language isolate
No relatives found
A language isolate is a language with no demonstrable relationship to any other known language—it stands alone, not part of any language family.
Basque, surrounded by Indo-European languages in Spain and France, is the classic example.
Korean and Ainu are others.
The term reflects limits of current knowledge; some isolates may eventually be connected to other languages as research advances.
Pyrenees ethnic group
Not assigned a category
- ungroupedNot assigned to categories
- genetic relationshipBiological family connection
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
- cognatesWords from common origin
Complete vanishing of a species
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- revitalizationRestoring vigor or vitality
- vanishingCeasing to be visible
vulnerable · threatened · dying · cultural heritage · UNESCO · field recording · archiving · dormant
Basque
Pyrenees ethnic group
unclassified
Not assigned a category
- ungroupedNot assigned to categories
- genetic relationshipBiological family connection
- phylogenyEvolutionary relationships among organisms
extinction
Complete vanishing of a species
- preservationMaintaining something's condition
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- revitalizationRestoring vigor or vitality
vanishing · vulnerable · threatened · dying · cultural heritage · UNESCO · field recording · archiving · dormant · moribund
- Basque languageregional dialects, agglutination, standardization, Basque Country, alphabet
- BasqueBasque Country, Euskal Herria, Bilbao, San Sebastian, Navarre
- historical linguisticscognates, Indo-European, Grimm's Law, Proto-Germanic, word origins
language isolateMandarin Chinese
Official language of China
Spanish · Hindi · Arabic · lingua franca · world language
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