Kalinago proper became extinct by about 1920 due to population decline and colonial period deportations resulting in language death, but an offshoot survives as Garifuna, primarily in Central America.

Instead, it appears to have been a development of the Arawakan language spoken by the islands' earlier Igneri inhabitants, which incoming Caribs adopted in the pre-Columbian era.

Contemporary traditions indicated the Kalinago were related to the mainland Caribs (Kalina) of South America and had conquered these islands from their previous inhabitants, the Igneri.

[2] In any event, the fact that the Kalinago language evidently derived from a pre-existing Arawakan variety has led some linguists to term it "Igneri".

Berend J. Hoff and Douglas Taylor hypothesized that it dated to the time of the Carib expansion through the islands, and that males maintained it to emphasize their origins.