Where Does Language Complexity Evolve?

I'm not entirely sold on this article's conclusion about the circumstances in which language complexity evolves, at least not based upon the data presented, even though there is good evidence that large numbers of language learners tend to reduce grammatical complexity.

Polysynthetic languages are very common in the New World and just across the Beringian land bridge from it (which could also be connected to the Paleo-Siberian cases), suggesting that most instances of it could be derived from a common source creating a Founder effect. 

Also, while these languages are small and isolated now, this hasn't always been the case. Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit and Nahuatl, for example, historically were quite expansive and had lots of contact with other language families.

The second cluster is from Aboriginal Australians and Papuans who derive from the first wave of modern human migration Out of Africa and into Asia around the time of the Toba eruption. 

There is a third cluster in the Caucuses, involving just one of the language families there, which are associated with early migrants from the first wave of Fertile Crescent agriculture in the highlands of West Asia. 

There are apparently other instances in South Asia and East Asia.

A handful of major language expansions, none of which happened to be polysynthetic make up a huge share of all languages spoken today. These include the Indo-European language family, the Afro-Asiatic languages, the Bantu language family, the Dravidian languages, and the arguable Altaic language family. European and Chinese colonial empires further reduced the size of many languages (long after their features were well intact), for reasons unrelated to language complexity. 

There are polysynthetic or borderline polysynthetic languages listed in the following major language families: the Sino-Tibetan languages (seemingly all in the Tibetan-Burmo branch), the Austroasiatic languages (3 Munda languages in Northeast India), the Austronesian languages (5 borderline seemingly Formosan languages) 

If only a minority of pre-expansion languages were polysynthetic, it wouldn't be surprising if the main expanding languages didn't end up including them.

Significance

A global test reveals statistically robust support for the hypothesis that complex word forms are more likely to develop in isolated languages. Polysynthesis, where words are built from many units to convey complex meanings, is more likely to occur in smaller populations and less likely to occur with many languages in contact. By building a global database of polysynthetic languages and analyzing in a phylospatial framework, this study highlights the potential for macroevolutionary methods to test hypotheses about language evolution and contribute to long-standing debates in linguistics.

Abstract

Evolution of complexity in human languages has been vigorously debated, including the proposal that complexity can build in small, isolated populations but is often lost in situations of language contact. If it is generally true that small, isolated languages can build morphological complexity over time, but complexity tends to be lost in situations of language contact, then we should find that forms of language complexity that have evolved multiple times will tend to be associated with population size, isolation, and language age. 

We test this hypothesis by focusing on one particular form of morphological complexity, polysynthesis, where words built from many parts embody complex phrases. By assembling a global database of polysynthetic languages and conducting phylospatial analyses, we show that languages with highly complex word morphology are more likely to have small population sizes, less likely to occur with many other languages in direct contact, and have a greater tendency to be on long phylogenetically isolated lineages. 

These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that languages that evolve in isolation for long periods may be more likely to accrue morphological complexity. Polysynthetic languages also tend to have higher levels of endangerment. Our results provide phylogenetically informed evidence that one particular form of complex language morphology is more likely to occur in small, isolated languages and is prone to loss in contact.

Lindell Bromham, Keaghan Yaxley, Oscar Wilson, and Xia Hua, "Macroevolutionary analysis of polysynthesis shows that language complexity is more likely to evolve in small, isolated populations" 122(24) PNAS e2504483122 (June 12, 2025) (pay per view; but open access supplemental materials).

The languages counted as polysynthetic and borderline, according to the Supplemental Materials, are below the fold.

Table S1: Polysynthetic languages analysed in this study. This is not an exhaustive list of polysynthetic languages, but a list of languages suitable for this analysis, because they are consistently identified as polysynthetic in the literature, and have available information on distribution, relationships and population parameters required for our analysis (see Methods for details). 

We arrange the languages by broad geographic region then language family (using the taxonomy in Glottolog v4.7), then by ISO-693 code. We also list endangerement level according to the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disrupted Scale (EGIDS) and estimated number of L1 speaker (1). “Example Reference” cites one publication where the language is referred to as polysynthetic. 

