Spurious languages explained

Spurious languages are languages that have been reported as existing in reputable works, while other research has reported that the language in question did not exist. Some spurious languages have been proven to not exist. Others have very little evidence supporting their existence, and have been dismissed in later scholarship. Others still are of uncertain existence due to limited research.

Below is a sampling of languages that have been claimed to exist in reputable sources but have subsequently been disproved or challenged. In some cases a purported language is tracked down and turns out to be another, known language. This is common when language varieties are named after places or ethnicities.

Some alleged languages turn out to be hoaxes, such as the Kukurá language of Brazil or the Taensa language of Louisiana. Others are honest errors that persist in the literature despite being corrected by the original authors; an example of this is , the name given in 1892 to two Colonial word lists, one of Tlingit and one of a Salishan language, that were mistakenly listed as Patagonian. The error was corrected three times that year, but nonetheless "Hongote" was still listed as a Patagonian language a century later in Greenberg (1987).^[1]

In the case of New Guinea, one of the most linguistically diverse areas on Earth, some spurious languages are simply the names of language surveys that the data was published under. Examples are , Kia,, , listed as Indo-Pacific languages in Ruhlen 1987; these are actually rivers that gave their names to language surveys in the Greater Awyu languages and Ok languages of New Guinea.^[2]

Dubious languages

Dubious languages are those whose existence is uncertain. They include:

• Oropom (Uganda)
• Nemadi (Mauritania)
• Rer Bare (Ethiopia) – extinct, if it ever existed
• Tapeba (Brazil) – a recently created indigenous ethnicity, not a language
• Ladakhi Sign Language – no community to use it^[3]
• Dek (Cameroon)

Spurious according to Ethnologue and ISO 639-3

Following is a list of ISO 639-3 language codes which have been retired since the standard was established in 2006, arranged by the year in which the actual retirement took effect; in most cases the change request for retirement was submitted in the preceding year. Also included is a partial list of languages (with their SIL codes) that appeared at one time in Ethnologue but were removed prior to 2006, arranged by the first edition in which they did not appear.

The list includes codes that have been retired from ISO 639-3 or languages removed from Ethnologue because the language apparently does not exist and cannot be identified with an existing language. The list does not include instances where the "language" turns out to be a spelling variant of another language or the name of a village where an already known language is spoken; these are cases of duplicates, which are resolved in ISO 639-3 by a code merger. It does include "languages" for which there is no evidence or which cannot be found. (In some cases, however, the evidence for nonexistence is a survey among the current population of the area, which would not identify extinct languages such as Ware below.)

SIL codes are upper case; ISO codes are lower case. Once retired, ISO 639-3 codes are not reused.^[4] SIL codes that were retired prior to 2006 may have been re-used or may have reappeared as ISO codes for other languages.

Removed from Ethnologue, 12th ed., 1992

• (PNG) [{{vanchor|ITM}}]
• (Brazil) [{{vanchor|MPQ}}]
• (PNG) [{{vanchor|NMY}}]
• , (Brazil) [{{vanchor|NRY}}]
• [{{vanchor|NUH}}]
• (PNG) [{{vanchor|OGA}}]
• (Mexico) [{{vanchor|TJS}}] – added to Ethnologue 1988 by mistake due to a misunderstanding, removed in 1992. No evidence that it ever existed.
• Senoufo [{{vanchor|TYE}}] – the Tyeliri are a caste of leather workers, and do not have their own language
• [{{vanchor|WGM}}]
• [{{vanchor|ZNF}}] – name of an ethnic group that speaks Yongkom [yon]

Removed from Ethnologue, 13th ed., 1996

• (PNG) [{{vanchor|BHE}}] – described as "isolate in need of survey" in the 12th ed.

