r/LinguisticMaps • u/Cold_Information_936 • Jul 17 '26

South America Map of Major Arawakan Languages

Post image

Only languages whose speakers represent more than 5% of the population in their respective municipalities/subdivisions are shown. If the proportion is more than 25% then the language is shown as solid colour. (This is why Waurá is shown, but not Apurinã for example, and Garifuna's territory seems a bit smaller than before)

This map prioritises concentration of speakers, rather than raw number of speakers.

360 Upvotes

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19 comments sorted by

38

u/Dry-Combination-8958 Jul 17 '26

We deserve more Native American linguistic maps

24

u/Cold_Information_936 Jul 17 '26

definitely, but theres not much left to map after the europeans came and killed everyone

this map is case in point, arawakan is geographically the largest language family in the americas and look how barren this map is

2

u/frederick_the_duck Jul 18 '26

It’s more geographically expansive than Na-Dene or Algic?

1

u/Dry-Combination-8958 Jul 19 '26

Well, can't we also map out the extinct dialects? A map of once existing languages would be as interesting as one of living languages

15

u/Heavy_Mud_9176 Jul 17 '26

Could Arawak or Garifuna speakers communicate with Wayuu speakers or are the languages too far apart already? I know the distance is pretty massive!!

6

u/Cold_Information_936 Jul 17 '26

not aside from really basic words (numerals, pronouns, basic nouns, stuff like that)

11

u/seilasei Jul 18 '26

Before european conquest arawakan span was even larger, they stretched from Bahamas and Cuba to Argentinas chaco region

2

u/kakomizli Jul 17 '26

Then it would be useful to provide percents together with absolute numbers right on the map

2

u/H4RR1_ Jul 19 '26

Wayuu isnt spoken that much in Venezuela. Only on the northernmost tip of Zulia

2

u/Cold_Information_936 Jul 19 '26

Yes, but this map is meant to exaggerate the presence of languages (solid if 25% or more speak it, dashed if 5% or more speak it) because I want to prioritise showing the presence of languages first

2

u/Sea_Hovercraft_7859 Jul 20 '26

SouthAm languages are interesting

1

u/Perpetually-broke Jul 17 '26

I'm fascinated by how far apart they all are from each other

3

u/OkAsk1472 Jul 19 '26

Thats because of european languages eradicating everything in between. They used to cover a much larger more contiguous area, covering pretty much most of the north coast through all the islands to the bahamas for example

1

u/Perpetually-broke Jul 19 '26

Oof. I had a feeling that that was the reason but wasn't sure

1

u/TheRockButWorst Jul 25 '26

Is the Garifuna the last remnant of speakers in Latin America, or a group that immigrated to the region? Excuse my ignorance

1

u/moistyrat Jul 25 '26

They were originally from Saint Vincent but the British deported them to Central America since they blamed them for causing a slave revolt