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Oops, I forgot to mention the fact that there are things such as isolate languages.
This category deals with languages that are isolate, in the sense that they cannot conclusively be shown to be related to any other language. There are actually quite a few languages in the world that aren't related to any others. I was surprised at the amount of them when I first saw the complete list.
Language -Comments
Ainu -Endangered language, spoken in northern Japan.
Basque -No known living relatives, found in the Basque region of France and Spain. Aquitanian is commonly regarded as a direct ancestor of Basque. Some linguists have claimed similarities with various languages of the Caucasus, especially because of its ergative case system, but the resemblances seem superficial. Other linguists have proposed a relation to Iberic.
Birale (Ongota)
Burushaski -Little information available.
Elam -Extinct language of Elamite Empire; some conjecture a relationship to the Dravidian languages
Etruscan -Language of the ancient Etruscans in southern Italy, not well understood at present
Hadza -Often listed as an outlier among the Khoisan languages
Iberic -There are lexical coincidences with Basque, but it is hard to know if they are more than a result of vicinity.
Jalabe (Jalaa)
Japanese -Possibly related to Korean language, though not yet proven. Connections to the Altaic languages have also been proposed. See Altaic hypothesis for these theories.
Ket -No known relatives. Some linguists have attempted to show a relationship with Burushaski.
Korean -Possibly related to Japanese language, though not yet proven. Connections to the Altaic languages have also been proposed. See Altaic hypothesis for these theories.
Kwadi -Often listed as an outlier among the Khoisan languages
Mekejir (Shabo)
Meroitic -Extinct language of ancient Nubian kingdom
Nahali
Nivkh -or Gilyak. A Palaeosiberian language spoken in the lower Amur River basin and on the Sakhalin Islands; Ainu is also spoken on Sakhalin.
Oropom -Possibly nonexistent.
Sandawe -Often listed as an outlier among the Khoisan languages
Sumerian Long-extinct language of ancient Sumeria.
Taiap
Ticuna
Yukaghir -Connections to Uralic Languages have been proposed
After what I said about Proto Germanic being able to invent nearly all components of a language on its on, it would only make sense that other languages could rise where they invent all of their components. These 23 isolate languages irrefutably defend my point.
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