Removed from Ethnologue, 14th ed., 2000

• 2 [{{vanchor|ALQ}}] – a mislabeled fragment of a word list^[5]
• [{{vanchor|DZI}}], [{{vanchor|KBG}}], [{{vanchor|PFG}}], [{{vanchor|TCJ}}], [{{vanchor|LFU}}], [{{vanchor|WGS}}] – old names for Qiangic languages, some of uncertain correspondence to currently recognized names
• [{{vanchor|HSI}}] – an ethnic name for people speaking a variety of Qiangic or Jiarongic languages
• Scandinavian Pidgin Sign Language [{{vanchor|SPF}}] – normal inter-language contact, not an established pidgin
• Wutana (Nigeria) [{{vanchor|WUW}}] – an ethnic name

Removed from Ethnologue, 15th ed., 2005

• [{{vanchor|JIJ}}]^[6]
• [{{vanchor|CKN}}]^[7]
• - [{{vanchor|LWD}}], incl. /^[8]
• [{{vanchor|ORB}}]^[9] (though other languages without ISO codes, such as Wila', are also called Lowland Semang)
• Mutús [{{vanchor|MUF}}]^[10] – suspected to exist, e.g. by Adelaar 2005
• [{{vanchor|NCQ}}]^[11]
• [{{vanchor|NKQ}}]^[12] – same as Tanjijili? Also a possible synonym for Kwak (retired in 2015)
• [{{vanchor|OSO}}] – no evidence it is distinct from Fungom and Bum^[13]
• [{{vanchor|RUR}}]^[14]
• [{{vanchor|WBD}}]^[15]

Retired 2007

• [{{vanchor|xmi}}] – unattested^[16]
• [{{vanchor|atf}}] – an old town name^[17]
• Creole [{{vanchor|amd}}]^[18]

Retired 2008

• [{{vanchor|akn}}]^[19]
• Land Dayak [{{vanchor|dyk}}] – language family name, not individual language^[20]
• Ware [{{vanchor|wre}}]^[21] – Ware is listed as extinct in Maho (2009). When an SIL team in Tanzania were not able to find any evidence of it being spoken, the code was retired.
• River Kenyah [{{vanchor|bwv}}], River Kenyah [{{vanchor|knh}}], Kenyah [{{vanchor|xkm}}], Kenyah [{{vanchor|ubm}}] – Any current use is likely either Mainstream Kenyah [{{vanchor|xkl}}] or Uma' Lung [{{vanchor|ulu}}]
• [{{vanchor|aex}}] – prison jargon
• - [{{vanchor|ggh}}] (Borana & Somali)
• Sufrai [{{vanchor|suf}}] – two languages, Tarpia and Kaptiau, which are not close^[22]

Retired 2009

• Aariya [{{vanchor|aay}}]
• [{{vanchor|ppv}}] – name given to several uncontacted groups
• Europanto [{{vanchor|eur}}] – a jest
• Chumash [chs]^[23]

Retired 2010

• Chimakum [{{vanchor|cmk}}] – duplicate of Chemakum [xch]
• Beti (Cameroon) [{{vanchor|btb}}] – a group name

Retired 2011

• Ayi (China) [{{vanchor|ayx}}]
• (India) [{{vanchor|dha}}]
• [{{vanchor|mja}}]

Retired 2012

• [{{vanchor|pbz}}]
• Pongyong [{{vanchor|pgy}}]
• Elpaputih [{{vanchor|elp}}] – could be either of two existing languages
• Wirangu-Nauo [{{vanchor|wiw}}] – the two varieties which do not form a unit^[24]

Retired 2013

• Malakhel [{{vanchor|mld}}] – likely Ormuri
• Forest Maninka [{{vanchor|myq}}] – generic

Retired 2014

• Gugu Mini [{{vanchor|ggm}}] – a generic name
• Pidgin [{{vanchor|mhh}}] – never existed
• [{{vanchor|emo}}] – never existed
• Yugh [{{vanchor|yuu}}] – duplicate of Yug [{{vanchor|yug}}]
• Lamam [{{vanchor|lmm}}] – duplicate of Romam [{{vanchor|rmx}}]

