Most Spoken Languages of the World
What is a language? Language is a medium of communication of thoughts, emotions, ideas, etc. Humans have evolved and got civilized through many factors, and all this would have been impossible without languages.
Today, more than 7000 languages are spoken in the world with a majority of them having at least 6 million speakers. Certain countries such as Japan have only one major language, while countries like India, South Africa have many languages with a notable number of speakers.
So, let's take a look at world's top 10 most spoken languages.
1. Chinese Mandarin
Number of Speakers:- 1.11 billion
Number of Speakers:- 1.11 billion
With more than a billion speakers Chinese grabs the number one spot. It is a group of related languages of which Chinese Mandarin is spoken by the most. It's an official language of the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore.
The Chinese language has spread to neighbouring countries through a variety of means. Northern Vietnam was incorporated into the Han empire in 111 BCE, marking the beginning of a period of Chinese control that ran almost continuously for a millennium.
The Chinese language has spread to neighbouring countries through a variety of means. Northern Vietnam was incorporated into the Han empire in 111 BCE, marking the beginning of a period of Chinese control that ran almost continuously for a millennium.
2.English
Number of speakers:- 984 million
Without this language international communication would have been a very difficult process. Thanks to the historical dominance of the British Empire – and, more recently, the economic and cultural clout of the United States – English is well-established as the world's lingua franca.
The name “English” comes from the “Angles”, a Germanic people who settled in Britain in the first millennium A.D.. They ultimately derived their name from Anglen, a region in northern Germany, and of course they gave their name to the area now known as England. It's the official language of United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and many more countries.
3. Hindi
Number of Speakers:- 544 million
Hindi is mostly spoken in the regions of Indian sub-continent including northern states of India, Nepal,etc. Hindi is usually written in in Devanagari script – called “देवनागरी” in the script. It is the official language of Government of India.
Outside Asia, the Awadhi language (A Hindi dialect) is an official language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji, where it referred to it as "Hindustani", however in the 2013 Constitution of Fiji, it is simply called "Fiji Hindi". It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji.
4. Spanish
Number of Speakers:- 527 million
By number of native speakers, Spanish is the second biggest language in the world (behind only Mandarin). By total speakers, it's at number four. The language now known as Spanish originated in the Castile region of Spain. For this reason, it's sometimes referred to as “Castilian” – castellano in the language itself. Since then, Spanish explorers and conquistadores have spread their language all around the world.
It's spoken all across South and Central America and the Caribbean, with pockets of speakers in Southeast Asia and even Africa.
It is mostly spoken in Spain, U.S., and the South American countries of Argentina, Bolivia,etc.
5. Arabic
Number of Speakers:- 422 million
Arabic is the official language of 26 countries. It's a massive language, with over 400 million speakers. It originated on the Arabian peninsula, and has since spread all across the Middle East and North Africa.While most Muslims are not native Arabic speakers, the language is of special importance to the world's second-largest religion.
It is mostly spoken in the middle eastern countries and northern Africa. Colloquial Arabic is a collective term for the spoken dialects of Arabic used throughout the Arab world, which differ radically from the literary language. The main dialectal division is between the varieties within and outside of the Arabian peninsula, followed by that between sedentary varieties and the much more conservative Bedouin varieties.
6. Malay
Number of Speakers:- 281 million
Malay is the official language of Malaysia along with Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, and . You can also hear it being spoken in parts of Thailand and the Philippines. It's by far the largest of the Austronesian languages – a family that's thought to have originated in Taiwan.
Standard Malay, also called Court Malay, was the literary standard of the pre-colonial Malacca and Johor Sultanates, and so the language is sometimes called Malacca, Johor, or Riau Malay (or various combinations of those names) to distinguish it from the various other Malayan languages. According to Ethnologue 16, several of the Malayan varieties they currently list as separate languages, including the Orang Asli varieties of Peninsular Malay, are so closely related to standard Malay that they may prove to be dialects.
7. Russia
Number of Speakers:- 267 million
By number of native speakers, Russian is the biggest language in Europe.The largest of the Slavic languages, Russian is the official language of four countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan). It's also widely spoken in many other countries of the former Soviet Union, and has official status in numerous sub-national territories.
Russian is a rather homogeneous language, in terms of dialectal variation, due to the early political centralization under Moscow's rule, compulsory education, mass migration from rural to urban areas in the 20th century, as well as other factors. The standard language is used in written and spoken form almost everywhere in the country, from Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg in the West to Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the East, notwithstanding the enormous distance in between.
8. Bengali
Number of Speakers:- 261 million
Bengali or Bangla is the official language of Bangladesh and it is the second most widely spoken language in India. Bengali is written in the Bengali alphabet, sometimes known as Eastern Nagari or Bengali-Assamese script.
It's related to Tibetan script. Natively, “bengali alphabet” translates to “bangla bôrnômala”. In the alphabet itself, that looks like this: বাংলা বর্ণমালা.
Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language. This is a branch of the Indo-European family; other branches include the Romance and Germanic languages.
9. Portuguese
Number of Speakers:- 229 million
The Portuguese empire once stretched far and wide, from South America to Africa to as far as India and Southeast Asia. Today, Portuguese is an official language in nine countries, as well as in the Chinese territory of Macau. It is closely related to modern Spanish and spoken in Brazil which is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries.
