List of unclassified languages of South America

The following purported languages of South America are listed as unclassified in either Campbell (2024), Loukotka (1968), Ethnologue, or Glottolog. Nearly all are extinct. It is likely that many of them were not actually distinct languages, only ethnic or regional names.

Campbell (2024)

Campbell (2024) lists the following languages of South America as unclassified. Most are extinct. Many were drawn from Loukotka (1968) and Adelaar & Muysken (2004). The majority are not listed in Ethnologue. The list is arranged in alphabetical order.

Ethnologue

Ethnologue 26 lists the following languages of South America as unclassified:

However, Glottolog states that Agavotaguerra is not unclassified, but unattested; the only reports are that the Agavotaguerra speak Yawalapiti. Shanenawa and Lule are both considered to belong to other language families, Panoan and Lule-Vilela respectively; Tingui-Botó is not a language but an ethnic group which originally spoke Dzubukuá, and Awishira and Pumé (Yaruro) are generally considered isolates.

Glottolog

In addition to many of the languages above, Glottolog lists the following:

Other

Some additional languages have not made in into the lists above.

See also

Brazil

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ Loukotka, Čestmír. 1968. Classification of South American Indian Languages Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, UCLA.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Adelaar, Willem F. H.; Muysken, Pieter (2004). The languages of the Andes. Cambridge language surveys. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-48685-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 3.
  4. ↑ Holbrook, David J. (April 5, 2007). "Request Number 2007-003 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code" (PDF). SIL International. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Campbell, Lyle (June 25, 2024), "Unclassified and Spurious Languages", The Indigenous Languages of the Americas (1 ed.), Oxford University PressNew York, pp. 280–338, doi:10.1093/oso/9780197673461.003.0005, ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1, retrieved October 10, 2025
  6. ↑ "2019-019 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on December 3, 2025. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  7. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "List of unclassified languages of South America". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  8. 1 2 Adelaar, Willem F. H.; Brijnen, Hélène B. (2014). "Natterer's Linguistic Heritage". In Weltmuseum Wien Friends (ed.). Archiv 63-64. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-643-99824-8.
  9. ↑ "2015-034 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  10. ↑ Church, George Earl (July 1898). "Notes on the Visit of Dr. Bach to the Catuquinaru Indians of Amazonas". The Geographical Journal. 12 (1): 63. doi:10.2307/1774499.
  11. ↑ "2019-020 | ISO 639-3". iso639-3.sil.org. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  12. ↑ "2014-047 | ISO 639-3". iso639-3.sil.org. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ Mata, Vera Lúcia Calheiros (July 13, 2018) [May 1999]. "Kariri-Xokó - Povos Indígenas no Brasil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved July 22, 2026.
  14. ↑ Campbell, L. (2024). "Phantom, False, and Spurious Languages of South America". The Indigenous Languages of the Americas: History and Classification. Oxford University Press. pp. 333–334. ISBN 978-0-19-767346-1. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
  15. ↑ "2015-036 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  16. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Colima". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  17. ↑ "2015-035 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  18. ↑ "2015-030 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  19. ↑ "2013-012 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  20. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Envuelto". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  21. ↑ "Tiriyó - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved November 20, 2025.
  22. ↑ Nimuendajú, Curt; Nimuendaju, Curt (July 1937). "The Gamella Indians". Primitive Man. 10 (3/4): 58. doi:10.2307/3316456.
  23. ↑ Rivet, Paul (1943). "Nouvelle contribution à l'étude de l'ethnologie précolombienne de Colombie". Journal de la société des américanistes. 35 (1): 25–39. doi:10.3406/jsa.1943.2342.
  24. ↑ "2015-037 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  25. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2026). "Wayampi". Glottolog 5.3. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  26. ↑ Alvarez, Jose (1938). "Un nuevo triunfo: la tribu del Ibabi-Aniji en la mision". Misiones dominicanas del Perú. Vol. 10. [s.n.]
  27. ↑ "Apaktone" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2021.
  28. ↑ Peluso, Daniela (January 2014). "Shajaó—Histories of an Invented Savage". History and Anthropology. 25 (1): 102–122. doi:10.1080/02757206.2013.822372. ISSN 0275-7206.
  29. ↑ Alexiades, Miguel N. (January 1, 1999). "Alexiades, M.N. 1999. Ethnobotany of the Ese Eja: Plants, Health, and Change in an Amazonian Society [PhD thesis]". Graduate Center, City University of New York.
