An unclassified language is a language whose genetic affiliation to other languages has not been established. Languages can be unclassified for a variety of reasons, mostly due to a lack of reliable data but sometimes due to the confounding influence of

language contact Language contact occurs when speakers of two or more languages or varieties interact with and influence each other. The study of language contact is called contact linguistics. Language contact can occur at language borders, between adstratum ...

, if different layers of its vocabulary or morphology point in different directions and it is not clear which represents the ancestral form of the language. Some poorly known

extinct language An extinct language or dead language is a language with no living native speakers. A dormant language is a dead language that still serves as a symbol of ethnic identity to an ethnic group; these languages are often undergoing a process of r ...

s, such as Gutian and Cacán, are simply unclassifiable, and it is unlikely the situation will ever change. A supposedly unclassified language may turn out not to be a language at all, or even a distinct dialect, but merely a family, tribal or village name, or an alternative name for a people or language that is classified. If a language's genetic relationship has not been established after significant documentation of the language and comparison with other languages and families, as in the case of

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

in Europe, it is considered a

language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...

– that is, it is classified as a language family of its own. An 'unclassified' language therefore is one which may still turn out to belong to an established family once better data is available or more thorough comparative research is done. Extinct unclassified languages for which little evidence has been preserved are likely to remain in limbo indefinitely, unless lost documents or a surviving speaking population are discovered.

Classification challenges

An example of a language that has caused multiple problems for classification is

Mimi of Decorse Mimi of Decorse, also known as Mimi of Gaudefroy-Demombynes and Mimi-D, is a language of Chad that is attested only in a word list labelled " Mimi" that was collected by G. J. Decorse and published by Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes. Joseph Greenbe ...

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

. This language is only attested in a single word list collected ca. 1900. At first it was thought to be a

Maban language The Maban languages are a small family of languages which have been included in the hypothetical Nilo-Saharan language family. Maban languages are spoken in eastern Chad, the Central African Republic and western Sudan (Darfur). Languages The Ma ...

, because of similarities to Maba, the first Maban language to be described. However, as other languages of the Maban family were described, it became clear that the similarities were solely with Maba itself, and the relationship was too distant for Mimi to be related specifically to Maba and not equally to the other Maban languages. The obvious similarities are therefore now thought to be due to borrowings from Maba, which is the socially dominant language in the area. When such loans are discounted, there is much less data to classify Mimi with, and what does remain is not particularly similar to any other language or language family. Mimi might therefore be a language isolate, or perhaps a member of some other family related to Maban in the proposed but as yet undemonstrated

Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of around 210 African languages spoken by somewhere around 70 million speakers, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributari ...

phylum. It would be easier to address the problem with better data, but no-one has been able to find speakers of the language again. It also happens that a language may be unclassified within an established family. That is, it may be obvious that it is, say, a

Malayo-Polynesian language The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...

, but not clear in which branch of Malayo-Polynesian it belongs. When a family consists of many similar languages with great degree of confusing contact, a large number of languages may be effectively unclassified in this manner. Families where this is a substantial problem include Malayo-Polynesian,

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

, Pama–Nyungan, and

Arawakan Arawakan (''Arahuacan, Maipuran Arawakan, "mainstream" Arawakan, Arawakan proper''), also known as Maipurean (also ''Maipuran, Maipureano, Maipúre''), is a language family that developed among ancient Indigenous peoples in South America. Branch ...

Examples by reason

There are hundreds of unclassified languages, most of them extinct, although there are some, albeit relatively few, that are still spoken; in the following list, the extinct languages are labeled with a dagger ().

Absence of data

Some languages are unclassifiable, not just unclassified, because while there may be record of a language existing there may not be enough materials in it to analyze and classify, especially with now-extinct languages. (See, for example,

list of unclassified languages of South America The following purported languages of South America are listed as unclassified in Campbell (2012), Loukotka (1968), ''Ethnologue'', and ''Glottolog''. Nearly all are extinct. It is likely that many of them were not actually distinct languages, onl ...

