Aggelos Rallatos English Project NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES

A common misunderstanding is that there were only a few Native American languages. In fact it is estimated that until the 15 th century in America more than 1500 languages were spoken by the native population. This vast number of languages is the result of the isolation of the tribes and the lack of communication between them, which lead each particular tribe to develop its own unique language. Of course due to certain needs (for example trade) tribes had to communicate between each other which is why they came up with a form of sign language used in specific areas.

 Where were the languages spoken? In America until the arrival of the Europeans in the late 15 th century.  By whom? By the population of the native American tribes until the 15 th century.

 How many people spoke them at their peak?  Due to the huge variety of native American languages and the lack of public records it is almost impossible to find out exactly how many people were using these languages back then. Some scientists support the idea that before the European arrival 40 million people were actually speaking 1,800 different languages. Others claim that approximately 15 million speakers used more than 2000 languages.It is estimated that almost 1.5 million native Americans were using 300 different languages in the north of Mexico, whereas in Mexico and in Central America 300 separate tongues were native to 5 million people. In addition to that 1,400 unique languages were spoken in South America and in the West Indies by 9 million at that time.

 How many people spoke the languages at their decline? In the late 15 th century after the European conquest and their settlement in America more than two thirds of the languages died out. The 20 th and 21 st centuries are thought to be the centuries of decline for the American indigenous languages and it is estimated that nowadays, only a couple of million people actually speak a native American language in the USA and Canada, the majority of whom are old people, with whom the languages will probably die out in future decades.

Only a few languages have more than 25,000 speakers nowadays : LanguageFamilyLocationsSpeakers NavajoAthabaskanAZ, NM, UT148,530 CreeAlgicMT, Canada60,000 OjibwaAlgic MN, ND, MT, MI, Canada 51,000 CherokeeIroquoianOK, NC22,500 DakotaSiouan NE, ND, SD, MN, MT, Canada 20,000 ApacheAthabaskanNM, AZ, OK15,000 BlackfootAlgicMT, Canada10,000 ChoctawMuskogeanOK, MS, LA9,211

 Why did they disappear? /What were the events that lead to their extinction? Native American languages started dying out in the late 15 th century because of the European conquest and colonization. During this particular time indigenous people were forced to change their lifestyle and were obliged to learn and speak European languages.This savage behavior by the Europeans in combination with the proselytism of the native population lead these unique languages to shrink and almost become extinct.

Another reason why these languages disappeared is the fact that Europeans and other immigrants were suffering from diseases such as typhus, when they arrived in America, diseases which were hitherto unknown in America. These epidemics and diseases are estimated to be the ones responsible for killing up to 95% (≈20 million) of the indigenous population in the early years of European colonization.

 What were the potential repercussions of their loss? As can be easily understood the extinction of such a variety of unique and beautiful languages implies that the uniqueness, values and traditional customs of each tribe will die out. This happens because language contains not only letters and words but also deeper meanings like the moral principles of a population or even information about the culture, lifestyle and folklores of these people.

 Documents/ clues of the languages in their written or spoken form Back then in America “written literature” as we think of it did not exist but “folk literature” did. We are lucky that written texts mainly from the Maya tribe have survived, the majority of which are inscriptions on buildings, although we are not yet in the position to decipher all of them. Furthermore, the written forms of indigenous people contained symbols.

Maya and Aztecs both used a form called “picture writing”, to write down their thoughts and ideas. They also used hieroglyphs or symbols in their writings. We also have in our possession other sources of nonlinguistic communication like sign languages, which also contains gestures and other movements and were used to help tribes communicate. Last but not least we also know that indigenous people used smoke signals to transfer simple messages or to warn neighboring tribes of approaching danger.

Maya and Aztecs both used a form called “picture writing”, to write down their thoughts and ideas. They also used hieroglyphs or symbols in their writings.

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Ahéhee‘ (thank you)