Languages of North America - Wikipedia Languages of North America From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search The languages of North America reflect not only that continent's indigenous peoples, but the European colonization as well. The most widely spoken languages in North America (which includes Central America and the Caribbean islands) are English, Spanish, and to a lesser extent French, and, especially in the Caribbean, creole languages lexified by them. Contents 1 Indigenous languages 2 Introduced languages 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Indigenous languages[edit] Main article: Indigenous languages of the Americas North America is home to many language families and some language isolates. In the Arctic north, the Eskimo–Aleut languages are spoken from Alaska to Greenland. This group includes the Aleut language of the Aleutian Islands, the Yupik languages of Alaska and the Russian Far East, and the Inuit languages of Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Greenland.[1] The Na-Dené languages, of which the most numerous and widespread are the Athabaskan languages, include the languages of central and eastern Alaska and northwestern Canada, as well as the Apachean languages of the Southwestern United States.[2] The Algic languages, including the large Algonquian branch, are widespread across Canada and the United States; they include Cree, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Mi'kmaq, and Blackfoot.[3] The Iroquoian languages dominate the area around the Saint Lawrence River and the eastern Great Lakes, but also include Cherokee.[4] The Siouan–Catawban languages, including Crow and Sioux, dominate the Great Plains.[5] Many small language families are spoken in the Pacific Northwest from British Columbia to California.[6] The Uto-Aztecan languages are found throughout the Western United States, northern and central Mexico, and as far south as El Salvador; they include Hopi, O'odham, and Nahuatl (descended from Aztec).[7] Other large families in Mexico include the Mayan languages (also spoken in Belize and Guatemala),[8] the Mixe–Zoque languages,[9] and the Oto-Manguean languages.[10] In the Caribbean, the Arawakan languages were formerly widespread, but are now limited to Garifuna on the Central American mainland; the family is still well represented in South America, however.[11] The Chibchan languages are spoken in Costa Rica and Panama as well as South America.[12] Introduced languages[edit] The most widely spoken language in North America is English, followed in prevalence by Spanish and French. These three languages were brought to North America as a result of colonization of practically the entire continent by settlers from Europe. English is the predominant language of Canada, the United States, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, and is spoken alongside English-based creole languages in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands.[13] It is also the official language of Dominica and Saint Lucia, where the French-based Antillean Creole is also widely spoken. Spanish is the dominant language in Mexico and all of Central America apart from Belize, as well as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico (where English is spoken as well); it is also widely spoken in the United States.[14] French is the dominant language in Quebec and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and is spoken in Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Louisiana. It is spoken alongside French-based creole languages in Saint Lucia, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, and the French side of Saint Martin.[15] French is one of the two official and national languages of Canada. Russian was once widely spoken in Alaska as it was the language of administration, commerce, and the settlers there that often intermarried with the locals (they numbered no more than a thousand), creating a sizable biracial population. The language began to decline after the United States purchased the land from the Russian Empire. Nonetheless, the language, called "Old Russian" by its speakers, is still spoken today in parts of Alaska like Ninilchik and Kodiak by descendants of Russian colonists and Russified Alaskan Natives and is known for its archaic Russian vocabulary and indigenous influences, though the vast majority of speakers are elderly, so that this unique Russian dialect is heavily endangered.[16] In addition, a Russian creole/mixed language known as Medny Aleut language was once spoken in some of the Aleutian Islands. Only a few elderly people still speak it. There has also been sizable recent immigration from Russia in the past few decades, leading to a new generation of Russian-speaking Alaskans. Though no German state played a major role in the European colonization of the Americas, German people did found their own colonies. Pennsylvania German, Hutterite German, Texas German, all of which developed in North America, as well as Plautdietsch are spoken by descendants of these settlers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Other introduced languages include Danish in Greenland,[17] where it is spoken by nearly everyone (mostly as a second language) due to centuries of colonization by Denmark. Danish was once the language of administration of the US Virgin Islands before the purchase by the United States. Dutch in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, where it is spoken alongside the Portuguese Creole language in Papiamento.[18] In modern times North America has immigrant speakers of many languages from around the world. For details see Languages of Canada, Languages of the United States, and Languages of Mexico. Some historic languages include Gholan Language and Quechua. Indians were brought to the Caribbean from South Asia during the mid-19th century to the early 20th century to work on the sugar cane, cocoa bean, rice and coffee bean plantations after slavery was abolished. Caribbean Hindustani is spoken by Indo-Caribbeans in islands in the Caribbean like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica where a majority of the Indians are North Indian. Tamil and Telugu was spoken as the lingua franca of Indians in islands like Martinique and Guadeloupe, where the majority of Indians are Dravidians (South Indians). Recent immigration beginning in the 1960s from India to Canada and the United States has increased the prevalence of Indian languages in those countries, with Punjabi once had the highest ranking in Canada among Indian languages, being