricopa Language
Karok Language
more
x South Caucasian languages       Georgian Language
The South Caucasian languages (also known as Ibero-Caucasian or Kartvelian) are spoken primarily in Georgia, with smaller groups of speakers in Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia and Israel. There are approximately 5.2 million speakers of this...
Laz Language
Judeo-Georgian Language
Mingrelian Language
Megrelian language
more
x Sko languages       Warapu Language
The Sko or Skou languages are a small language family spoken by about 7000 people, mainly along the coast of Sandaun Province in Papua New Guinea, with a few being inland from this area and at least one just across the border in the Indonesian...
Krisa Language
Wutung Language
Vanimo Language
Skou Language
more
x Chibchan languages       Cofán Language
The Chibchan languages (also Chíbchan, Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa...
Chibcha Language
Pech Language
Bribri Language
Kuna, San Blas Language
more
x Macro-Gê languages       Maxakalí Language
Macro-Jê (also spelled Macro-Gê) is a medium-sized language stock in South America centered around the Jê language family, first proposed in 1926 and undergoing moderate modifications since then. Kaufman (1990) finds the proposal "probable". Eduardo...
Xavánte Language
Canela Language
Otuke Language
Kaingáng, São Paulo Language
more
x Mayan languages Location of Mayan speaking populations globally. See below for a detailed map of the separate languages     Itza' Language
The Mayan languages (alternatively: Maya languages) form a language family spoken in Mesoamerica and northern Central America. Mayan languages are spoken by at least 6 million indigenous Maya, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras. In...
Chontal, Tabasco Language
Kaqchikel, Central Language
Awakateko Language
Akateko Language
more
x Siouan languages Pre-contact distribution of the Siouan languages     Ho-Chunk Language
The Siouan (a.k.a. Siouan proper, Western Siouan) languages are a Native American language family of North America, and the second largest indigenous language family in North America, after Algonquian. The Siouan family is related to the Catawban...
Lakota Language
Mandan Language
Assiniboine Language
Crow Language
more
x Uralic languages Distribuzión d'as luengas uralicas     Komi-Permyak Language
The Uralic languages (pronounced /jʊˈrælɨk/) constitute a language family of 39 languages spoken by approximately 25 million people. The healthiest Uralic languages in terms of the number of native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, Estonian, Mari and...
Khanty Language
Mansi Language
Saami, North Language
Saami, Skolt Language
more
x Pano-Tacanan languages Pano-Takanan languages     Cavineña Language
Pano-Tacanan (also Pano-Takana, Pano-Takánan, Pano-Tacana, Páno-Takána) is a family of languages spoken in Peru, western Brazil, Bolivia and northern Paraguay. There are two branches, Panoan and Tacanan (Adelaar & Muysken 2004; Kaufman 1990, 1994),...
Araona Language
Tacana Language
Ese Ejja Language
Reyesano Language
more
x Cant       Pitcairn-Norfolk Language
Cant is an example of an argot or cryptolect, a characteristic or secret language used only by members of a group, often used to conceal the meaning from those outside the group. An example of a cant language which has been introduced widely into...
x Choco languages       Emberá-Baudó Language
The Choco languages (also Chocoan, Chocó, Chokó) are a small family of Native American languages spread across Colombia and Panama. Choco consists of perhaps eleven languages, three living Anserma, Arma, Cenu, Cauca, Sinúfana, Runa, and Kimbaya are...
Epena Language
Runa Language
Emberá-Tadó Language
Emberá-Chamí Language
more
x Khoisan languages Las lenguas songhay forman parte de la familia nilosahariana (en amarillo).     !Xóõ Language
The Khoisan languages (also known as the Khoesan or Khoesaan languages) are the click languages of Africa, which do not belong to other language families. They include languages indigenous to southern and eastern Africa, though some, such as the...
N|u Language
Naro Language
!O!ung Language
Kung-Ekoka Language
more
x Salishan languages Pre-contact distribution of Salishan languages (in red)     Okanagan Language
The Salishan (also Salish) languages are a group of languages of the Pacific Northwest (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana). They are characterised by agglutinativity and...
Tillamook Language
Halkomelem Language
Cowlitz Language
Comox Language
more
x Iroquoian languages Pre-contact distribution of the Iroquoian languages     Cherokee Language
The Iroquoian languages are a First Nation and Native American language family. The language family, amongst others, includes Mohawk, Huron-Wyandot and Cherokee. Every language in this family has at least one nasal vowel phoneme. Cherokee's is a...
Oneida Language
Wyandot Language
Tuscarora Language
Cayuga Language
more
x Chumashan languages Pre-contact distribution of Chumashan languages     Obispeño Language
Chumashan is a family of languages that were spoken on the southern California coast (from San Luis Obispo to Malibu), in neighboring Coast and Transverse range valleys bordering the San Joaquin Valley, and on three adjacent Channel islands (San...
Chumash Language
Ventureño Language
Cruzeño Language
Barbareño Language
more
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