REGION

Family ISO Language EGIDS L1  Example reference 

      

NORTH AMERICA     

 

Algic 

wiy Wiyot 9 450 (70)  

yur Yurok 8b 12 (70) 

Algonquian 

alq Algonquin 6b 1760 (71)  

arp Arapaho 6b 1000 (71)  

atj Atikamekw 5 5920 (71)  

ojc Central Ojibwa 6b 8000 (71)  

chy Cheyenne 6b 2100 (71)  

ciw Chippewa 7 5000 (71)  

aaq Eastern Abenaki 9 1800 (71)  

ojg Eastern Ojibwa 6b 25900 (71)  

ats Gros Ventre 8b 10 (71)  

kic Kickapoo 6b 510 (71)  

pqm Malecite-Passamaquoddy 7 590 (71)  

mez Menominee 8a 35 (71)  

sac Meskwaki 7 200 (71)  

mic Mi'kmaq 6b 8270 (71)  

mia Miami 9 2000 (71)  

moe Montagnais 6b 11000 (71)  

crm Moose Cree 6b 3000 (71)  

umu Munsee 8b 7 (71)  

nnt Nanticoke 9 400 (71)  

nsk Naskapi 5 620 (71)  

crl Northern East Cree 5 5310 (71)  

ojb Northwestern Ojibwa 7 20000 (71)  

otw Ottawa 7 12500 (71)  

psy Piscataway 10 0 (71)  

crk Plains Cree 5 260 (71)  

pot Potawatomi 8a 50 (71)  

ojs Severn Ojibwa 6b 10500 (71)  

sjw Shawnee 7 200 (71)  

bla Siksika 7 3350 (71)  

crj Southern East Cree 5 7310 (71)  

csw Swampy Cree 6b 85 (71)  

unm Unami 9 13500 (71)  

wam Wampanoag 9 4000 (71)  

abe Western Abenaki 8b 14 (71)  

ojw Western Ojibwa 6b 10000 (71)  

cwd Woods Cree 6b 75 (71) 

Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit  

aht Ahtena 8a 80 (72)  

bcr Babine 7 200 (72)  

bea Beaver 8a 370 (72)  

crx Carrier 7 1530 (72)  

clc Chilcotin 7 930 (72)  

chp Chipewyan 6b 11900 (72)  

coq Coquille 10 0 (72)  

ing Degexit'an 8a 40 (72)  

dgr Dogrib 5 2080 (72)  

eya Eyak 9 50 (72)  

gce Galice 10 0 (72)  

gwi Gwich'in 7 670 (72)  

haa Han 8b 19 (72)  

hoi Holikachuk 8b 6 (72)  

hup Hupa 8b 8 (72)  

apj Jicarilla Apache 7 300 (72)  

kkz Kaska 7 300 (72)  

ktw Kato 9 92 (72)  

apk Kiowa Apache 8b 3 (72)  

koy Koyukon 8a 300 (72)  

taa Lower Tanana 8a 15 (72)  

mvb Mattole 9 0 (72)  

apm Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache 6b 1500 (72)  

nav Navajo 6b 171000 (72)  

scs North Slavey 7 230 (72)  

ttm Northern Tutchone 7 210 (72)  

srs Sarsi 8b 170 (72)  

sek Sekani 8b 60 (72)  

xsl South Slavey 7 530 (72)  

caf Southern Carrier 8a 500 (72)  

tce Southern Tutchone 7 140 (72)  

tgx Tagish 8b 2 (72)  

tht Tahltan 8a 130 (72)  

tcb Tanacross 8a 60 (72)  

tfn Tanaina 8b 75 (72)  

tli Tlingit 8a 630 (72)  

tol Tolowa-Chetco 8b 1 (72)  

kuu Upper Kuskokwim 8a 40 (72)  

tau Upper Tanana 7 110 (72)  

wlk Wailaki/Eel River Athabaskan 10 0 (72)  

apw Western Apache 6b 14000 (72) 

