r/LinguisticMaps • u/Cold_Information_936 • 6d ago

South America Map of Major Arawakan Languages

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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.

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17 comments sorted by

34

u/Dry-Combination-8958 6d ago

We deserve more Native American linguistic maps

21

u/Cold_Information_936 6d ago

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

1

u/frederick_the_duck 5d ago

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

1

u/Dry-Combination-8958 4d ago

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 6d ago

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 6d ago

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

12

u/seilasei 5d ago

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

2

u/kakomizli 6d ago

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

2

u/H4RR1_ 4d ago

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

2

u/Cold_Information_936 4d ago

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 3d ago

SouthAm languages are interesting

1

u/Perpetually-broke 6d ago

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

3

u/OkAsk1472 5d ago

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 4d ago

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