Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.

Appendix D:
Mother tongue and home language: classifications from 2011, 2006 and 2001

Changes have been made in the language classification used in our products. In this appendix, the 2011, 2006, and 2001 classifications are compared.

Please note that in the second part of the question on home language, the respondent had the option of marking the 'No' circle to indicate that there was no other language spoken on a regular basis.

The individual categories used in 2011 do not always match those used in 2006 and 2001. In most cases, however, the corresponding number can be obtained by adding all members of the language family.

Mother tongue and home language: classifications from 2011, 2006 and 2001
2011 Classification 2006 Classification 2001 Classification
English English English
French French French
Non-official languages Non-official languages Non-official languages
Aboriginal languages Aboriginal languages Aboriginal languages
Algonquian languages Algonquian languages Algonquian languages
Algonquin Algonquin Algonquin
Atikamekw AtikamekwFootnote 1 Attikamekw
Blackfoot Blackfoot Blackfoot
Cree languages CreeFootnote 2 CreeFootnote 2
Cree, n.o.s. Not available Not available
Swampy Cree Not available Not available
Plains Cree Not available Not available
Woods Cree Not available Not available
Cree, n.i.e. Not available Not available
Malecite Malecite Malecite
Mi'kmaq Mi'kmaqFootnote 1 Micmac
Innu/Montagnais Montagnais-NaskapiFootnote 3 Montagnais-NaskapiFootnote 3
Naskapi Not available Not available
Ojibway Ojibway Ojibway
Oji-Cree Oji-Cree Oji-Cree
Algonquian languages, n.i.e. Algonquian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 4 Algonquian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 4
Michif Not available Not available
Athapaskan languages Athapaskan languages Athapaskan languages
Carrier CarrierFootnote 5 CarrierFootnote 5
Wetsuweten Not available Not available
Chilcotin Chilcotin Chilcotin
Not available Chipewyan Chipewyan
DeneFootnote 6 Dene Dene
Tlicho (Dogrib)Footnote 7 Dogrib Dogrib
Gwich'inFootnote 7 Kutchin-Gwich'in (Loucheux) Kutchin-Gwich'in (Loucheux)
North Slavey (Hare)Footnote 8 North Slave (Hare) North Slave (Hare)
South SlaveyFootnote 8 South Slave South Slave
Slavey, n.o.s.Footnote 8 Not available Not available
Sarcee Not available Not available
Beaver Not available Not available
Sekani Not available Not available
Kaska (Nahani) Not available Not available
Tahltan Not available Not available
Northern Tutchone Not available Not available
Southern Tutchone Not available Not available
Tutchone, n.o.s. Not available Not available
Athapaskan languages, n.i.e. Athapaskan languages, n.i.e.Footnote 9 Athapaskan languages, n.i.e.Footnote 9
Haida Haida Haida
Iroquoian languages Iroquoian languages Iroquoian languages
Mohawk Mohawk Mohawk
Cayuga Not available Not available
Oneida Not available Not available
Iroquoian languages, n.i.e. Iroquoian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 10 Iroquoian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 10
Kutenai Kutenai Kutenai
Salish languages Salish languages Salish languages
Shuswap (Secwepemctsin)Footnote 7 Shuswap Shuswap
Thompson (Ntlakapamux) Thompson (Ntlakapamux) Thompson (Ntlakapamux)
Halkomelem Not available Not available
Lillooet Not available Not available
Okanagan Not available Not available
Squamish Not available Not available
Straits Not available Not available
Salish languages, n.i.e. Salish languages, n.i.e.Footnote 11 Salish languages, n.i.e.Footnote 11
Siouan languagesFootnote 7 Siouan languages (Dakota/Sioux) Siouan languages
Dakota/Sioux
Dakota Not available Not available
Stoney Not available Not available
Siouan languages, n.i.e. Not available Not available
Tlingit Tlingit Tlingit
Tsimshian languages Tsimshian languages Tsimshian languages