Retired 2015

• Mator-Taygi-Karagas [{{vanchor|ymt}}] – duplicate of Mator
• Yiddish Sign Language [{{vanchor|yds}}] – no evidence that it existed^[25]
• The [{{vanchor|thx}}] – duplicate of Oy
• Imraguen (Mauritania) [{{vanchor|ime}}]
• () [{{vanchor|bxx}}] – perhaps a typo for Boma (Eboma)^[26]
• Bemba [{{vanchor|bmy}}] – a tribal name
• Songa [{{vanchor|sgo}}] – a tribal name
• Daza [{{vanchor|dzd}}] – retired in 2015 (with the reason "Nonexistent") but that decision was reversed in 2023, bringing [dzd] back^[27]
• Buya [{{vanchor|byy}}]
• Kakauhua [{{vanchor|kbf}}] – Kakauhua/Caucahue is an ethnonym, language unattested – see Alacalufan languages
• Subi [{{vanchor|xsj}}] – duplicate of Shubi [suj] but that decision was reversed in 2019, bringing [xsj] back^[28]
• [{{vanchor|ynh}}] – does not exist
• ǂKxʼaoǁʼae ("=/Kx'au//'ein") [{{vanchor|aue}}] – dialect of Juǀʼhoan [ktz]^[29]

Retired 2016

• [btl]
• [cbh]
• [cbe] – a Saliba and Guahibo surname
• [kox]
• [{{vanchor|iap}}] – uncontacted, and likely one of the neighboring languages
• [xbx] – generic name for Parecis, Nambiquaras, or any hostile group (see Cabixi language for one specific use)
• [rna]
• (Dravidian) [{{vanchor|svr}}]
• Xipináwa [{{vanchor|xip}}]^[30]
• [yri]

And several supposed extinct Arawakan languages of Venezuela and Colombia:

• [{{vanchor|cum}}]
• [{{vanchor|ome}}]
• [{{vanchor|pod}}] – a Sáliba surname, perhaps just Piapoco or Achagua^[31]
• [{{vanchor|toe}}]

Additional languages and codes were retired in 2016, due to a lack of evidence that they existed, but were not necessarily spurious as languages.

Retired 2017

• Lua' [{{vanchor|prb}}]^[32]
• Rennellese Sign Language [{{vanchor|rsi}}] – a home sign system, not a full language^[33]
• [{{vanchor|rie}}]^[34]
• [{{vanchor|snh}}]^[35]
• [{{vanchor|puk}}] – no substantive evidence that the language ever existed.

Retired 2018

• [{{vanchor|lsg}}]^[36] – no substantive evidence that the language ever existed.
• [{{vanchor|mwx}}]^[37]
• [{{vanchor|mwy}}] – a clan name^[38]

Retired 2019

• [{{vanchor|lba}}]^[39]
• [{{vanchor|llo}}] – duplicate of Kriang [{{vanchor|ngt}}]^[40]
• [{{vanchor|myi}}] – Meena, a tribe and caste name in India^[41]

Retired 2020

• Arma [{{vanchor|aoh}}]^[42]
• [{{vanchor|ayy}}]^[43]
• [{{vanchor|bbz}}]^[44]
• [{{vanchor|bpb}}] ^[45]
• [{{vanchor|cca}}]^[46]
• [{{vanchor|cdg}}]^[47]
• [{{vanchor|dgu}}]^[48]
• [{{vanchor|ekc}}]^[49]
• [{{vanchor|kjf}}]^[50]
• [{{vanchor|lmz}}]^[51]
• Palpa [{{vanchor|plp}}]^[52]
• [{{vanchor|tbb}}]^[53]

Retired 2021

• Bikaru [bic]  - posited based on a poor elicitation of ordinary Bisorio^[54]

Retired 2022

• [{{vanchor|wrd}}]^[55]
• [{{vanchor|pii}}]^[56]
• Judeo-Tunisian Arabic [{{vanchor|ajt}}] – duplicate of Tunisian Arabic [aeb]^[57]

Retired 2023

• [{{vanchor|tpw}}]  - duplicate of Tupinamba [tpn]^[58]
• [{{vanchor|kgm}}]  - duplicate of Palikur [plu]^[59]
• [{{vanchor|kbz}}]  - duplicate of Khakas [kjh]^[60]
• [{{vanchor|slq}}]^[61]
• Parsi [{{vanchor|prp}}]^[62]

Retired 2024

• [{{vanchor|wma}}]  - listed in Ethnologue but SIL has no evidence it ever existed.