Caddoan ari Arikara 8b 10 (73)  

cad Caddo 8a 25 (73)  

kii Kitsai 9 2000 (73)  

paw Pawnee 8b 10 (73)  

wic Wichita 8b 1 (73) 

Chinookan 

chh Clatsop-Shoalwater Chinook 8b 19 (8)  

wac Upper Chinook 8b 58 (8) 

Eskimo-Aleut 

ale Aleut 7 500 (8)  

esu Central Alaskan Yupik 6b 10000 (8)  

ess Central Siberian Yupik 5 1910 (8)  

ems Pacific Gulf Yupik 7 300 (8)  

ike Eastern Canadian Inuktitut 2 34100 (8)  

kal Kalaallisut 1 50000 (8)  

esi North Alaskan Inupiatun 6b 0 (8)  

esk Seward Alaska Inupiatun 6b 5580 (8)  

ikt Western Canadian Inuktitut 2 410 (8) 

Haida 

hdn Northern Haida 8b 45 (74)  

hax Southern Haida 8b 10 (74) 

Palaihnihan 

acv Achumawi 8b 10 (5) 

Iroquoian 

cay Cayuga 8a 250 (73)  

chr Cherokee 6b 10400 (73)  

wya Huron-Wyandot 9 24 (73)  

moh Mohawk 6b 3540 (73)  

ntw Nottoway 9 0 (73)  

one Oneida 7 192 (73)  

ono Onondaga 8a 52 (73)  

see Seneca 7 100 (73)  

tus Tuscarora 8b 9 (73) 

Kiowa-Tanoan 

kio Kiowa 8a 400 (75)  

tew Rio Grande Tewa 6b 1500 (8)  

tix Southern Tiwa 6b 1600 (8)  

twf Taos Northern Tiwa 7 1070 (8)  

tow Towa 6b 1790 (8) 

Sahaptian 

nez Nez Perce 8a 100 (12)  

waa Northeast Sahaptin 8a 25 (12)  

yak Northwest Sahaptin 8b 25 (12)  

tqn Tenino 7 50 (12)  

uma Umatilla 8a 25  (12) 

Salishan 

blc Bella Coola 8b 20 (8)  

clm Clallam 9 5 (8)  

crd Coeur d'Alene 8b 2 (8)  

col Columbia-Wenatchi 8a 40 (8)  

coo Comox 8a 40 (8)  

cow Cowlitz 8b 310  (8)  

hur Halkomelem 8a 570 (8)  

fla Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille 8b 64 (8)  

lil Lillooet 7 310 (8)  

cea Lower Chehalis 9 0 (8)  

nok Nooksack 9 1600 (8)  

lut Northern Lushootseed 8b 10 (8)  

str Northern Straits Salish 8b 25 (8)  

oka Okanagan 7 770 (8)  

qun Quinault 9 1500 (8)  

sec Sechelt 8b 15 (8)  

shs Shuswap 7 680 (8)  

slh Southern Puget Sound Salish 7 210 (8)  

spo Spokane 8b 2 (8)  

squ Squamish 8b 70 (8)  

thp Thompson 7 440 (8)  

til Tillamook 10 0 (8)  

twa Twana 9 350 (8)  

cjh Upper Chehalis 9 200 (8) 

Shastan 

sht Shasta 9 12 (8) 

Siouan 

asb Assiniboine 8a 0 (8)  

chc Catawba 9 500 (8)  

cro Crow 6b 3000 (8)  

dak Dakota 8a 20460 (8)  

hid Hidatsa 7 200 (8)  

win Ho-Chunk 8a 250 (8)  

iow Iowa-Oto 9 0 (8)  

lkt Lakota 6b 6190 (8)  

mhq Mandan 8b 10 (8)  

oma Omaha-Ponca 8a 85 (8)  

osa Osage 8b 10 (8)  

qua Quapaw 8b 34 (8)  

sto Stoney 6b 3160 (8) 

Tsimshian 

git Gitxsan 7 930 (74)  

ncg Nisga'a 7 610 (76)  

tsi Southern-Coastal Tsimshian 7 350  (74) 

