Editing Language isolate (section)

===Africa===
{{Further|Languages of Africa#Unclassified languages}}

With few exceptions, all of Africa's languages have been gathered into four major phyla: [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]], [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]], [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] and [[Khoisan languages|Khoisan]].<ref>Blench, Roger. 2017. African language isolates. In ''Language Isolates'', edited by Lyle Campbell, pp. 176–206. Routledge.</ref> However, the genetic unity of some language families, like [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Starostin|first=George|title=The Nilo-Saharan hypothesis tested through lexicostatistics: current state of affairs |website=Academia |url=https://www.academia.edu/21582071|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|last1=Harald Hammarström|title=glottolog/glottolog: Glottolog database 4.2.1|date=2020-04-16|chapter-url=https://zenodo.org/record/3754591|doi=10.5281/zenodo.3754591|access-date=2020-08-12|last2=Robert Forkel|last3=Martin Haspelmath|last4=Sebastian Bank|chapter=Linguistics}}</ref> is questionable, and so there may be many more language families and isolates than currently accepted. Data for several African languages, like [[Kwisi language|Kwisi]], are not sufficient for classification. In addition, [[Jalaa language|Jalaa]], [[Shabo language|Shabo]], [[Laal language|Laal]], [[Kujargé language|Kujargé]], and a few other languages within [[Nilo-Saharan]] and [[Afroasiatic languages|Afroasiatic]]-speaking areas may turn out to be isolates upon further investigation. [[Defaka language|Defaka]] and [[Ega language|Ega]] are highly divergent languages located within [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]]-speaking areas, and may also possibly be language isolates.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Niger-Congo/General/Niger-Congo%20an%20alternative%20view.pdf|title=Niger-Congo: an Alternative View|last=Blench|first=Roger}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable" RULES="ALL"
|-
! Language
! data-sort-type=number | Speakers
! Status
! Countries
! Comments
|-
| [[Bangime language|Bangime]]
|3,500
| data-sort-value=1 rowspan="2" | Vibrant
|[[Mali]]
| Spoken in the [[Bandiagara Escarpment]]. Used as an [[anti-language]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Hantgan|first1=Abbie|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01867003|title=Bangime: Secret Language, Language Isolate, or Language Island?|last2=List|first2=Johann-Mattis|date=September 2018}}</ref>
|-
|[[Bayot language|Bayot]] 
|35,000
|[[Senegal]], [[Guinea-Bissau]]
|Basic vocabulary shows no relation to other languages.<ref>https://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/BLS/article/download/3924/3619/5154</ref>
|-
| [[Gule language|Gule]]
| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" data-sort-value=6 |Extinct
|[[Sudan]]
| Although this language is poorly known, Zamponi (2025) unambiguously classified it as an isolate.<ref>Zamponi, Raoul (2025, forthcoming). ''[https://www.academia.edu/126721374/Zamponi_R_2025_Gule_Routledge_London_and_New_York Gule]''. Routledge World Languages. London: Routledge.</ref> Not enough evidence exists to classify it as one of the [[Koman languages]].<ref name="glot">{{cite web| editor-last1= Hammarström| editor-first1 = Harald| editor-last2 = Forke| editor-first2 = Robert| editor-last3 = Haspelmath| editor-first3 = Martin| editor-last4 = Bank| editor-first4 = Sebastian| year = 2020|title = Gule | work = [[Glottolog]] 4.3| url = https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/gule1241}}</ref>
|-
| [[Hadza language|Hadza]]
|1,000
| data-sort-value=2 |Vulnerable
|[[Tanzania]]
| Spoken on the southern shore of [[Lake Eyasi]] in the southwest of [[Arusha Region]]. Once listed as an outlier among the [[Khoisan languages]].<ref name="Witzlack-Nakagawa">{{cite book |last1=Witzlack-Makarevich |first1=Alena |last2=Nakagawa |first2=Hirosi |editor1-last=Ekkehard-Wolff |editor1-first=H. |title=The Cambridge Handbook of African Linguistics |date=2019 |publisher=CUP |pages=382–416 |chapter=Linguistic Features and Typologies in Languages Commonly Referred to as 'Khoisan'}}</ref> Language use is vigorous, though there are fewer than 1,000 speakers.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Miller |first1=Kirk |title=Highlights of Hadza Fieldwork |website=Academia |url=https://www.academia.edu/36533860}}</ref>