Spurious according to Glottolog

Glottolog, maintained at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, classifies several languages, some with ISO 639 codes, as spurious/unattested in addition to those retired by the ISO. These include:

Language Name	ISO 639-3	Details
!Khuai
Adabe	adb	Dialect of Wetarese, taken for a Papuan language
Adu	adu
Agaria	agi	all likely candidates in the area already have ISO codes
Ahirani	ahr	Khandeshi dialect
Anasi	bpo
Arakwal	rkw	An ethnic group, not a language
Baga Kaloum	bqf	Should be subsumed into Koga variant
Baga Sobané	bsv	Should be subsumed into Sitemu variant
Bainouk-Samik	bcb	Split from Bainouk-Gunyuño due solely to national border
Bhalay	bhx	A caste rather than a language
Bubia	bbx
Buso	bso
Chetco	ctc
Chuanqiandian Cluster Miao	cqd
Con	cno
Gengle	geg
Gowlan	goj	A caste rather than a language
Gowli	gok	A caste, not a language
Guajajara	gub
Ihievbe	ihi	Ibviosakan dialect
Ir	irr	duplicate of Ong-Ir
Judeo-Berber	jbe	According to Glottolog, Jewish Berbers speak no differently than Muslim Berbers. However, there are claims, listed in the linked article, that this is not true.
Kang	kyp
Kannada Kurumba	kfi
Katukína	kav	Historical form of modern-day language, not considered distinct
Kayort	kyv
Kisankasa	kqh
Kofa	kso
Kpatili	kpm	Purportedly the original language of the Kpatili people, who now speak Gbayi, but any such language is unattested
Kuanhua	xnh
Kuku-Mangk	xmq
Lama (Myanmar)	lay
Lambichhong	lmh	Yakkha language name exists due to form errors
Lang'e	yne
Laopang	lbg
Loarki	lrk
Lopi	lov
Lumba-Yakkha	luu	Yakkha language name exists due to form errors
Munda	unx
Ndonde Hamba	njd
Norra	nrr
Northwestern Fars	faz	all likely candidates in the area already have ISO codes
Odut	oda	Extinct and unattested Nigerian language
Old Turkish	otk
Ontenu	ont	A place rather than a language
Phangduwali	phw	Yakkha language name exists due to form errors
Pisabo	pig	Asserted to be both unattested and non-distinct by Glottolog
Pokangá	pok
Potiguára	pog
Puimei Naga	npu	Indistinct variety of one of the related languages
Putoh	put
Quetzaltepec Mixe	pxm
Rufiji	rui
Skagit	ska
Snohomish	sno
Southern Lolopo	ysp
Southwestern Nisu	nsv	Likely confused additional Nisu language (spoken in same locations as Southern Nisu)
Syerna Senoufo	shz
Tawang Monpa	twm
Tetete	teb
Thu Lao	tyl
Tingui-Boto	tgv
Welaung	weu	Place name, not a language
Yarsun	yrs
Yauma	yax

External links

• Web site: Retired Code Elements Index. SIL International. .

