Language isolate

From Freepedia

A language isolate is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical (or "genetic") relationship with other living languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common to any other language. Commonly cited examples include Ainu, Burushaski, and Korean, although in each case a minority of linguists claims to have demonstrated a relationship with another language (see Dene-Caucasian, Karasuk, and Altaic, for example).

A second use of the term understands "isolate" to be within a particular context. For instance, Albanian, Armenian, and Greek are considered isolates within Indo-European. While part of the Indo-European family, they have no demonstrable close genetic relationship with any particular languages, but instead form independent branches of their own. However, without such a disambiguating context, "isolate" is understood to be in the absolute sense of Ainu.

Some languages became isolates in historical times, after all their known relatives became extinct. The Pirahã language of Brazil is one such example, the last surviving member of the Mura family. Others, like Basque, have been isolates for as long as their existence has been documented.

Language isolates may be seen as a special case of unclassified languages, being languages which remain unclassified even after extensive efforts. If eventually such efforts do prove fruitful, a language previously considered an isolate may no longer be considered one; and since linguists do not always agree on whether a genetic relationship has been demonstrated, it is often disputed whether a language constitutes a true isolate or not.

Contents 1 Genetic relationship 2 Looking for relationships 3 Isolate, not isolated 4 Extinct isolates 5 List of language isolates 6 Bibliography

Genetic relationship

The term "genetic relationship" is meant in the genealogical sense of historical linguistics, which groups most languages spoken in the world today into a relatively small number of families, according to reconstructed descent from common ancestral languages. For example, English is related to other Indo-European languages and Mandarin is related to many other Sino-Tibetan languages. By this criterion, each language isolate constitutes a family of its own, which explains the exceptional interest that these languages have received from linguists.

Looking for relationships

It is possible, though not certain, that all languages spoken in the world today are related by descent from a single ancestral tongue. The established language families would then be only the upper branches of the genealogical tree of all languages. For this reason, language isolates have been the object of numerous studies seeking to uncover their genealogy. For instance, Basque has been compared with every living and extinct language family known, from Sumerian to the South Caucasian — without conclusive results.

There are some situations in which a language with no ancestor might arise. For example, if deaf parents were to raise a group of hearing children who have no contact with others until adulthood, they might develop a verbal language among themselves and keep using it later, teaching it to their children, and so on. Eventually, it could develop into the full-fledged language of a population, as has evidently happened in the case of Nicaraguan Sign Language. Such a situation is not very likely to occur at any one time but, over the tens of thousands of years of human history plus pre-history, the likelihood of this occurring at least a few times increases. There are also creoles and constructed languages such as Esperanto which do not descend directly from a single ancestor as portrayed for most languages.

Isolate, not isolated

One should not confuse the concept of a language isolate with a language whose speakers are isolated in some sense, such as people who have little contact with other cultures (like the Rapa Nui language of Easter Island) or because they live far from regions where related languages are spoken (like the Malagasy language of Madagascar whose closest relatives are spoken in Borneo). These languages are not linguistic isolates.

Extinct isolates

Caution is required when speaking of extinct languages as isolates. Sumerian is well known for a language so ancient, well enough to be able to recognize modern relatives if they existed. However, many extinct languages are very poorly attested, and the fact that they cannot be linked to other languages may be a reflection of our poor knowledge of them. Etruscan, for example, is sometimes claimed to be Indo-European; although most historical linguists believe this is unlikely, it's not possible to demonstrate it one way or the other. Similar situations pertain to many extinct isolates of America, such as Beothuk and Cayuse. A language thought to be an isolate may turn out to be relatable to other languages once enough material is recovered, but this is unlikely to occur if a language was not written.

List of language isolates

Below is a list of known language isolates, along with notes on possible relations to other languages or language families:

Language	Comments
Adai	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Texas and Louisiana, United States.
Aikaná	Spoken in Rondônia, Brazil. Arawakan has been suggested.
Andoque	Spoken in Colombia and Peru. Possibly Witotoan.
Atakapa	Extinct. Spoken in Texas and Louisiana, United States. A connection to the Muskogean languages is sometimes proposed.
Ainu	Endangered language that is spoken in northern Japan. Historically a small closely related family of its own.
Basque	Known in its own language as Euskera; no known living relatives; found in the Basque region of France and Spain. Aquitanian is commonly regarded as related to or a direct ancestor of Basque. Some linguists have claimed similarities with various languages of the Caucasus, especially because of their ergative case system, but such resemblances are superficial, as a quarter of the world's languages are ergative. Other linguists have proposed a relation to Iberic.
Beothuk	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Newfoundland, Canada. Sometimes thought to be Algonkian.
Betoi	Extinct. Spoken in Colombia. Paezan has been suggested.
Burushaski	Spoken in northern Pakistan. Sometimes thought to be related to Yeniseian in a Karasuk family.
Camsá	Spoken in Colombia.
Canichana	Spoken in Bolivia. A connection with the extinct Tequiraca (Auishiri) has been proposed.
Cayubaba	Spoken in Bolivia.
Cayuse	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Oregon and Washington, United States. Too poorly known to be classified.
Chimariko	Extinct. Spoken in California, United States.
Chitimacha	Extinct. Spoken in Louisiana, United States. A connection to the Muskogean languages has traditionally been proposed.
Coahuilteco	Spoken in Texas, United States and northeastern Mexico. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Cofán	Spoken in Colombia and Ecuador. Sometimes classified as Chibchan, but the similarities appear to be due to borrowings.
Cotoname	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Texas, United States and northeastern Mexico.
Cuitlatec	Extinct. Spoken in Guerrero, Mexico.
Culle	Extinct. Spoken in Peru. Possibly related to the extinct Cholonan languages.
Elamite	Extinct language of Elamite Empire. Some conjecture a relationship to the Dravidian languages (see Elamo-Dravidian languages), but this is not well supported.
Esselen	Extinct. Spoken in California, United States. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Etruscan	Language of the ancient Etruscans in northwestern Italy; not well understood at present. Some have suggested Etruscan is in fact be an Indo-European (Anatolian) language, but better accepted is the suggestion of a Tyrrhenian family consisting of Etruscan, Lemnian, and possibly Raetian or Camunnic.
Gamela	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Maranhão, Brazil.
Hadza	Often listed as an outlier among the Khoisan languages, but this is considered unlikely.
Haida	Spoken in Alaska, United States and British Columbia, Canada. Some proposals to connect to Na-Dené languages, but these have fallen in disfavor.
Huamoé	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Pernambuco, Brazil.
Huave	Spoken in Oaxaca, Mexico. Part of the Penutian hypothesis when extended to Mexico, but this idea has generally been abandoned.
Iberic	Extinct, not well known enough to classify. There are lexical coincidences with Basque, but it is hard to know if they are more than a result of vicinity.
Irantxe	Spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Arawakan has been suggested.
Itonama	Spoken in Bolivia. Paezan has been suggested.
Jotí	Spoken in Venezuela. Also known as Yuwana.
Kalto	Also called Nahali, it is an endangered language of western India. Often suggested to be a Munda language.
Karankawa	Extinct. Spoken in Texas, United States. Proposed member of Coahuiltecan family, later under Sapir's Hokan phylum. These hypotheses are currently disfavored.
Karirí	Extinct. Spoken in Paraíba, Pernambuco, and Ceará, Brazil. Likely demonstration of being Macro-Gê.
Karok	Spoken in California, United States. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Ket	Part of the Yeniseian family, which is otherwise extinct or nearly so. Some linguists have attempted to show a further relationship with Burushaski called Karasuk.
Koayá	Spoken in Rondônia, Brazil.
Kootenai	Spoken in Idaho and Montana, United States and British Columbia, Canada.
Korean	Connections to the Altaic languages have also been proposed. See the Altaic hypothesis for these theories.
Kukurá	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Kusunda	Moribund and nearly extinct language of western Nepal. Sometimes considered one of the Tibeto-Burman languages. Since linguists have either said its vocabulary is obviously Tibeto-Burman, or that it's almost completely free of Tibeto-Burman cognates, this may be a case of language interference in a dying tongue.
Mapudungu	Spoken in Chile and Argentina. Also known as Araucano or Araucanian. Considered a family of 2 languages by Ethnologue. Variously part of Andean, macro-Panoan, or macro-Waikuruan proposals.
Maratino	Extinct, too poorly known to classify. Spoken in northeastern Mexico.
Mekejir (Shabo)	Sometimes thought to be Nilo-Saharan, but it is extremely poorly known.