|-
|[[Jalaa language|Jalaa]]
| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" data-sort-value=6 |Extinct
|[[Nigeria]]
|Strongly influenced by [[Dikaka language|Dikaka]], but most vocabulary is very unusual.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kleinewillinghofer |first1=Ulrich |title=Jalaa: An Almost Forgotten Language of Northeastern Nigeria: A Language Isolate? |journal=Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika |date=2001 |volume=16–17 |pages=239–271}}</ref>
|-
|[[Laal language|Laal]]
|750
| data-sort-value=4 |Moribund
|[[Chad]]
|Spoken in three villages along the [[Chari River]] in [[Moyen-Chari Region]]. Poorly known. Also known as Gori. Possibly a distinct branch of [[Niger–Congo]], [[Chadic languages|Chadic]] of the [[Afroasiatic languages]], or mixed.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}
|-
|[[Mpra language|Mpra]] 
| style="text-align: center;" colspan="2" |Extinct
|[[Ghana]]
|It is known only from a 70-word list given in a 1931 article. Blench (2007) considers it to be a possible language isolate.<ref>Blench, Roger (2007) ''[http://www.ddl.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/projets/clhass/PageWeb/ressources/Isolats/Mpra%20%20Blench%202007.pdf Recovering data on Mpra (=Mpre) a possible language isolate in North-Central Ghana]''</ref>
|-
|[[Ongota language|Ongota]] 
|12
|Moribund
|[[Ethiopia]]
|Likely isolated.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gerrit J.|last=Dimmendaal|title=Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages|year=2011|publisher=John Benjamins|isbn=978-90-272-8722-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Gerrit J.|last=Dimmendaal |year=2020 |chapter=33. Linguistic Isolates |editor1=Rainer Vossen |editor2=Gerrit J. Dimmendaal |title=The Oxford Handbook of African Languages |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=428–436}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=The Languages and Linguistics of Africa |last=Güldemann |first=Tom |editor-last=Güldemann |editor-first=Tom |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |chapter=Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa |year=2018|isbn=978-3-11-042606-9 |doi=10.1515/9783110421668-002 |location=Berlin |pages=58–444 |series=The World of Linguistics series |volume=11 |s2cid=133888593 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Sandawe language|Sandawe]]
|60,000
| data-sort-value=1 |Vibrant
|[[Tanzania]]
|Spoken in the northwest of [[Dodoma Region]]. Tentatively linked to the [[Khoe languages]].<ref name="Witzlack-Nakagawa" />
|-
|[[Shabo language|Shabo]]
|400
| data-sort-value=3 |Endangered
|[[Ethiopia]]
|Spoken in [[Anderaccha]], Gecha, and Kaabo of the [[Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region]]. Linked to the [[Gumuz language|Gumuz]] and [[Koman languages|Koman]] families in the proposed [[Komuz languages|Komuz]] branch of the [[Nilo-Saharan languages]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ahland |first1=Colleen |title=The Classification of Gumuz and Koman Languages |journal=Language Isolates in Africa Workshop |date=2010}}</ref>
|-
|[[Siamou language|Siamou]]
|40,000
|Vibrant
|[[Burkina Faso]], [[Mali]], [[Ivory Coast]]
|Traditionally classified as [[Kru languages|Kru]]. Due to lack of evidence or any resemblance is classified now as an isolate.<ref name="Guldemann">{{Cite book |last=Güldemann |first=Tom |title=The Languages and Linguistics of Africa |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-11-042606-9 |editor-last=Güldemann |editor-first=Tom |series=The World of Linguistics series |volume=11 |location=Berlin |pages=58–444 |chapter=Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa |doi=10.1515/9783110421668-002 |s2cid=133888593}}</ref>
|}