Wakashan 

has Haisla 7 170 (8)  

hei Heiltsuk-Oowekyala 7 90 (8)  

kwk Kwak'wala 8a 500 (8)  

myh Makah 9 2236 (8) 

Isolates 

cid Chimariko 10 0 (8)  

kyh Karok 8a 12 (8)  

kut Kutenai 8a 106 (77)       

SOUTH AMERICA      

Araucanian 

huh Huilliche 8a 2000 (78)  

arn Mapudungun 6b 258410 (78) 

Arawakan 

aca Achagua 6b 250 (79)  

cpc Ajyíninka Apurucayali 6b 4000 (79)  

cni Asháninka 5 26000 (79)  

cjo Ashéninka Pajonal 6b 12000  (79)  

prq Ashéninka Perené 6b 5500  (79)  

aox Atorada 8a 0  (79)  

gae Baniva de Maroa 8a 650 (57)  

bwi Baniwa do Icana 8a 610 (79)  

bae Baré 8b 240  (79)  

brg Baure 8a 40  (79)  

cbb Cabiyarí 7 270 (79)  

cot Caquinte 5 300  (79)  

ccc Chamicuro 8b 2 (79)  

kpc Curripaco 5 11880  (79)  

unk Enawené-Nawé 6a 320 (79)  

inp Iñapari 8b 4  (79)  

ign Ignaciano 5 4500 (79)  

mcb Machiguenga 5 5910 (80)  

mpd Machinere 7 1080 (81)  

mht Mandahuaca 8b 3000 (79)  

mpw Mapidian-Mawayana 8b 10 (79)  

cuj Mashco Piro 6b 60 (81)  

mmh Mehináku Resígaro 6a 230 (79)  

cox Nanti 6a 250 (79)  

not Nomatsiguenga 5 6500 (79)  

plu Palikúr 5 1540 (79)  pbg Paraujano 8b 4326 (82)  

pab Parecís 5 2000 (79)  

pio Piapoco 5 6380  (79)  

cpu Pichis Ashéninka 5 12000  (79)  

rgr Resígaro 8b 14 (79)  

sar Saraveca 10 0 (79)  

cpy South Ucayali Ashéninka 5 13000 (79)  

tae Tariana 7 100 (79)  

ter Terena-Kinikinao-Chane 7 15800 (79)  

trn Trinitario 7 5500 (79)  

cpb Ucayali-Yurúa Ashéninka 5 7870 (79)  

wap Wapishana 6b 12500 (79)  wau Waurá 5 320 (79)  

guc Wayuu 5 321000 (79)  

xir Xiriâna 9 903 (79)  

ybn Yabaâna-Mainatari 9 90 (79)  

ame Yanesha' 5 9830 (79)  

yvt Yavitero 8b 1 (83)  

yaw Yawalapití  8b 15 (79)  

pib Yine 5 4000 (81) 

Cahuapanan 

jeb Jebero 7 2500 (84)  

cbt Shawi 5 7870 (19) 

Guahiboan 

cui Cuiba 5 2850 (85)  

guh Guahibo 6b 34200 (85)  

guo Guayabero 5 1000 (85)  

mbn Macaguán 6b 300 (85)  

gob Playero 6b 350 (85) 

Nambiquaran 

lkd Lakondê 8b 1 (13)  

ltn Latundê 8a 10 (13)  

wmd Mamaindé 6b 330 (13)  

sae Sabanê 8b 7 (13)  

nab Southern Nambikuára 5 720 (13)  

xtw Tawandê 8a 0 (13) 

Yanomamic 

shb Ninam 6a 900 (19)  

wca Yanomám 6b 6000 (19)  

guu Yãnoma 5 19700 (19) 

Isolates 

tba Aikanã 6b 180 (86)  

kbh Camsá 5 4000 (87)  

cyb Cayubaba 8b 798 (86)  

ito Itonama 8b 5 (88)  

xwa Kwaza 8b 7 (86)  

yuz Yuracaré 6b 2680 (89)       