Meroitic	Extinct language of ancient kingdom of Meroe (Kush). Sometimes suggested to be Nilo-Saharan or Afrasiatic, but its texts have not been decyphered, and without that no classification is possible.
Movima	Spoken in Bolivia.
Munichi	Spoken in Peru.
Nambiquaran	Spoken in Mato Grosso, Brazil.
Naolan	Extinct, too poorly known to classify. Spoken in Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Natchez	Extinct. Spoken in Mississippi and Louisiana, United States. Often linked to Muskogean.
Natú	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Pernambuco, Brazil.
Nicaraguan Sign Language	Spoken in Nicaragua.
Nivkh	Also known as Gilyak. A Palaeosiberian language spoken in the lower Amur River basin and on the Sakhalin Islands. Has been linked to Chukchi-Kamchatkan.
Omurano	Spoken in Peru. A tentative family comprised of Omuranao, Candoshi, Tequiraca, and Taushiro has been proposed.
Oropom	Unclassified, possibly nonexistent.
Otí	Extinct. Spoken in São Paulo, Brazil. Macro-Gêan has been suggested.
Pankararú	Extinct. Spoken in Pernambuco, Brazil.
Pirahã	Related to other Muran languages that have recently become extinct.
Puquina	Extinct. Spoken in Bolivia. Puquina words survive in the Callahuaya jargon of Quechua.
Quileute	Spoken in Washington, United States. Last survivor of the Chimakuan family. The Mosan hypothesis is now seen as a language area.
Quinigua	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in northeastern Mexico.
Sabela	Spoken in Ecuador and Peru. Also known as Waorani.
Salinan	Extinct. Spoken in California, United States. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Sandawe	Often listed as an outlier among the Khoisan languages.
Seri	Spoken in Sonora, Mexico. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Siuslaw	Extinct. Spoken in Oregon, United States. Likely related to Coos, Alsea, possibly the Wintuan languages. Part of the Penutian hypothesis.
Solano language	Extinct, too poorly known to classify. Spoken in Texas, United States and northeastern Mexico.
Sumerian	Long-extinct but well known language of ancient Sumeria.
Taiap	Also known as Gapun. Provisionally classified as Sepik-Ramu.
Takelma	Spoken in Oregon, United States. Part of the Penutian hypothesis. A specific relationship with Kalapuyan is now rejected.
Tarascan
Taushiro	Spoken in Peru. A tentative family comprised of Omuranao, Candoshi, Tequiraca, and Taushiro has been proposed.
Tequiraca	Spoken in Peru. Also known as Auishiri. A tentative family comprised of Omuranao, Candoshi, Tequiraca, and Taushiro has been proposed.
Ticuna	Spoken in Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. Perhaps related to the extinct Yuri language.
Timucua	Extinct but well attested. Spoken in Florida and Georgia, United States. A connection with the poorly known Tawasa language has been suggested, but this may be a dialect.
Tonkawa language	Extinct. Spoken in Texas, United States.
Tunica	Extinct. Spoken in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, United States. Often linked to Muskogean.
Tuxá	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Bahia and Pernambuco, Brazil. Now extinct.
Warao	Spoken in Guyana, Surinam, and Venezuela. Sometimes linked to Paezan.
Washo	Spoken in California and Nevada, United States. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Xokó	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Alagoas and Pernambuco, Brazil.
Xukurú	Extinct, poorly known. Spoken in Pernambuco and Paraíba, Brazil.
Yámana	Spoken in Chile.
Yana	Extinct. Spoken in California, United States. Part of the Hokan hypothesis.
Yuchi	Spoken in Georgia and Oklahoma, United States. Connections to Siouan languages have been proposed.
Yukaghir	Connections to Uralic Languages have been proposed, and accepted by many.
Yuracare	Spoken in Bolivia.
Yuri language	Extinct. Spoken in Colombia and Brazil. Perhaps related to Ticuna
Yurumanguí	Extinct. Spoken in Colombia.
Zuni	Spoken in New Mexico, United States. Connections to Penutian languages have been proposed, but is generally considered unlikely.

Bibliography

• Campbell, Lyle. (1997). American Indian languages: The historical linguistics of Native America. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509427-1.
• Goddard, Ives (Ed.). (1996). Languages. Handbook of North American Indians (W. C. Sturtevant, General Ed.) (Vol. 17). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-1604-8774-9.
• Goddard, Ives. (1999). Native languages and language families of North America (rev. and enlarged ed. with additions and corrections). [Map]. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press (Smithsonian Institute). (Updated version of the map in Goddard 1996). ISBN 0-8032-9271-6.
• Grimes, Barbara F. (Ed.). (2000). Ethnologue: Languages of the world, (14th ed.). Dallas, TX: SIL International. ISBN 1-55671106-9. (Online edition: http://www.ethnologue.com/).
• Mithun, Marianne. (1999). The languages of Native North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23228-7 (hbk); ISBN 0-521-29875-X.
• Sturtevant, William C. (Ed.). (1978-present). Handbook of North American Indians (Vol. 1-20). Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution. (Vols. 1-3, 16, 18-20 not yet published).