The languages of North America reflect not only that continent's indigenous peoples, but the European colonization as well. The most widely spoken languages in North America (which includes Central America and the Caribbean islands) are English, Spanish, to a lesser extent French, and, especially in the Caribbean, creole languages lexified by them.
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North America is home to a large number of language families and some language isolates. In the Arctic north, the Eskimo–Aleut languages are spoken from Alaska to Greenland. This group includes the Aleut language of the Aleutian Islands, the Yupik languages of Alaska and the Russian Far East, and the Inuit languages of Alaska, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Greenland.[1]
The Na-Dené languages, of which the most numerous and widespread are the Athabaskan languages, include the languages of central and eastern Alaska and northwestern Canada, as well as the Apachean languages of the Southwestern United States.[2] The Algic languages, including the large Algonquian branch, are widespread across Canada and the United States; they include Cree, Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Mi'kmaq, and Blackfoot.[3] The Iroquoian languages dominate the area around the Saint Lawrence River and the eastern Great Lakes, but also include Cherokee.[4] The Siouan–Catawban languages, including Crow and Sioux, dominate the Great Plains.[5] A large number of small language families are spoken in the Pacific Northwest from British Columbia to California.[6]
The Uto-Aztecan languages are found throughout the Western United States, northern and central Mexico, and as far south as El Salvador; they include Hopi, O'odham, and Nahuatl (descended from Aztec).[7] Other large families in Mexico include the Mayan languages (also spoken in Belize and Guatemala),[8] the Mixe–Zoque languages,[9] and the Oto-Manguean languages.[10] In the Caribbean, the Arawakan languages were formerly widespread, but are now limited to Garifuna on the Central American mainland; the family is still well represented in South America, however.[11] The Chibchan languages are spoken in Costa Rica and Panama as well as South America.[12]
The three most widely spoken languages in North America – English, Spanish, and to a lesser extent French – reflect the three most important powers in the Age of Discovery: England, Spain, and France.
English is the predominant language of Canada, the United States, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, and is spoken alongside English-based creole languages in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Virgin Islands.[13] It is also the official language of Dominica and Saint Lucia, where the French-based Antillean Creole is also widely spoken.
Spanish is the dominant language in Mexico and all of Central America apart from Belize, as well as Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico (where English is spoken as well); it is also widely spoken in the United States.[14]
French is the dominant language in Quebec and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and is spoken in Ontario, New Brunswick, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Louisiana. It is spoken alongside French-based creole languages in Saint Lucia, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, and the French side of Saint Martin.[15] French is one of the two official and national languages of Canada.
Though no German state played a major role in the European colonization of the Americas, German people did found their own colonies. Pennsylvania German, Hutterite German, Texas German, all of which developed in North America, as well as Plautdietsch are spoken by decedents of these settlers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Other immigrant languages include Danish in Greenland[16] and Dutch in Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, where it is spoken alongside the Portuguese Creole language Papiamento.[17] In modern times North America has immigrant speakers of a large number of languages from around the world. For details see Languages of Canada, Languages of the United States, and Languages of Mexico.
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