CENTRAL AMERICA     

Uto-Aztecan 

ngu Central Guerrero Nahuatl 6a 150000 (90)  

nch Central Huasteca Nahuatl 5 200000 (90)  

ncx Central Puebla Nahuatl 6b 16000 (90)  

naz Coatepec Nahuatl 7 1400 (90)  

nhe Eastern Huasteca Nahuatl 5 410000 (90)  

azz Highland Puebla Nahuatl 5 125000 (90)  

nhq Huaxcaleca Nahuatl 7 7000 (90)  

nhk Isthmus-Cosoleacaque Nahuatl 8a 5140 (90)  

nhx Isthmus-Mecayapan Nahuatl 5 20000 (90)  

nhp Isthmus-Pajapan Nahuatl 6b 7000 (90)  

ncl Michoacán Nahuatl 6b 3000 (90)  

nhm Morelos Nahuatl 6a 18700 (90)  

npl Nahuatl, Southeastern Puebla 5 92000 (90)  

nhy Northern Oaxaca Nahuatl 5 9000 (90)  

ncj Northern Puebla Nahuatl 6a 60000 (90)  

nht Ometepec Nahuatl 7 430 (90)  

nlv Orizaba Nahuatl 6a 120000 (90)  

ppl Pipil 8a 20 (90)  

nhz Santa María La Alta Nahuatl 7 2470 (90)  

nsu Sierra Negra Nahuatl 6a 25000 (90)  

nhc Tabasco Nahuatl 8b 0 (90)  

nhv Temascaltepec Nahuatl 7 310 (90)  

nhg Tetelcingo Nahuatl 6b 3500 (90)  

nuz Tlamacazapa Nahuatl 6b 1550 (90)  

nhn Tlaxcala-Puebla-Central Nahuatl 6b 40000 (90)  

nhw Western Huasteca Nahuatl 5 400000 (90)  

nhi Zacatlán-Ahuacatlán-Tepetzintla Nahuatl 5 17100 (90)  

crn El Nayar Cora 5 9480 (91)  

hch Huichol 5 17800 (92)  

cok Santa Teresa Cora 5 3880 (91) 

Mixe-Zoque  

zoh Chimalapa Zoque 6b 4500 (93)  

mco Coatlán Mixe 5 5000 (93)  

zoc Copainalá Zoque 6a 10000 (93)  

zos Francisco León Zoque 6a 20000 (93)  

poi Highland Popoluca 5 30000 (93)  

mir Isthmus Mixe 5 20000 (93)  

mxq Juquila Mixe 5 8000 (93)  

neq North Central Mixe 5 13000 (93)  

plo Oluta Popoluca 8b 120 (93)  

poc Poqomam 6b 49000 (93)  

zor Rayón Zoque 7 2100 (93)  

pos Sayula Popoluca 6b 3030 (93)  

mxp Tlahuitoltepec Mixe 6a 5000 (93)  

mto Totontepec Mixe 5 5470 (93) 

Tarascan 

tsz Purepecha 5 40000 (10)  

pua Western Highland Purepecha 5 135000 (10) 

Totonacan 

toc Coyutla Totonac 5 48100 (8)  

tlp Filomeno Mata Totonac 6a 15100 (8)  

tos Highland Totonac 5 120000 (8)  

tee Huehuetla Tepehua 6a 3000 (94)  

top Papantla Totonac 5 80000 (94)  

tpp Pisaflores Tepehua 6a 4000 (8)  

tcw Tecpatlán Totonac 6b 540 (8)  

tpt Tlachichilco Tepehua 6b 3000 (8)  

tku Upper Necaxa Totonac 6b 3400 (8)  

tqt Western Totonac 6b 1610 (8)  

too Xicotepec De Juárez Totonac 7 3000 (8)  

tlc Yecuatla Totonac 7 500 (8)       

ASIA     

Ainu 

ain Hokkaido Ainu 8b 25 (95) 

Austroasiatic  

pcj Gorum-Parenga 8b 0 (8) (an extinct Munda language) 

juy Juray 6a 801000 (16)  (a Munda language)

srb Sora 5 253000 (16) (a Munda language)

