How Many Languages Are There within the World?


If each nation spoke just one language, there can be round 200 languages on this planet right now. However as you most likely know, each nation speaks many languages—and in some instances, a whole bunch of languages!

So what number of languages are there right now? Check out the whole variety of languages on this planet, which language households have probably the most audio system, and which international locations have the best variety of languages spoken inside their borders.

Whole languages on this planet

Right now there are 7,164 languages spoken internationally. Nevertheless, these languages will not be evenly distributed throughout populations. Over 3.6 billion folks converse the 20 most spoken languages on this planet, accounting for under 0.3% of the world’s whole languages.

Variety of languages spoken by area

So what number of languages are there and the place are most of those languages spoken? Once you group languages by area, you’ll discover that over 60% of the world’s languages are spoken in solely two continents, in keeping with Ethnologue.

AreaVariety of Languages
Asia2,310
Africa2,169
Pacific (Oceania)1,321
North and South America1,070
Europe294

In Asia, greater than 32% of the world’s languages are spoken by round 4.3 billion folks, making it probably the most linguistically various continent on Earth. Africa follows carefully with 1.2 billion folks talking 30% of world languages. 

And whereas Europe has the fewest variety of languages by continent, 1.7 billion folks converse its 294 languages—greater than Africa and the Pacific area mixed.

Which nation speaks probably the most languages?

With over 840 languages spoken inside its borders, Papua New Guinea has the best linguistic variety of any nation on this planet. Residents of Papua New Guinea primarily converse Austronesian languages like Hiri Motu and Malik, English and English Creole languages like Tok Pisin, native Papuan languages, and Papua New Guinean Signal Language.

Many different languages even have robust linguistic variety. In Indonesia, you might hear over 700 languages spoken, and Nigeria and India embody over 400 languages every. Greater than 300 languages are spoken in the US, Australia, and China, whereas residents of Mexico, Brazil, and Cameroon converse over 200 languages themselves.

Variety of signal languages vs. spoken languages

Included within the whole variety of world languages are greater than 300 signal languages. Round 500,000 folks use American Signal Language (ASL) in the US, making it the third commonest language within the nation behind English and Spanish.

Nevertheless, ASL will not be probably the most generally used signal language on this planet. Of the world’s estimated 70 million folks within the deaf inhabitants, over one-fifth use Indo-Pakistani Signal Language (IPSL) as their major language in South Asia. 

Record of languages by language household

Linguists and historians divide world languages into language households, based mostly on their origins and similarities. These languages aren’t thought-about dialects of bigger languages, though some probably began that means. Right now, they every have distinct vocabularies, grammar methods, and pronunciation patterns that classify them as their very own languages.

Whereas there are round 143 language households on this planet, round 80% of the world’s languages fall into the most important 12 language households. Every household contains not less than 1% of the world’s residing languages.

Language HouseholdVariety of Languages (Approx)*Most Widespread Languages
Niger-Congo1,552Swahili, Yoruba, Igbo
Austronesian1,256Indonesian, Malay, Tagalog
Trans New-Guinea481Enga, Melpa, Kuman
Sino-Tibetan458Mandarin, Cantonese, Wú
Indo-European454English, Hindi, Spanish
Australian384Djambarrpuyngu, Murrinh-patha, Pitjantjatjara
Afro-Asiatic382Arabic, Oromo, Hausa
Nilo-Saharan210Luo, Kanuri, Zarma
Otomanguean179Zapotecan, Mixtecan, Hidalgo
Austroasiatic167Khmer, Mon, Vietnamese
Kra-Dai91Thai, Lao, Isan
Dravidian85Telugu, Tamil, Kannada

Which language household has probably the most audio system?

Once you see what number of languages are there within the Niger-Congo language household (over 1,500!), you might assume it has probably the most audio system. However that’s not the case. In keeping with Ethnologue, round 4.7 billion folks converse an Indo-European or Sino-Tibetan language. Actually, 11 of the highest 20 languages on this planet come from these two language households.

Indo-European language household

For those who grew up in an space that primarily spoke Indo-European languages, these often is the most acquainted to you. And for good motive: Though there are simply over 450 languages within the Indo-European language household, they’re spoken by over 3.32 billion folks. 

The preferred Indo-European languages embody:

Indo-European languages are additionally among the many best languages to be taught for English learners. Spanish, French, and Italian have related Latin-based vocabularies to English, whereas German shares Germanic options with English, together with grammar and pronunciation. 

Use Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion Methodology to find much more about how English audio system can be taught Indo-European languages.

Sino-Tibetan language household

In keeping with Ethnologue, over 1.43 billion folks converse a Sino-Tibetan language—and over 1.1 billion of them converse Mandarin. Thought-about one of many hardest languages to be taught, Mandarin can also be the most typical first language on this planet with over 955 native Mandarin audio system.

The opposite 300 million audio system of Sino-Tibetan languages converse:

  • Different Chinese language languages on the Sinitic language department, together with Cantonese (Yue), Wu, and Jin
  • Tibetic languages like Customary Tibetan and Amdo Tibetan
  • Burmese, Lolo, and Kukish
  • Karen languages like Sgaw and Pwo

Most Sino-Tibetan languages are spoken all through China, Burma, Nepal, Thailand, and elements of India. In addition to Mandarin, these languages are primarily spoken by native audio system and aren’t generally taught outdoors their areas of origin. Nevertheless, if you wish to be taught Chinese language (Mandarin), you might discover it simpler to be taught different Sino-Tibetan languages. 

The standing of world languages

The entire variety of languages right now is over 7,100, however that hasn’t all the time been the case—and it will not be the case sooner or later. In keeping with the United Nations Instructional, Scientific and Cultural Group (UNESCO), 8,324 whole languages have been recorded all through historical past.

UNESCO teams all identified world languages into six language standing classes:

  • Protected: Spoken as a local language by a number of generations in lots of contexts
  • Weak: Spoken as a local language in restricted contexts
  • Endangered: Solely spoken by kids as a second language, not a local language
  • Severely endangered: Solely spoken by older generations
  • Critically endangered: Irregularly spoken or partially understood by older generations
  • Not in use: No present audio system

What number of languages are there which are endangered?

Round 3,170 languages are endangered right now, which is over 44% of the whole languages on this planet. One other 3,508 are categorized as secure, whereas round 486 of the world’s languages are thought-about institutional, which means they’re extensively utilized in media, faculties, and authorities communications.

Many consultants imagine the variety of endangered and extinct languages will dramatically enhance by 2100. Some estimate that round 50% of residing languages are at risk, whereas others take into account the quantity to be nearer to 95%. 

Because of this, the United Nations, the Endangered Language Alliance, the Enduring Voices Venture, and different language-focused teams work to document, protect, and even revitalize indigenous languages which are vulnerable to disappearing within the subsequent century.

A studying journey begins with one language

There are such a lot of languages on this planet that it’s unimaginable to be taught all of them. Even in case you grow to be a polyglot who speaks 5 or extra languages, you’d converse lower than 0.1% of the world’s languages—and also you’d must be taught over 70 languages to even get near 1% of them!

Happily, you don’t must be taught each language to take pleasure in the advantages of being multilingual. There are various methods to be taught a language, and the very best one is the strategy that will get you enthusiastic about your new studying journey. For those who’re prepared to choose up a brand new language, be taught extra about how Rosetta Stone works, and the way it can give you the results you want.

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