.) Unclassifiable languages with an absence of data include: *

Sentinelese The Sentinelese, also known as the Sentineli and the North Sentinel Islanders, are Indigenous people who inhabit North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in the northeastern Indian Ocean. Designated a particularly vulnerable tribal group a ...

(Andaman Islands, specifically

North Sentinel Island North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands, an Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal which also includes South Sentinel Island. The island is a protected area of India. It is home to the Sentinelese, an indigenous tribe in volunta ...

) – a living presumed language of an uncontacted people; assumed to be Ongan * Weyto (Ethiopia) – speculated to have been

Agaw The Agaw or Agew (, modern ''Agew'') are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic bran ...

* Nam (Chinese–Tibetan border) – data remains undeciphered; probably

Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan (also referred to as Trans-Himalayan) is a family of more than 400 languages, second only to Indo-European in number of native speakers. Around 1.4 billion people speak a Sino-Tibetan language. The vast majority of these are the 1.3 ...

* Harappan † (

Indus Valley civilisation The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the Northwestern South Asia, northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 Common Era, BCE to 1300 BCE, and in i ...

33rd–13th centuries BC) – data remains undeciphered *

Cypro-Minoan The Cypro-Minoan syllabary (CM), more commonly called the Cypro-Minoan Script, is an undeciphered syllabary used on the island of Cyprus and at its trading partners during the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age (c. 1550–1050 BC). The term "Cy ...

† (Cyprus 15th–10th centuries BC) – data remains undeciphered *

Lullubi Lullubi, Lulubi (: ''Lu-lu-bi'', : ''Lu-lu-biki'' "Country of the Lullubi"), more commonly known as Lullu, were a group of Bronze Age tribes of Hurrian and Semitic languages, Semitic origin who existed and disappeared during the 3rd millennium BC ...

(Iran) * (Tanzania) *

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th ...

–

Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees, Yemasees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. ...

(US) *

Himarimã The Himarimã or Hi-Merimã are an indigenous peoples in Brazil, indigenous people of Brazil. They are largely uncontacted peoples, uncontacted by outside society, and live along the Pinhuã River, between the Juruá River, Juruá and Purus River ...

(Brazil) – a living presumed language of an uncontacted people; assumed to be Arawan * Nagarchal (India) – assumed to have been Dravidian * Kwisi (Angola) * Ancient Cappadocian (Asia Minor) – possibly Anatolian * Lycaonian (Asia Minor) – possibly Anatolian * Zapotec (Jalisco) (Mexico) * Otomi (Jalisco) (Mexico) * Moksela (Indonesia) – possibly has been one of the

Central Maluku languages The Central Maluku languages are a proposed subgroup of the Central–Eastern Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family which comprises around fifty languages spoken principally on the Seram, Buru, Ambon and the Sula Islands ...

Scarcity of data

Many unclassified languages are also considered unclassifiable due to the presence of some, but not enough, data to reveal close language relatives. For others there may be enough data to show the language belongs to a particular family, but not where within it, or to show the language has no close relatives, but not enough to conclude that it is a language isolate. * Solano (Mexico) – possibly a

* Cacán (Argentina) * Kujargé (Chad) – possibly Afroasiatic *

Bung A stopper, bung, or cork is a cylindrical or conical closure used to seal a container, such as a bottle, tube, or barrel. Description Unlike a lid or bottle cap, which encloses a container from the outside without displacing the inner v ...

(Cameroon) – most likely Niger–Congo *

Luo Luo or LUO may refer to: Luo peoples and languages *Luo peoples, an ethno-linguistic group of eastern and central Africa **Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania or Joluo, an ethnic group in western Kenya, eastern Uganda, and northern Tanzania. *** Luol ...