Sino-Tibetan 

aph Athpariya 6b 5530 (96)  

bhj Bahing 6a 11700 (96)  

bap Bantawa 6b 147400 (96)  (a Tibeto-Burman language)

byw Belhariya 6b 600 (96)  

cur Chhulung 7 2050 (96)  

ctn Chintang 6b 3710 (97)  

cuw Chukwa 8a 100 (96)  

dus Dumi 7 7640 (96)  

raa Dungmali 6b 6260 (96)  

emg Eastern Meohang 6b 0 (96)  

jee Jerung 6b 1760 (96)  

klr Khaling 6a 14500 (96)  

jiq Khroskyabs 6a 50000 (96)  

kkt Koi 6a 1270 (96)  

kle Kulung (Nepal) 6b 33200 (96)  

lif Limbu 5 381300 (96)  

lbr Lohorung 6b 3720 (96)  

ncd Nachering 7 10000 (96)  

pum Puma 6b 6690 (98)  

raq Saam 8b 530 (96)  

rav Sampang 6b 18300 (96)  

lrr Southern Yamphu 6b 2500 (96)  

ero Stau-Dgebshes 6a 45000 (96)  

jih Stodsde 6a 4100 (96)  

suz Sunwar 6b 38200 (96)  

tdh Thulung 5 20700 (96)  

tij Tilung 8a 1420 (96)  

wly Waling 9 0 (96)  

wme Wambule 5 13500 (96)  

vay Wayu 7 1520 (96)  

raf Western Meohang 6b 0 (96)  

ybh Yakkha 6b 20410 (96)  

ybi Yamphu 6b 9210 (96)       

AUSTRALIA      

Gunwinyguan 

aoi Anindilyakwa 6a 1290 (99)  

gup Bininj Kun-Wok 6b 1220 (99)  

djn Jawoyn 8b 43 (99)  

wlg Kunbarlang 8b 16 (99)  

nig Ngalakgan 10 0 (99)   

ngk Ngalkbun 8b 11 (99)  

nid Ngandi 9 0 (99)  

rmb Rembarrnga 6b 36 (99)  

wrz Warray 10 0 (99)  nuy Wubuy 6b 110 (99)  

wdj Wadjiginy 8b 12 (100) 

Southern Daly 

mwf Murriny Patha 5 1830  (100)  

nam Nangikurrunggurr 7 180 (100) 

Western Daly 

amy Ami 8a 30 (100)  

zma Manda (Australia) 8b 25 (100)  

zmr Maranunggu 8b 15 (100)  

zmd Maridan 8b 20 (100)  

zmj Maridjabin 8b 20 (100)  

zmm Marimanindji 8b 15 (100)  

zmt Maringarr 8b 30 (100)  

mfr Marithiel 8b 15 (100)  

zmy Mariyedi 8b 20 (100)  

xru Marriammu 8b 5 (100)  

zmg Marti Ke 8b 3 (100) 

Isolate 

tiw Tiwi 5 1740 (99)       

OCEANIA      

Lower Sepik-Ramu1 

1 Note that all Lower Sepik Ramu are listed because the family is described as containing “highly complex polysynthetic languages” however this may need to be revised with more language-specific detail on degree of synthesis on languages within this family. 

aog Angoram 6a 8220 (101)  

can Chambri 6a 1700 (101)  

xop Kopar 6a 540 (102) 

mtf Murik (Papua New Guinea) 6b 1000 (101)

tzx Tabriak 6a 2080 (101)

yee Yimas 6b 300 (103)

Sepik 

amp Alamblak  5 1530 (103)

EUROPE      

Abkhaz-Adyge

abq Abaza 5 37800 (104)

ady Adyghe 2 467800 (104)

kbd Kabardian 5 1516000 (104)

abk Abkhazian 2 105000 (104)

uby Ubykh 10  0 (104)

Chukotko-Kamchatkan 

alr Alutor 8b 25(8)

ckt Chukchi 6b 5100 (8) 

krk Kerek 9 8 (8)

kpy Koryak 7 1670 (8)

