Communication is the most important thing and there are around 7,117 spoken languages in the world. The stats are according to the Ethnologue which is a language catalogue in the world. Unfortunately, most of the languages are limited to a certain region or tribes and 40% of the total languages are now endangered with less than a thousand speakers remaining. Let me list down 10 most spoken languages in the world.
Most Spoken Languages In The World
1.English- 1.268 Billion
The English language was first spoken in early medieval England and now it is the most spoken language in the world. The language was named after the Angles who are the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the area of Great Britain that later took their name England. English is most closely related to the Frisian and Low Saxon, howvever, the vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages. It is believed that the language was developed over the course of 1,400 years.
2.Mandarin Chinese- 1.120 Billion
Mandarin Chinese is the group of Chinese Language that was spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. It also includes the Beijing dialect and that was the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese. Mandarin Chinese was originated in North China that is the reason it is also known as Northern Chinese languages. Approximately, 70% of Chinese people used to speak the set of Mandarin language. The geographical area includes from Yunnan in the southwest to Xinjiang in the northwest and Heilongjiang in the northeast.
3.Hindi- 637 Million
The Hindi language is an ancient Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in India. The language is also described as a standardised and Sanskritised register. This is the third most spoken language in the world followed by English and Mandarin Chinese. Even outside India, there are other languages that are officially recognised as Hindi” but do not refer to the Standard Hindi language described here but considered as they descend from other dialects like Awadhi and Bhojpuri.
4.Spanish- 538 Million
Spanish is a Romance language that was originated in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe, howvever, but now it is a global language with approximately 538 Million people speaking it across the globe but most of them are in Spain. It is a part of the Ibero-Romance group of languages that belongs to the Indo-European language family that evolved from the several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia and the oldest Latin texts with the traces of Spanish come from mid-northern Iberia in the 9th century.
5.French- 277 Million
Just like Spanish, French is also a romance language that belongs to the Indo-European family. The language has been derived from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire and this is with all teh Roman languages. The French language is also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the Roman invaders. It is believed that the French language has 277 million speakers and also 77–110 million secondary speakers who speak it as a second language.
Image Source: Wikimedia
6.Standard Arabic- 274 Million
Standard Arabic is the official language in 22 countries that forms the Arab League. There are approximately 274 million Arabic speakers across the world and almost all of them lies in the Middle East and North Africa. It is also listed as one of the six official languages of the United Nations (UN). Arabic is also a Semitic language which is closely related to the Aramaic and Hebrew. This language is developed through oral and poetic tradition that flourished in the Arabian Peninsula before the emergence of Islam and a codified Arabic script.
Also Read: Top 10 Blue And Yellow Flags In The World
Image Source: Wikimedia
7.Bengali- 265 Million
Bengali is also one of the most spoken languages in the world with over 265 million speaking people in the world. Bengali is also famous for its language movements and people sacrificing their lives for their mother language. The seventh most spoken in the language and second most spoken language in India. The official language of West Bengal, Tripura and Bangladesh. It is also the official language in Sierra Leone and listed as the member of the Indo-Aryan group and branch of the Indo-European language.
Image Source: Wikimedia
8.Russian– 258 Million
Russian is also one of the most spoken languages in the world with over 258 Million people speaking it across the world including both primary and secondary language. It is also considered as one of the most complex and richest languages in the world because of its difficult at the professional level. Russian is also the six official languages of the United States. All words in the Russian language that begin with A are borrowed from other languages in the world. The language has a unique script and grammatical rules that need to be understood correctly.
Image Source: Wikimedia
9.Portuguese- 252 Million
Portuguese is the 9th most spoken languages in the world with over 252 million people speaking across the world as a primary and secondary language. It is also an official language in over 9 countries like Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Timor-Leste, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Principe. It is also the official language of the Chinese autonomous territory of Macau. This is also the fastest-growing European language in the world behind English.
Image Source: Wikimedia
10.Indonesian- 199 Million
Indonesian language also known as Bahasa Indonesia is the official language of Indonesia with over 199 million people using it for communication. This is an Austronesian language that belongs to the Western, or Indonesian, branch of the language family. The language is very much inspired by the Arabic, Sanskrit, Portuguese Dutch, Chinese dialects and English. This is a popular language and even most tourists visiting Indonesia have had an interest in exploring the language and widely spoken in all countries of Southern Asia.
Image Source: Wikimedia
These are the 10 most spoken languages in the world. Kindly share and do post your comments.
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