Gitksan Gitksan Gitksan
Nisga'a Nisga'aFootnote 1 Nishga
Tsimshian Tsimshian Tsimshian
Wakashan languages Wakashan languages Wakashan languages
Nootka (Nuu-chah-nulth)Footnote 7 Nootka Nootka
Haisla Not available Not available
Heiltsuk Not available Not available
Kwakiutl (Kwak'wala) Not available Not available
Wakashan languages, n.i.e. Wakashan languages, n.i.e.Footnote 12 Wakashan languages, n.i.e.Footnote 12
Inuit languagesFootnote 7 InuktitutFootnote 13 Inuktitut (Eskimo)
Inuktitut Not available Not available
Inuinnaqtun Inuinnaqtun Not available
Inuvialuktun Not available Not available
Inuit languages, n.i.e. Not available Not available
Not available Inuktitut, n.i.e.Footnote 14 Not available
Aboriginal languages, n.i.e. Aboriginal languages, n.i.e. Aboriginal languages, n.i.e.
Romance languages Romance languages Romance languages
Italian Italian Italian
Portuguese Portuguese Portuguese
Romanian Romanian Romanian
Spanish Spanish Spanish
Catalan Not available Not available
Romance languages, n.i.e. Romance languages, n.i.e.Footnote 15 Romance languages, n.i.e.Footnote 15
Germanic languages Germanic languages Germanic languages
Not available Not available Netherlandic languages
Dutch Dutch Dutch
Flemish Flemish Flemish
Frisian Frisian Frisian
German German German
Yiddish Yiddish Yiddish
Scandinavian languages Scandinavian languages Scandinavian languages
Danish Danish Danish
Icelandic Icelandic Icelandic
Norwegian Norwegian Norwegian
Swedish Swedish Swedish
Afrikaans Not available Not available
Germanic languages, n.i.e. Germanic languages, n.i.e.Footnote 16 Germanic languages, n.i.e.Footnote 16
Celtic languages Celtic languages Celtic languages
Gaelic languages Gaelic languages Gaelic languages
Welsh Welsh Welsh
Celtic languages, n.i.e. Celtic languages, n.i.e. Celtic languages, n.i.e.
Slavic languages Slavic languages Slavic languages
Belarusian (Byelorussian)Footnote 7 Belarusan (Byelorussian)Footnote 13 Byelorussian
Bosnian Bosnian Not available
Bulgarian Bulgarian Bulgarian
Croatian Croatian Croatian
Czech Czech Czech
Macedonian Macedonian Macedonian
Polish Polish Polish
Russian Russian Russian
Serbian Serbian Serbian
Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian
Slovak Slovak Slovak
Slovenian Slovenian Slovenian
Ukrainian Ukrainian Ukrainian
Slavic languages, n.i.e. Slavic languages, n.i.e. Slavic languages, n.i.e.
Baltic languages Baltic languages Baltic languages
Latvian LatvianFootnote 1 Latvian (Lettish)
Lithuanian Lithuanian Lithuanian
Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric languages
Estonian Estonian Estonian
Finnish Finnish Finnish
Hungarian Hungarian Hungarian
Greek Greek Greek
Armenian Armenian Armenian
AlbanianFootnote 17 Not available Not available
GeorgianFootnote 17 Not available Not available
Turkic languages Turkic languages Turkic languages
Azerbaijani Azerbaijani Not available
Turkish Turkish Turkish
Turkic languages, n.i.e. Turkic languages, n.i.e. Turkic languages, n.i.e.
MongolianFootnote 17 Not available Not available
Afro-Asiatic languages Afro-Asiatic languages Not available
Berber languages (Kabyle) Berber languages (Kabyle) Not available
Cushitic languages Cushitic languages Not available
Oromo Oromo Not available
Somali SomaliFootnote 18
Semitic languages Semitic languages Semitic languages
Amharic Amharic Amharic
Arabic Arabic Arabic
Hebrew Hebrew Hebrew
Maltese Maltese Maltese
Somali
Tigrigna TigrignaFootnote 1 Tigringa
Semitic languages, n.i.e. Semitic languages, n.i.e. Semitic languages, n.i.e.
Afro-Asiatic languages, n.i.e. Afro-Asiatic languages, n.i.e. Not available
Indo-Iranian languages Indo-Iranian languages Indo-Iranian languages
Indo-Aryan languages Indo-Aryan languages Not available
Bengali Bengali Bengali
Gujarati Gujarati Gujarati
Hindi Hindi Hindi
Konkani Konkani Konkani
Marathi Marathi Marathi
Panjabi (Punjabi) Panjabi (Punjabi)Footnote 1 Punjabi