Eskimo-Aleut 

ynk Naukan Yupik 8b 510 (8)

ysr Old Sirenik 10 0 (8)

Nivkh 

niv Nivkh 8a 200 (105)

Yeniseian     

ket Ket 8a 210 (106)

Table S2: “Borderline” highly synthetic languages included in this analysis. This list includes languages described as being on the borderline of polysynthetic, using phrases such as “in the borderline area of polysynthesis” (30), “somewhat polysynthetic” (24), “mildly polysynthetic” (107), “reasonably polysynthetic” (21), and so on. We also include in this list languages that are labelled polysynthetic by some authors but not by others. We repeat all analyses on both the Polysynthetic list (n=375: Table S1) and the Extended list, which includes all of the polysynthetic languages in Table S1 plus the borderline languages in this table (n=428) 

REGION

Family ISO Language EGIDS L1  Example reference 

NORTH AMERICA      

Muskogean 

akz Alabama 7 250 (108)  

cic Chickasaw 8a 600 (108)  

cho Choctaw 6b 10400 (108)  

mus Creek 6b 4000 (108)  

cku Koasati 8a 200 (108)  

mik Mikasuki 6b 190 (108) 

Uto-Aztecan 

com Comanche 8a 100 (30) 

Isolates 

was Washo 8b 10 (8)  

yuc Yuchi 8b 5 (8)       

SOUTH AMERICA      

Aymaran 

ayr Central Aymara 6b 3000000 (8)  

jqr Jaqaru 7 740 (8)  

mbj Nadëb 5 400 (8)  

ayc Southern Aymara 6a 219000 (8) 

Cariban  

ako Akurio 8b 10 (109)  

apy Apalaí 5 450 (21)  

cbd Carijona 8b 6 (22)  

mch Maquiritari 6a 5950 (109)  

pbh Panare 5 3540 (24)  

way Wayana 5 850 (23) 

Harakmbut 

amr Amarakaeri 6b 500 (20)  

hug Huachipaeri 6b 310 (20) 

Naduhup 

kwa Dâw 6b 85 (110)  

jup Hup 5 1240 (110)  

yab Yuhup 5 400 (110) 

Pano-Tacanan 

cbr Cashibo-Cacataibo 5 1150 (111)  

shp Shipibo-Conibo 5 26000 (111) 

Tupian 

guq Aché 5 1000 (112)  

ait Arikem 10 0 (18)  

nhd Chiripá 6b 6960 (109)  

gui Eastern Bolivian Guaraní  5 51230 (109)  

kgk Kaiwá 5 18000 (109)  

gun Mbyá Guaraní 5 15000 (109)  

skf Mekens 8b 25 (88)  

pta Pai Tavytera 6b 600 (88)  

gug Paraguayan Guaraní  1 5E+06 (113)  

tpj Tapieté 6b 2520 (113)  

eme Teko 6b 400 (114)  

gnw Western Bolivian Guaraní 6a 7000 (113)  

pto Zo'é 6b 150 (109) 

Yanomamic 

xsu Sanumá 5 5070 (79) 

Isolates 

cax Chiquitano 7 5860 (115)  

lec Leco 8a 20 (115)  

cas Mosetén-Chimané 6b 5320 (8, 116)       

CENTRAL AMERICA      

Uto-Aztecan 

yaq Yaqui 8a 12230 (116) 

Mayan 

yua Yucatec Maya 5 741000 (107) 

Pano-Tacanan 

mcf Matsés 6a 17500 (109)       

ASIA

Austronesian 

khc Tukang Besi North 6a 120000 (8)  

bhq Tukang Besi South 6a 130000 (8)  

xnb Kanakanavu 8b 4 (117)  

sxr Saaroa 8b 10 (117)  

tsu Tsou 6a 2130 (117)       

AUSTRALIAN      

Eastern Daly 

xmu Kamu 10 0 (100)  

zml Madngele 10 15 (100)       

EUROPE      

Chukotko-Kamchatkan 

itl West Itelmen 8b 80 (31)