what was the first language in america
The very first languages in what is now the United States were the many Indigenous (Native American) languages , not English or Spanish.
Quick Scoop: Core answer
If by “America” you mean the land before Europeans arrived, there was no single “first language.”
Instead, hundreds of distinct Native American languages were spoken by different nations and tribes for thousands of years before English showed up in the 1600s.
If you mean “the first major European language that became dominant,” that would be English in what became the USA, after British colonization in the 17th century.
Mini section 1: Before English – who was really here?
Long before colonization, the continent was a linguistic patchwork, not an empty stage waiting for English.
Some examples of Indigenous languages in North America include:
- Navajo (Diné Bizaad)
- Cherokee
- Dakota and Lakota (Siouan languages)
- Ojibwe (Anishinaabemowin)
- Hopi, Nahuatl, many others across hundreds of language families
Modern linguistic work suggests that the ancestors of these languages arrived in multiple waves from Siberia, roughly 24,000 and 15,000 years ago, then diversified into around 200 independent language families across the Americas.
In other words: there wasn’t “the first language in America” – there were many, evolving over tens of thousands of years, tied to specific peoples and homelands.
Mini section 2: When did English enter the picture?
English is much newer here.
- Early 1600s: English-speaking settlers from England and the British Isles begin establishing colonies in North America.
- By the late 1600s: English has become the dominant colonial language in those British colonies, even though many other European and African languages are also present.
- Over time: English expands with U.S. territorial growth and becomes the primary language for government, business, and public life.
So if someone asks “What language is number one in America today?” the practical answer is English.
But if the question is about who spoke here first , the honest answer is Indigenous peoples speaking their own languages, long before English existed.
Mini section 3: A quick viewpoint rundown
Different ways people frame “first language in America”:
- Historical-justice view
- Emphasizes that Native languages (like Navajo, Cherokee, Dakota, etc.) are the original languages of this land and should be treated as such.
* Often used to push back on ideas like “In America we speak only English,” highlighting that English itself is an import from England.
- Colonial-history view
- Focuses on the colonial period and says “English was the first national or dominant language of the United States,” because the U.S. grew out of British colonies.
- Linguistics research view
- Looks further back, arguing that the “earliest American languages” trace to multiple migrations from Siberia and then split into many families over tens of thousands of years.
All three are talking about slightly different things—original inhabitants, later power structures, and deep-time language history—which is why the question feels more complex than it first appears.
Mini section 4: One simple way to remember it
You can keep the idea straight like this:
- First languages on the land → Indigenous Native American languages (many, not one).
- First dominant colonial language of the USA → English, from British settlers in the 17th century.
TL;DR:
The first languages in America were the numerous Indigenous languages spoken
by Native peoples, developed over thousands of years; English arrived much
later with British colonization and only eventually became dominant.
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.