(Cameroon) * Komta (Nigeria) * Wawu (Ghana or possibly the Ivory Coast) * Kambojan (South Asia and Central Asia) * (West Africa) * Dima-Bottego (Ethiopia) *

Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

(Israel) – perhaps either Afroasiatic or

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

Iberian Iberian refers to Iberia. Most commonly Iberian refers to: *Someone or something originating in the Iberian Peninsula, namely from Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra. The term ''Iberian'' is also used to refer to anything pertaining to the fo ...

(Spain and southern France) *

Minoan The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age culture which was centered on the island of Crete. Known for its monumental architecture and Minoan art, energetic art, it is often regarded as the first civilization in Europe. The ruins of the Minoan pa ...

(ancient Crete) *

Eteocretan Eteocretan ( from , lit. "true Cretans", itself composed from ἐτεός ''eteós'' "true" and Κρής ''Krḗs'' "Cretan") is the pre-Greek language attested in a few alphabetic inscriptions of ancient Crete. In eastern Crete, about half a ...

(ancient Crete) * Hattic (Anatolia) – probably a

* Kaskian (Anatolia) – possibly related to Hattic *

Kassite The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...

(Iraq) – possibly

Hurro-Urartian Hurro-Urartian is an extinct language family of the Ancient Near East, comprising only two known languages: Hurrian and Urartian. Origins It is often assumed that the Hurro-Urartian languages, or a pre-split Proto-Hurro-Urartian language, were ...

* Gutian (Zagros borderlands) * Hunnic (Eastern Europe and Central Asia) *

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of Nomad, nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese historiography, Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, t ...

(Mongolia) – possibly Para-Yeniseian or an isolate *

Tuoba The Tuoba (Chinese language, Chinese) or Tabgatch (, ''Tabγač''), also known by #Names, other names, was an influential Xianbei clan in early imperial China. During the Sixteen Kingdoms after the fall of Han and the Three Kingdoms, the Tuoba e ...

(China) – possibly

Para-Mongolic Para-Mongolic is a proposed group of languages that is considered to be an extinct sister branch of the Mongolic languages. Para-Mongolic contains certain historically attested extinct languages, among them Khitan language, Khitan and Tuyuhun lang ...

or an isolate *

Rouran The Rouran Khaganate ( Chinese: zh, c=, p=Róurán, label=no), also known as Ruanruan or Juan-juan ( zh, c=, p=Ruǎnruǎn, label=no) (or variously ''Jou-jan'', ''Ruruan'', ''Ju-juan'', ''Ruru'', ''Ruirui'', ''Rouru'', ''Rouruan'' or ''Tantan'') ...

(Mongolia) – possibly

or an isolate *

Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous people of Canada who lived on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland. The Beothuk culture formed around 1500 CE. This may have been ...

(Newfoundland) – assumed to have been related to

Algonquian languages The Algonquian languages ( ; also Algonkian) are a family of Indigenous languages of the Americas and most of the languages in the Algic language family are included in the group. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from ...

* Meroitic (Sudan) – possibly

or Afroasiatic *

Guanahatabey The Guanahatabey (also spelled Guanajatabey) were an Indigenous people of western Cuba at the time of European contact. Archaeological and historical studies suggest the Guanahatabey were archaic hunter-gatherers with a distinct language and c ...

(Cuba) – presumed to have been related to Warao ( Waroid) * Macorix (Dominican Republic and possibly Haiti) – presumed to have been related to Warao ( Waroid) * Pankararú (Brazil) – likely a

* Ramanos (Bolivia) * Tartessian (southwest Iberian Peninsula) * Ligurian (ancient) (Liguria) – probably

Rutuli The Rutuli or Rutulians were an ancient people in Italy. The Rutuli were located in a territory whose capital was the ancient town of Ardea, located about 35 km southeast of Rome. Thought to have been descended from the Umbri and the P ...

an (central Italy) *

Elymian The Elymians () were an ancient tribal people who inhabited the western part of Sicily during the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity. Origins According to Thucydides, the Elymians were refugees coming from the destroyed Troy. Instead for Hellan ...