Sindhi Sindhi Sindhi
Sinhala (Sinhalese) Sinhala (Sinhalese)Footnote 1 Sinhalese
Urdu Urdu Urdu
Nepali Not available Not available
Iranian languages Iranian languages Not available
Kurdish Kurdish Kurdish
Pashto Pashto Pashto
Persian (Farsi) Persian (Farsi) Persian (Farsi)
Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e. Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 19 Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 19
Dravidian languages Dravidian languages Dravidian languages
Kannada Kannada Kannada
Malayalam Malayalam Malayalam
Tamil Tamil Tamil
Telugu Telugu Telugu
Dravidian languages, n.i.e. Dravidian languages, n.i.e. Dravidian languages, n.i.e.
Japanese Japanese Japanese
Korean Korean Korean
Sino-Tibetan languages Sino-Tibetan languages Sino-Tibetan languages
Chinese languages Chinese languagesFootnote 13 Chinese
Cantonese Cantonese Cantonese
Chaochow (Teochow) Chaochow (Teochow) Not available
Fukien Fukien Not available
Hakka Hakka Hakka
Mandarin Mandarin Mandarin
Shanghainese Shanghainese Not available
Taiwanese Taiwanese Not available
Chinese, n.o.s.Footnote 20 Chinese, n.o.s.Footnote 20 Chinese, n.o.s.Footnote 20
Tibetan languages Tibetan languages Not available
Burmese Not available Not available
Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e. Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e.Footnote 21 Sino-Tibetan languages, n.i.e.Footnote 21
Tai languages Tai languages Tai languages
Lao Lao Lao
Thai Thai Thai
Austro-Asiatic languages Austro-Asiatic languages Austro-Asiatic languages
Khmer (Cambodian) Khmer (Cambodian) Khmer (Cambodian)
Vietnamese Vietnamese Vietnamese
Not available Not available Austro-Asiatic languages, n.i.e.
Malayo-Polynesian languages Malayo-Polynesian languages Malayo-Polynesian languages
Bisayan languages Bisayan languages Not available
Ilocano Ilocano Not available
Malay MalayFootnote 13 Malay-Bahasa
Pampango Pampango Not available
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino) Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)Footnote 1 Tagalog (Pilipino)
Bikol Not available Not available
Malagasy Not available Not available
Fijian Not available Not available
Pangasinan Not available Not available
Malayo-Polynesian languages, n.i.e. Malayo-Polynesian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 22 Malayo-Polynesian languages, n.i.e.Footnote 22
Not available Not available Asiatic languages, n.i.e.
Niger-Congo languages Niger-Congo languages Niger-Congo languages
Akan (Twi) Akan (Twi)Footnote 13 Twi
Bantu languages Bantu languages Bantu languages
Lingala Lingala Not available
Rundi (Kirundi) Rundi (Kirundi) Not available
Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) Rwanda (Kinyarwanda) Not available
Shona Shona Not available
Swahili Swahili Swahili
Ganda Not available Not available
Bantu languages, n.i.e. Bantu languages, n.i.e.Footnote 23 Bantu languages, n.i.e.Footnote 23
Edo Edo Not available
Igbo Igbo Not available
Wolof Wolof Not available
Bamanankan Not available Not available
Ewe Not available Not available
Ga Not available Not available
Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e. Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.Footnote 24 Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.Footnote 24
African languages, n.i.e. African languages, n.i.e. African languages, n.i.e.
Creoles Creoles Creoles
Non-verbal languages Non-verbal languages Not available
American Sign Language American Sign Language Not available
Quebec Sign Language Quebec Sign Language Not available
Sign languages, n.i.e. Sign languages, n.i.e. Not available
Other languagesFootnote 17 Other languagesFootnote 17 Other languagesFootnote 17

n.i.e. = not included elsewhere
n.o.s. = not otherwise specified
… = Somali was reclassified and placed under Cushitic languages in 2006.

Date modified: