Languages of Central America

[vijayjohn]

I'm grouping all of the languages of Central America into just one thread because, let's be honest, modern Central America is not that linguistically diverse. There are languages only from seven families spoken between Guatemala and Panama, not counting colonial languages or creoles. There are languages from more than that many families spoken just between Mexico City and the US-Mexico border. The seven families attested in Central America are Mayan, Maipurean, Chibchan, Jicaquean, Misumalpan, Uto-Aztecan, and Chocoan.

Apart from the Maipurean language Garifuna, spoken on the eastern coasts of Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua, all of the surviving indigenous languages of Guatemala and Belize are Mayan. One of them is also spoken across the border in Honduras. Only one Jicaquean language is alive, namely Tol in Honduras. The Misumalpan language Miskito shares the eastern coasts of Honduras and Nicaragua with Garifuna.

Pipil is the only Uto-Aztecan language surviving in Central America, and it is spoken in El Salvador. The Chibchan languages are spoken from Honduras all the way down to Panama. Chocoan languages are also spoken in Panama.