I.

Introduction

Native American Languages, indigenous languages of the native peoples of North, Middle, and South America. Scholars can only guess at the total number of languages once spoken by Native Americans; many of these languages disappeared before they could be documented. When Europeans arrived on the North American continent in the late 15th century, about 300 distinct languages were in use. Little more than half of these languages survive today and the number of languages continues to diminish as fewer and fewer children learn to speak them. In Middle America (Mexico and Central America) experts have identified approximately 300 languages, of which about half are still spoken. Only about 350 of an estimated 1,500 native languages in South America are still spoken. These, too, are disappearing rapidly.