List of endangered languages in the United States
An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. If it loses all of its native speakers, it becomes an extinct language. UNESCO defines four levels of language endangerment between "safe" and "extinct":
- Vulnerable
- Definitely endangered
- Severely endangered
- Critically endangered
Language | Speakers | Status | Comments |
Achumawi language | 8 | Critically endangered | |
Acoma-Laguna language | 10,670 | Definitely endangered | Keresan languages |
Ahtna language | 80 | Critically endangered | |
Alabama language | 370 | Definitely endangered | |
Aleut language | 150 | Critically endangered | Number of speakers includes both Eastern and Western dialects. |
Aleut language | 150 | Severely endangered | Number of speakers includes both Eastern and Western dialects. |
Arapaho language | 1,000 | Vulnerable | |
Arikara language | 3 | Critically endangered | |
Assiniboine language | 250 | Critically endangered | |
Blackfoot language | 5,100 | Vulnerable | |
Caddo language | 25 | Critically endangered | |
Cahuilla language | 15 | Critically endangered | |
Central Alaskan Yup'ik language | 18,950 | Vulnerable | Two varieties, one on Nunivak Island |
Central Pomo language | 8 | Critically endangered | |
Central Siberian Yupik language | 1,010 | Vulnerable | |
Central Sierra Miwok language | Critically endangered | ||
Chemehuevi language | Critically endangered | ||
Cherokee language | 1,000 | Vulnerable | |
Cherokee language | 22,000 | Vulnerable | |
Cheyenne language | Vulnerable | ||
Cheyenne language | Vulnerable | ||
Chickasaw language | Severely endangered | ||
Chinook Jargon language | Critically endangered | ||
Choctaw language | Vulnerable | ||
Choctaw language | Vulnerable | ||
Choctaw language | Vulnerable | ||
Cocopa language | Severely endangered | ||
Coeur d'Alene language | Critically endangered | ||
Columbia-Moses language | Critically endangered | Columbia-Wenatchi language | |
Comanche language | Severely endangered | ||
Creek language | Vulnerable | ||
Crow language | Vulnerable | ||
Gros Ventre language | Critically endangered | ||
Gwich'in language | Severely endangered | ||
Halkomelem language | Severely endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Hän language | Critically endangered | ||
Havasupai language | Definitely endangered | ||
Hawaiian language | Vulnerable | ||
Hawai'i Sign Language | Unknown | Critically endangered | 1987 Honolulu Star-Bulletin; 1998 Honolulu Advertiser |
Hidatsa language | Vulnerable | ||
Holikachuk language | Critically endangered | ||
Hopi language | Vulnerable | ||
Hualapai language | Vulnerable | ||
Hupa language | Critically endangered | ||
Ingalik language | Critically endangered | ||
Ipai language | Critically endangered | ||
Jemez language | Vulnerable | ||
Jicarilla Apache language | Severely endangered | ||
Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille | Critically endangered | Montana Salish language | |
Karuk language | Severely endangered | ||
Kashaya language | Critically endangered | ||
Kawaiisu language | Critically endangered | ||
Kickapoo language | Vulnerable | ||
Kickapoo language | Vulnerable | ||
Kickapoo language | Vulnerable | ||
Kiksht language | Critically endangered | ||
Kings River Yokuts | Critically endangered | ||
Kiowa language | Severely endangered | ||
Kiowa Apache language | Critically endangered | ||
Klallam language | Critically endangered | ||
Koasati language | Definitely endangered | ||
Koasati language | Definitely endangered | ||
Konkow language | Critically endangered | ||
Koyukon language | Critically endangered | ||
Kutenai language | Severely endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Kwak'wala language | Critically endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Lake Miwok language | Critically endangered | ||
Luiseño language | Critically endangered | ||
Lushootseed language | Critically endangered | ||
Maidu language | Critically endangered | ||
Makah language | Critically endangered | ||
Malecite-Passamaquoddy language | Definitely endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language | Severely endangered | ||
Mandan language | 0 | Critically endangered | Extinct, current attempt at revival. |
Maricopa language | Severely endangered | ||
Massachusett language | Five child speakers; 400 adult learners | Vulnerable | Current attempts at revival; Bible translated into the language in 1663 |
Menominee language | Critically endangered | ||
Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache language | Definitely endangered | ||
Mescalero-Chiricahua Apache language | Critically endangered | ||
Micmac language | Vulnerable | ||
Mikasuki language | Vulnerable | ||
Mohave language | Severely endangered | ||
Mohave language | Severely endangered | ||
Mohawk language | Vulnerable | ||
Mohawk language | Vulnerable | ||
Mohawk language | Vulnerable | ||
Mono language | Critically endangered | ||
Mono language | Critically endangered | ||
Montana Salish language | Critically endangered | ||
Munsee language | Critically endangered | ||
Navajo language | Vulnerable | ||
Nez Perce language | Critically endangered | ||
Inupiat language | Severely endangered | North Alaskan: Kotzebue Sound & North Slope | |
Northern Haida language | Critically endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Northern Paiute language | Critically endangered | ||
Northern Paiute language | Definitely endangered | ||
Northern Paiute language | Critically endangered | ||
Northern Pomo language | Critically endangered | ||
Northern Sierra Miwok language | Critically endangered | ||
Northern Straits Salish language | Critically endangered | ||
O'odham language | Vulnerable | ||
O'odham language | Vulnerable | ||
Ojibwe language | Vulnerable | ||
Okanagan language | Definitely endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Omaha-Ponca language | Critically endangered | ||
Oneida language | Critically endangered | Also in Canada | |
Oneida language | Critically endangered | ||
Onondaga language | Critically endangered | Also in Canada | |
Osage language | Vulnerable | ||
Ottawa language | Critically endangered | Also in Canada | |
Pacific Gulf Yupik language | Severely endangered | ||
Panamint language | Critically endangered | ||
Patwin language | Critically endangered | ||
Pawnee language | Critically endangered | ||
Picuris language | Vulnerable | ||
Plains Sign Talk | Critically endangered | ||
Potawatomi language | Critically endangered | ||
Potawatomi language | Critically endangered | ||
Potawatomi language | Critically endangered | ||
Potawatomi language | Critically endangered | ||
Quechan language | Definitely endangered | ||
Rio Grande Keresan language | Definitely endangered | Keresan languages | |
Sahaptin language | Severely endangered | ||
Sauk-Fox language | Critically endangered | ||
Seneca language | Severely endangered | ||
Seward Peninsula Inupiaq language | Critically endangered | Inupiat language | |
Seward Peninsula Inupiaq language | Critically endangered | Inupiat language | |
Seward Peninsula Inupiaq language | Critically endangered | Inupiat language | |
Shawnee language | Vulnerable | ||
Shoshoni language | Vulnerable | ||
Shoshoni language | Vulnerable | ||
Shoshoni language | Vulnerable | ||
Sioux language | Vulnerable | Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota | |
Southern Paiute language | Severely endangered | ||
Southern Pomo language | Critically endangered | ||
Southern Sierra Miwok language | Critically endangered | ||
Southern Tiwa language | Definitely endangered | ||
Southern Tiwa language | Definitely endangered | ||
Spokane language | Critically endangered | Interior Salish languages, Montana Salish language | |
Straits Salish language | Severely endangered | Primarily in Canada | |
Tanacross language | Critically endangered | ||
Tanaina language | Severely endangered | ||
Tanana language | Critically endangered | ||
Taos language | Definitely endangered | ||
Tewa language | Definitely endangered | ||
Tewa language | Severely endangered | ||
Tipai language | Severely endangered | ||
Tlingit language | Critically endangered | ||
Tolowa language | Critically endangered | ||
Tubatulabal language | Critically endangered | ||
Tule-Kaweah Yokuts | Critically endangered | ||
Tuscarora language | Critically endangered | ||
Upland Yuman language | Vulnerable | ||
Upper Kuskokwim language | Critically endangered | ||
Upper Tanana language | Critically endangered | ||
Ute language | Vulnerable | ||
Ute language | Vulnerable | ||
Ute language | Vulnerable | ||
Valley Yokuts | Severely endangered | ||
Washo language | Severely endangered | ||
Western Apache language | Vulnerable | ||
Winnebago language | Severely endangered | ||
Winnebago language | Severely endangered | ||
Wintu-Nomlaki language, Wintu language | Critically endangered | Wintuan languages | |
Yaqui language | Definitely endangered | ||
Yavapai language | Severely endangered | ||
Yuchi language | Critically endangered | ||
Yurok language | Critically endangered | ||
Zuni language | Vulnerable |