File:Langs N.Amer.png

distribution of North American language families north of Mexico


 * Deutsch (German): Image:Langs_N.Amer_Deutsch.png
 * español (Spanish): Image:Langs N.Amer espanol.png
 * français (French): Image:Langs N.Amer fr.png

info

 * created by * released under CC-by-2.0

about sources
Map redrawn and modified primary based on two maps by cartographer Roberta Bloom appearing in Mithun (1999:xviii-xxi). Incidentally, these maps are very derivative of the Driver map of the 1950s-60s (which means that, although published in 1999, it is not as up-to-date as one might think). The other main source used is the up-to-date and very well-done map found in Goddard (1996), which was revised as Goddard (1999). Essentially, Bloom's map was used for the projection and general outline of language borders while Goddard's maps were used to adjust Bloom's borders to reflect the more recent research.

Additional references include Sturtevant (1978-present), Mithun (1999:606-616), and Campbell (1997:353-376). Mithun and Campbell have several maps based on the maps found in Sturtevant (1978-present) and Bright (1992).

about map content

 * Map delineates each * * ''* Areas in white are either
 * uninhabited (in Alaska, Canda, Greenland),
 * unknown (due to early extinction and little or no data; this is mostly in the East), or
 * outside of subject area (in Mexico). (note that * This is a historical map: Although most languages are still spoken in North America, the extent of their distribution has been profoundly affected by European contact — many languages have become extinct (sometimes including even the peoples). (See * Language areas are those at earliest time of European contact, as far as can be determined. Since contact occurred at different times in different areas, no historical Native American maps of the entire continent are of a single time period.
 * Language areas are not as well-defined as this map would suggest: borders are often fuzzy and arbitrary and the entire language area may not be fully occupied by language speakers.
 * * The following groupings are disputed by some (or are considered not fully demonstrated):
 * *# Yuki-Wappo'' =

to do

 * translation into Spanish & other languages
 * extend Mexico coverage (for

links
You might want to compare this map with these two older (1967) maps of only the USA:


 * Image:Early Indian Languages Alaska.jpg
 * Image:Early Indian Languages USA.jpg

There is also an Inuktitut dialect map in Wikipedia:


 * Image:Inuktitut dialect map.png

Be sure to check out the beautiful work of Mutur Zikin (www.muturzikin.com):


 * Distribution Linguistique Aux Étas-Unis Et Canada (in English, Basque, French, Spanish)
 * Distribution Linguistique En Amérique Latine (in English, Basque, French, Spanish)

Looking for more maps of South America? Go here:


 * Promotora Española de Lingüística: Lenguas Amerindias (in Spanish)

A (older) map of Mexico (provided by the University of Texas):


 * map itself: www.lib.utexas.edu/../aboriginal_map.jpg (in English)
 * text accompanying map: www.lib.utexas.edu/../aboriginal_languages_txt.jpg (in English)

Some pages in Wikipedia:

Some other sites on American languages (in English):


 * The Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas
 * The Archive of the Indigenous Languages of Latin America
 * Native Languages of the Americas

You might also be interesting in


 * the Aboriginal Mapping Network (in English)

other maps in this series
These other maps of single families are generated from the main map above.


 * Adai
 * Algic - Algisch - algiques
 * Alsean - Alsea - alséannes
 * Atakapa
 * Beothuk - béothuk
 * Cayuse
 * Chimakuan
 * Chimariko
 * Chinookan - Chinook
 * Chitimacha
 * Chumashan - Chumash
 * Coahuilteco
 * Cotoname
 * Eskimo-Aleut - Eskimo-Aleutisch - eskimo-aléoutes
 * Esselen
 * Haida
 * Karankawa
 * Karuk - Karok
 * Keresan - Keres
 * Kiowa-Tanoan
 * Kutenai
 * Muskogean - Muskogee
 * Na-Dene - na-déné
 * Natchez
 * Salishan - Salish
 * Utian - Uti
 * Yokutsan - Yokut - yokuts

thank yous
Thanks goes to


 * * * User:Vlad2i for kindly providing the Français translation