Portuguese developed from Latin and is closely related to modern Spanish. The name comes from “Portugal”, whose name in turn comes from Porto, the second-largest city in that country. But the word porto in Portuguese simply means “port”.
10. French
Number of Speakers:- 229 million
Rounding up the top 10 is French, another Romance language. It's the official language of 28 countries, with the highest number of speakers in France, Canada, Belgium, then Switzerland (in that order). It's also widely spoken in parts of Western and Central Africa, on several Caribbean islands, and even on the South American mainland (in the French overseas department of French Guiana.)
French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organizations including the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Olympic Committee, and the International coferences.
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Number of speakers:- 984 million
Without this language international communication would have been a very difficult process. Thanks to the historical dominance of the British Empire – and, more recently, the economic and cultural clout of the United States – English is well-established as the world's lingua franca.
The name “English” comes from the “Angles”, a Germanic people who settled in Britain in the first millennium A.D.. They ultimately derived their name from Anglen, a region in northern Germany, and of course they gave their name to the area now known as England. It's the official language of United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and many more countries.
3. Hindi
Number of Speakers:- 544 million
Hindi is mostly spoken in the regions of Indian sub-continent including northern states of India, Nepal,etc. Hindi is usually written in in Devanagari script – called “देवनागरी” in the script. It is the official language of Government of India.
Outside Asia, the Awadhi language (A Hindi dialect) is an official language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji, where it referred to it as "Hindustani", however in the 2013 Constitution of Fiji, it is simply called "Fiji Hindi". It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji.
4. Spanish
Number of Speakers:- 527 million
By number of native speakers, Spanish is the second biggest language in the world (behind only Mandarin). By total speakers, it's at number four. The language now known as Spanish originated in the Castile region of Spain. For this reason, it's sometimes referred to as “Castilian” – castellano in the language itself. Since then, Spanish explorers and conquistadores have spread their language all around the world.
It's spoken all across South and Central America and the Caribbean, with pockets of speakers in Southeast Asia and even Africa.
It is mostly spoken in Spain, U.S., and the South American countries of Argentina, Bolivia,etc.
5. Arabic
Number of Speakers:- 422 million
Arabic is the official language of 26 countries. It's a massive language, with over 400 million speakers. It originated on the Arabian peninsula, and has since spread all across the Middle East and North Africa.While most Muslims are not native Arabic speakers, the language is of special importance to the world's second-largest religion.
It is mostly spoken in the middle eastern countries and northern Africa. Colloquial Arabic is a collective term for the spoken dialects of Arabic used throughout the Arab world, which differ radically from the literary language. The main dialectal division is between the varieties within and outside of the Arabian peninsula, followed by that between sedentary varieties and the much more conservative Bedouin varieties.
6. Malay
Number of Speakers:- 281 million
Malay is the official language of Malaysia along with Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, and . You can also hear it being spoken in parts of Thailand and the Philippines. It's by far the largest of the Austronesian languages – a family that's thought to have originated in Taiwan.
Standard Malay, also called Court Malay, was the literary standard of the pre-colonial Malacca and Johor Sultanates, and so the language is sometimes called Malacca, Johor, or Riau Malay (or various combinations of those names) to distinguish it from the various other Malayan languages. According to Ethnologue 16, several of the Malayan varieties they currently list as separate languages, including the Orang Asli varieties of Peninsular Malay, are so closely related to standard Malay that they may prove to be dialects.
7. Russia
Number of Speakers:- 267 million
By number of native speakers, Russian is the biggest language in Europe.The largest of the Slavic languages, Russian is the official language of four countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan). It's also widely spoken in many other countries of the former Soviet Union, and has official status in numerous sub-national territories.
Russian is a rather homogeneous language, in terms of dialectal variation, due to the early political centralization under Moscow's rule, compulsory education, mass migration from rural to urban areas in the 20th century, as well as other factors. The standard language is used in written and spoken form almost everywhere in the country, from Kaliningrad and Saint Petersburg in the West to Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the East, notwithstanding the enormous distance in between.
8. Bengali
Number of Speakers:- 261 million
Bengali or Bangla is the official language of Bangladesh and it is the second most widely spoken language in India. Bengali is written in the Bengali alphabet, sometimes known as Eastern Nagari or Bengali-Assamese script.
It's related to Tibetan script. Natively, “bengali alphabet” translates to “bangla bôrnômala”. In the alphabet itself, that looks like this: বাংলা বর্ণমালা.
Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language. This is a branch of the Indo-European family; other branches include the Romance and Germanic languages.
9. Portuguese
Number of Speakers:- 229 million
The Portuguese empire once stretched far and wide, from South America to Africa to as far as India and Southeast Asia. Today, Portuguese is an official language in nine countries, as well as in the Chinese territory of Macau. It is closely related to modern Spanish and spoken in Brazil which is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries.
Portuguese developed from Latin and is closely related to modern Spanish. The name comes from “Portugal”, whose name in turn comes from Porto, the second-largest city in that country. But the word porto in Portuguese simply means “port”.
10. French
Number of Speakers:- 229 million
Rounding up the top 10 is French, another Romance language. It's the official language of 28 countries, with the highest number of speakers in France, Canada, Belgium, then Switzerland (in that order). It's also widely spoken in parts of Western and Central Africa, on several Caribbean islands, and even on the South American mainland (in the French overseas department of French Guiana.)
French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organizations including the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the World Trade Organization, the International Olympic Committee, and the International coferences.
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