the third most-spoken language by the 2011 Canadian census. But now in the most recent 2016 census, Punjabi has been superseded by Mandarin and Cantonese to be the fifth. Today, Hindi, Urdu, and other South Asian languages are also spoken throughout North America. See also[edit] North America portal language portal Anglo-America Canadian French Caribbean Spanish Caribbean Hindustani Central American Spanish French language in the United States German in North America Languages of the Caribbean List of extinct languages of North America List of unclassified languages of North America Mexican Spanish North American English Spanish language in the United States Latin America References[edit] ^ Eskimo–Aleut Language Family, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Athabaskan (Na-Dene) Language Family, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Algonquian Language Family, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Iroquoian Languages, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Parks, Douglas R.; Robert L. Rankin (2001). "The Siouan languages". In R. J. DeMallie (ed.). Handbook of North American Indians: Plains. Vol. 13, Part 1. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. pp. 94–114. ISBN 0-16-050400-7. ^ Mithun, Marianne (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7. ^ Uto-Aztecan Language Family, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Mayan Language Family, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Mixe–Zoque Language Family, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Otomanguean stock, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Tronco de lenguas Arawak o Arahuaco, accessed 2007-08-31. (in Spanish) ^ Macro-Chibchan Archived 2008-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Holm, John A. (1989). Pidgins and Creoles. Cambridge University Press. pp. 444–84. ISBN 0-521-35940-6. ^ Ethnologue report for Spanish, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Ethnologue report for French, accessed 2007-08-31. ^ Golovko, Evgeny. 2010. "143 Years after Russian America: the Russian language without Russians"[permanent dead link]. Paper read at the 2010 Conference on Russian America, Sitka, Alaska, August 20, 2010. ^ Ethnologue report for Greenland, accessed 2007-08-31 ^ Ethnologue report for Aruba, Ethnologue report for Netherlands Antilles Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 2007-08-31. External links[edit] Languages of the Americas at Ethnologue v t e Languages of North America Sovereign states Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Grenada Guatemala Haiti Honduras Jamaica Mexico Nicaragua Panama Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Trinidad and Tobago United States Dependencies and other territories Anguilla Aruba Bermuda Bonaire British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Curaçao Greenland Guadeloupe Martinique Montserrat Puerto Rico Saint Barthélemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saba Sint Eustatius Sint Maarten Turks and Caicos Islands United States Virgin Islands v t e Indigenous language families and isolates of North America Language families and isolates Eskimo–Aleut Haida Yuki–Wappo Chumashan Adai Beothuk Cayuse Kutenai Timucua Waikuri Pericú Na-Dene Tlingit Eyak Athabaskan Algic Wiyot Yurok Algonquian Mosan ? Salishan Wakashan Chimakuan Macro-Siouan ? Siouan Caddoan Iroquoian Yuchi Penutian ? Chinookan Wintuan Maiduan Yok-Utian Yokuts Utian Tsimshianic Plateau ? Klamath Molala Sahaptian Coast Oregon ? Alsean Coosan Siuslaw Takelma–Kalapuyan ? Takelma Kalapuyan Hokan ? Shastan Palaihnihan Pomoan Yuman Tequistlatecan Chimariko Esselen Jicaquean Karuk Salinan Seri Washo Yana Pueblo linguistic area Tanoan Keres Zuni Coahuiltecan linguistic area Aranama Karankawa Maratino Naolan Quinigua Solano Tonkawa Pakawan ? Coahuilteco Cotoname Comecrudo Garza Mamulique Gulf ? Muskogean Natchez Tunica Atakapa Chitimacha Mesoamerican linguistic area Chibchan Jicaquean Lencan Mayan Misumalpan Oto-Manguean Tequistlatecan Totozoquean Totonacan Mixe–Zoque Uto-Aztecan Xincan Cuitlatec Huave Purépecha Alagüilac ? Caribbean linguistic area Arawakan Cariban Pre-Arawakan Guanahatabey Macorix Ciguayo Proposed groupings Amerind Algonquian–Wakashan Aztec–Tanoan Macro-Mayan Macro-Chibchan Tolatecan Waroid Lists Classification Extinct languages Unclassified languages Linguistic areas v t e Countries and languages lists Countries By languages Spoken Countries by spoken languages Official Countries by the number of recognized official languages Arabic Chinese Dutch/Afrikaans English French German Hindustani Italian Malay Persian Portuguese Romanian Russian Spanish Tamil Endonyms Countries and capitals in native languages Exonyms Country names in various languages A–C D–I J–P Q–Z China Germany Iceland India Indonesia Japan Korea Kosovo Myanmar Singapore Sri Lanka Vietnam Languages of the European Union Languages By continent Africa Americas North South Asia East South Europe Oceania By country Official languages by state List of languages without official status Countries by the number of recognized official languages Languages by the number of countries in which they are recognized as an official language Number of languages By population By number of native speakers By number of total speakers Languages in censuses By family Language families List of Afro-Asiatic languages List of Austronesian languages List of Indo-European languages List of Mongolic languages List of Tungusic languages List of Turkic languages List of Uralic languages Language-based geopolitical organizations Arab League (Arabic) Dutch Language Union (Dutch) Francophonie (French) Community of Portuguese Language Countries (Portuguese) Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa (Portuguese) Latin Union (Romance) Hispanidad (Spanish) Turkic Council (Turkic) International Organization of Turkic Culture (Turkic) Three Linguistic Spaces (French, Portuguese and Spanish) See also Lists of languages Category:Languages Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Languages_of_North_America&oldid=988073803" Categories: Languages of North America Hidden categories: Articles with Spanish-language sources (es) Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from December 2017 Articles with permanently dead external links Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages Asturianu বাংলা Español Français Malagasy Norsk bokmål Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 10 November 2020, at 22:06 (UTC). 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