Notes and References

1. Book: Campbell, Lyle . Lyle Campbell . Grondona . Verónica . Campbell . Lyle . 2012 . The Indigenous Languages of South America . Classification of the indigenous languages of South America . The World of Linguistics . 2 . Berlin . De Gruyter Mouton . 59–166 . 9783110255133.
2. Upper Kaeme may correspond to Korowai.
3. Web site: Glottolog 2.4 – Adabe . Glottolog.org . 2015-07-13.
4. Web site: ISO 639-3 Change History . 01.sil.org . 2015-07-13.
5. Sidwell, 2009, Classifying the Austroasiatic languages
6. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:JIJ . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
7. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:CKN . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
8. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:LWD . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
9. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:ORB . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
10. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:MUF . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
11. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:NCQ . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
12. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:NKQ . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
13. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:OSO . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
14. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:RUR . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
15. Web site: Ethnologue 14 report for language code:WBD . Ethnologue.com . 2012-09-24.
16. Web site: Request Number 2006-016 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Conrad. Hurd. SIL International. 2006-08-08. 2019-01-06.
17. Web site: Request Number 2006-122 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Conrad. Hurd. SIL International. 2007-03-26. 2019-01-06.
18. Web site: Request Number 2006-124 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Conrad. Hurd. SIL International. 2007-03-21. 2019-01-06.
19. Web site: Request Number 2007-003 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. David J.. Holbrook. SIL International. 2007-04-05. 2019-01-06.
20. Web site: Request Number 2007-254 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Matt. Peebles. SIL International. 2007-09-01. 2019-01-06.
21. Web site: Request Number 2007-024 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Mark. Woodward. SIL International. 2007-05-23. 2019-01-06.
22. Web site: Request Number 2006-016 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Conrad. Hurd. SIL International. 2006-08-08. 2019-01-06.
23. Web site: Request Number 2008-030 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. John. McLaughlin. SIL International. 2008-03-03. 2023-07-12.
24. Web site: Request Number 2011-133 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Karsten. Legère. SIL International. 2011-08-18. 2019-01-06.
25. Web site: Request Number 2014-010 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. J. Albert. Bickford. SIL International. 2014-01-31. 2019-01-06.
26. Web site: Request Number 2014-032 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2014-07-25. 2019-01-06.
27. Web site: 639 Identifier Documentation: dzd. SIL International. 2023-02-13.
28. Web site: 639 Identifier Documentation: xsj. SIL International. 2019-01-26.
29. Web site: Request Number 2014-059 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Josh. Dyer. SIL International. 2014-08-28. 2019-01-06.
30. Web site: Request Number 2015-011 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2015-03-09. 2019-01-06.
31. Web site: Request Number 2015-032 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2015-05-28. 2019-01-06.
32. Web site: Request Number 2016-010 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Nate. Cheeseman. SIL International. 2016-02-16. 2019-01-06.
33. Web site: Request Number 2016-002 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Albert. Bickford. SIL International. 2015-09-23. 2019-01-06.
34. Web site: Request Number 2016-005 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Nate. Cheeseman. SIL International. 2015-10-27. 2019-01-06.
35. Web site: Request Number 2016-004 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2015-10-26. 2019-01-06.
36. Web site: Request Number 2017-013 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. J. Albert. Bickford. SIL International. 2017-03-09. 2019-01-06.
37. Web site: Request Number 2017-017 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Karsten. Legère. SIL International. 2017-05-18. 2019-01-06.
38. Web site: Request Number 2016-029 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Karsten. Legère. SIL International. 2016-08-31. 2019-01-06.
39. Web site: Request Number 2018-016 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2018-08-20. 2019-01-15.
40. Web site: Request Number 2018-008 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Ryan. Gehrmann. SIL International. 2018-01-22. 2019-01-25.
41. Web site: Request Number 2018-011 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2018-08-09. 2019-01-25.
42. Web site: Request Number 2019-017 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-01. 2020-02-05.
43. Web site: Request Number 2019-018 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-04. 2020-02-05.
44. Web site: Request Number 2019-013 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-01-05. 2020-02-05.
45. Web site: Request Number 2019-019 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-04. 2020-02-05.
46. Web site: Request Number 2019-020 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-05. 2020-02-05.
47. Web site: Request Number 2019-028 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-14. 2020-02-05.
48. Web site: Request Number 2019-029 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-18. 2020-02-05.
49. Web site: Request Number 2019-015 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-02-16. 2020-02-05.
50. Web site: Request Number 2019-026 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-12. 2020-02-05.
51. Web site: Request Number 2019-025 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-07. 2020-02-05.
52. Web site: Request Number 2019-034 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-13. 2020-02-05.
53. Web site: Request Number 2019-032 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2019-03-13. 2020-02-05.
54. Web site: 2020-026 | Iso 639-3.
55. Web site: Request Number 2021-015 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2021-02-25. 2022-02-04.
56. Web site: Request Number 2021-021 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2021-04-26. 2022-02-04.
57. Web site: Request Number 2021-020 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. Houcemeddine. Turki. SIL International. 2021-04-21. 2023-07-12.
58. Web site: Request Number 2022-012 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2022-06-30. 2023-02-08.
59. Web site: Request Number 2022-012 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2022-06-30. 2023-02-08.
60. Web site: Request Number 2022-011 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2022-06-30. 2023-02-08.
61. Web site: Request Number 2022-015 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2022-06-30. 2023-02-08.
62. Web site: Request Number 2022-009 for Change to ISO 639-3 Language Code. SIL International. 2022-06-24. 2023-02-08.