(western Sicily) – likely

Sicanian The Sicani or Sicanians were one of three ancient peoples of Sicily present at the time of Phoenician and Greek colonization. The Sicani dwelt east of the Elymians and west of the Sicels, having, according to Diodorus Siculus, the boundary with ...

(central Sicily) *

Eteocypriot Eteocypriot is an extinct non-Indo-European language that was spoken in Cyprus by a non-Hellenic population during the Iron Age. The name means "true" or "original Cypriot" parallel to Eteocretan, both of which names are used by modern scholars t ...

(Cyprus) * Tambora (Indonesia) – possibly a

Karami Karami (Arabic: كرامي) is an Arabic-based Lebanese surname, particularly that of a famous Lebanese Sunni Muslim political family. It is often francicised in the media as Karamé. It is to be differentiated from the Classical Arabic term Kara ...

(Papua New Guinea) * Makolkol (New Britain)

Unrelated to nearby languages and not commonly examined

* Bangime (Mali) *

Jalaa Jalaa (autonym: ), also known as Cèntûm, Centúúm or Cen Tuum, is an extinct language of northeastern Nigeria (Loojaa settlement in Balanga Local Government Area, Gombe State), of uncertain origins, apparently a language isolate. The Jalabe ( ...

(Nigeria) * Kwaza (Brazil) * Xocó (Brazil) – not clear if it was a single language *

Mpre The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is a 120-minute, 60-question, multiple-choice examination designed to measure the knowledge and understanding of established standards related to a lawyer's professional conduct. It w ...

(Ghana)

Basic vocabulary unrelated to other languages

* Bayot (Senegal) * Laal (Chad)

Not closely related to other languages and no academic consensus

Ongota Ongota (also known as Birale, Birayle) is a moribund language of southwest Ethiopia. UNESCO reported in 2012 that out of a total ethnic population of 115, only 12 elderly native speakers remained, the rest of their small village on the west bank ...

(Ethiopia) * Shabo (Ethiopia) * Omaio (Tanzania) * Kenaboi (Malaysia)

Languages of dubious existence

* Oropom (Uganda) (extinct, if it existed) * Imeraguen (Mauritania) (

Hassaniya Arabic Hassaniya Arabic (; also known as , , , , and Maure) is a variety of Maghrebi Arabic spoken by Mauritanian Arabs, Malian Arabs and the Sahrawis. It was spoken by the Beni Ḥassān Bedouin tribes of Yemeni origin who extended their authority o ...

variety with

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

words for fishing) * Nemadi (Mauritania) * Rer Bare (Ethiopia) (extinct, if it existed) * Wutana (Nigeria) (extinct, if it existed) *

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * '' Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 18 ...

(Anatolia) (extinct and as yet unattested, if it existed; possibly a

Luwian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

dialect or related language) *

North Picene North Picene, also known as North Picenian or Northern Picene, is a supposed ancient language that may have been spoken in part of central-eastern Italy; alternatively the evidence for the language may be a hoax, with the language never having e ...

(Italy) (extinct, if it existed; attested in inscriptions that have been accused of being fabricated) *

Quimbaya The Quimbaya () were a small, ancient indigenous group in present-day Colombia noted for their gold work characterized by technical accuracy and detailed designs. The majority of the gold work is made in ''tumbaga'' alloy, with 30% copper, whi ...

(Colombia) (extinct, if it existed; only one known word) Some 'languages' turn out to be fabricated, such as the

Kukurá language Kukurá (Cucurá, Kokura) is a spurious language, fabricated by an interpreter in Brazil. History When Alberto Vojtěch Frič visited Rio Verde, Brazil, in 1901 he took with him a Kainguá Amerindian called Guzmán who said he spoke the langua ...

Classification challenges

Examples by reason

Absence of data

Scarcity of data

Unrelated to nearby languages and not commonly examined

Basic vocabulary unrelated to other languages

Not closely related to other languages and no academic consensus

Languages of dubious existence

See also

Notes

References

External links