  30. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Idabaez". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  31. ↑ Howland Rowe, John. "The Idabaez: Unknown Indians of the Croco Coast" (PDF). digitalassets.lib.berkeley.edu.
  32. ↑ Isolado do Tanaru [aka Isolado do Buraco] at the Endangered Languages Project.
  33. ↑ "2015-025 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  34. ↑ Barbosa, Wallace de Deus (October 1991). Os índios kambiwá de Pernambuco: arte e identidade étnica (Thesis). p. 98.
  35. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Kantarure". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  36. ↑ "Kantaruré - Indigenous Peoples in Brazil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  37. ↑ Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 6. 1950.
  38. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Muzo". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  39. ↑ "2015-042 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  40. ↑ "2015-031 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  41. ↑ "Glottolog 5.1 - Papavô". glottolog.org. Retrieved April 9, 2025.
  42. ↑ "2015-032 | ISO 639-3". iso639-3.sil.org. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  43. ↑ Handbook of South American Indians. Vol. 2.
  44. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Querandi". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  45. ↑ Barros, J. Pedro Viegas (1994). "Acerca de algunas palabras y frases recogidas a orillas del Río de la Plata a mediados del siglo XVI". Mundo Ameghiniano. 12.
  46. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Quillacinga". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  47. ↑ Loukotka, Čestmír (1942). "Klassifikation der südamerikanischen Sprachen". Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. 74 (1/6): 1–69. ISSN 0044-2666.
  48. 1 2 Loukotka, Čestmír (1931). "Die Sprache der Zamuco und die Verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der Chaco-Stämme". Anthropos. 26 (5/6): 843–861. ISSN 0257-9774.
  49. ↑ "ISO 639-3 Registration Authority 2019" (PDF). Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  50. ↑ Frikel, Protasio (1957). "Zur linguistisch-ethnologischen Gliederung der Indianerstämme von Nord-Pará (Brasilien) und den anliegenden Gebieten" (PDF). Anthropos. 52 (3–4): 509–563.
  51. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2026). "Kaxuiâna". Glottolog 5.3. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. "Tchikoyána Sikiana"
  52. ↑ "Tingui Botó - Povos Indígenas no Brasil". pib.socioambiental.org. Retrieved March 5, 2025.
  53. ↑ "2015-033 | ISO 639-3". iso639-3.sil.org. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  54. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Unainuman". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  55. ↑ Godoy, Gustavo; Balykova, Kristina (November 30, 2023). "Multilingual Pantanal and its decay". Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America. 19 (2): 272–293. doi:10.70845/2572-3626.1362. ISSN 2572-3626.
  56. ↑ "2015-022 | ISO 639-3". Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2026.
  57. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Apoto". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  58. ↑ Nimuendajú, Curt (1948), "Little-known tribes of the Lower Amazon" (PDF), The Tropical Forest Tribes, Handbook of South American Indians, vol. 3, Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Bureau of American Ethnology, pp. 209–211, retrieved June 25, 2026
  59. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Fayjatases". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  60. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Guachipas". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  61. ↑ Barros, Pedro Viegas (February 18, 2009). "Otra lengua misteriosa". Retrieved October 10, 2025.
  62. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Hoxa". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  63. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Tembey". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  64. ↑ Barros, Pedro Viegas (February 17, 2009). "Una lengua misteriosa". Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  65. ↑ "Materiales para el estudio de las lenguas del grupo Kaingangue (Ambrosetti 1896) - Biblioteca Digital Curt Nimuendajú". www.etnolinguistica.org. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  66. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Urucucús". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  67. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin (eds.). "Yanacona". Glottolog . Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  68. ↑ Zamponi, Raoul (December 2017). "First-person n and second-person m in Native America: a fresh look (Online appendix)" (PDF). Italian Journal of Linguistics. 29 (2): 189–230. doi:10.26346/1120-2726-113 (inactive 1 July 2025). ISSN 1120-2726.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
  69. ↑ Viegas Barros, José Pedro (2005). Voces en el viento: raíces lingüísticas de la Patagonia ; lingüística comparativa de las lenguas aborígenes del sur del continente americano. Colección El Suri (1st ed.). Buenos Aires: Mondragón Ed. ISBN 978-987-1163-04-5.
  70. ↑ Williams, David (January 1, 2015). "¿A qué grupo étnico perteneció la misteriosa tribu enoo (Estrecho de Magallanes, 1599)?". Aibr, Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana. 10 (1): 99–126. doi:10.11156/aibr.100106.