Indonesian 199 Million Speakers
Indonesia is the fourth most populated nation in the world, which is why Indonesian is one of the most spoken languages in the world. You may also hear people refer to Indonesia as bahasa baku, which is the standard dialect in Indonesia.
When you speak Indonesian, you will also be able to communicate with people in Malaysia and Brunei because it is very similar to the Malay language.
It is also by far one of the easiest Asian languages to learn when compared to other widely-spoken languages like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai.
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Inspired By The Lore Of Finland
Tolkien was inspired by the heroic sagas of Iceland and the language of Finland. He also based the early mythology of Arda on the old legends and stories of the Norse gods. In TheLetters of JRR Tolkien, he once compared his finding of a Finnish grammar book to the discovery of a vast wine cellar filled with unique new vintages.
The grammar and structure of Finnish formed the basis for many of the languages of Middle-Earth, in particular the language of the Elves. His specialty was the study of ancient Germanic languages, which he used when creating the tongues of Middle-Earth, Numenor, and Valinor. However, it was a dialect outside his realm of expertise that inspired Tolkein the most.
Northern Cities Novel Shift
Vowels sound different around the Great Lakes. Penn linguist William Labov started documenting the way short vowels were used in cities like Syracuse, Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, and Chicago, and noticed that the way that, say, block was pronounced started to resemble the way the rest of the country says black. More than that, the changes caused a chain reaction. Buses started to sound more like bosses. To make the o sound that used to be part of block, you now used a u instead of an o. The map shows which areas have adopted various stages of that chained vowel shift. Heres a more detailed explanation, and here are a number of examples of the shift in action.
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The 6 Most Spoken Languages In The World
Did you know that the world is home to around 7,097 different languages? That’s according to the magazine Ethnologue. It’s definitely a demonstration of linguistic variety that, with a global population of around 7.9 billion people, comes as no surprise. However, the distribution of speakers is highly uneven: while some languages are spoken by 14% of the global population, others are on the verge of extinction.
If you want to find out what are the 6 most spoken languages in the world, in ascending order of number of speakers – both native and non-native, which have the greatest geographical spread and a few other fun facts, such as which are most associated with certain fields, for example the arts and culture, work or social life, then here we explain all.
Bengali 234 Million Native Speakers
Bengali, often referred to as Bangla follows Portuguese as a language among the most spoken ones in the world. Although it is only spoken as a native language in a few different countries, mostly in Bangladesh and India, this language has around 234 million speakers, which leaves it very close to Portuguese. These two countries sing their national anthem in this language.
Note: In previous editions of the Ethnologue, Standard Arabic was considered to be the 5th most spoken language in the world, with around 270 million native speakers. However after 2022 edition, it is no longer considered a L1 Language, or native language.
You know Arabic is considered to be one of the 7 Most Difficult Languages to learn in the World?
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Hindi: One Of The Most Widespread Official Languages Of India
One interesting thing about India is the large number of co-official languages it has. Hindi, with 341 million native inhabitants, is a co-official language in India along with 21 other languages, including English. In an area with such linguistic diversity as this, Hindi serves as a lingua franca between many non-native speakers and, thanks to the population density in these regions, the total number of speakers is as much as 600 million.
However, as with Arabic, outside of India and its neighbours, Hindi is not a widespread language, although there are sizeable communities of speakers in countries such as Fiji or Trinidad and Tobago.
Standard Arabic 274 Million Speakers
Arabic is the official language of 26 countries, but most countries and regions have their own dialects of Arabic. Standard Arabic is the main dialect spoken between Arabic speakers so they can understand each other.
Thats why there are zero native speakers of Standard Arabic! Its the only language on this list that has zero native speakers but is still one of the most spoken languages in the world.
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Arabic 315 Million Native Speakers
Recent numbers put Arabic at around 315 million native speakers. But this is another instance of numbers not telling the full tale: Arabic, like Chinese, is so vastly different in its respective dialects as to be effectively a number of languages, grouped as one for the sake of convenience. Modern Standard Arabic is a primarily written form, closely related to the Classical Arabic of the Quran. However, the spoken forms of Arabic in, say, Oman and Morocco are so different that a couple of philosophy professors from these countries might be able to discuss the finer points of the ancient texts while still struggling to order lunch.
The Role Of Monarchies
One of the most notable and famous ruling monarchies is the United Kingdoms House of Mountbattenalso known as Queen Elizabeth IIs family. King Charles III has now ascended to the countrys throne, making him head of state in 15 nations total, including Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Many see the benefit in having a stable and consistent form of tradition and decorum at the countrys head of state.
The Crown is an integral part of the institution of Parliament. The Queen plays a constitutional role in opening and dissolving Parliament and approving Bills before they become law. British Parliament
Japans royal family has been a prime example of stability, having reigned in the country for more than 2,600 years under the same hereditary line.
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Portuguese 2577 Million Speakers
Portuguese is the official language of nine countries: Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe. Because of its colonial history, there are also many Portuguese speakers in parts of India.
In writing, a lot of Portuguese and Spanish words are usually mutually intelligible. Portuguese can also serve as a solid foundation if you want to learn other romance languages.
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Italian 679 Million Speakers
The Italian language is a Romance language spoken by 68 million people all over the world. Its also the official language of Italy, Switzerland, and San Marino.
Italian developed from Latin and it has been heavily influenced by French. The Italian alphabet consists of 21 letters with 5 vowels and 16 consonants.
Italian has been a popular language to learn for centuries. It is a beautiful and romantic language that is full of history, food, art, and fashion!
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Tagalog 823 Million Speakers
Tagalog is spoken as a first language by only a quarter of Filipinos but spoken as a second language by the majority of the rest of the population. Its also referred to as Filipino and is a national language of the Philippines along with English.
Tagalog belongs to the Austronesian language family and is closely related to other languages like Malagasy, Javanese, and Malay
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Portuguese 234 Million Speakers
In the business world, Brazil is not spoken of as another market, but as another planet. It is a completely different world from what is known even in the rest of Latin America.
That is why speaking Portuguese is opening the doors to a new world.
In any case, this language also represents an opportunity beyond Brazil, as it is spoken in Portugal and in several African countries.
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Critiques And The Future Of Monarchy
Some claim, however, that there is no function of monarchy in the modern day, and complaints of monarchies immense wealth and power are rampant.
For example, according to the Dutch government, King Willem-Alexanders budget for 2022, funded by the state and thus, taxpayers, comes out to more than 48 million.
Beyond tax dollars, with absolute monarchies there is typically a lack of political freedoms and certain rights. Saudi Arabia, for example, has no national elections. Rather its king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, stays in power for life, appoints the cabinet himself, and passes laws by royal decree.
The death of Queen Elizabeth, though, may bring about change though for many of the worlds royally-governed. Since Barbados removal of her as head of state in 2021, six other Caribbean nations have expressed the desire to do the same, namely:
Belize
Spanish: A Language On The Up
Thanks to both its geographical reach and number of users, Spanish – with 543 million speakers – takes the fourth spot for the most spoken language second if we take only native speakers into account.
Although there are many regional varieties, there is a clear cultural connection between Spanish-speaking countries, and the language is used for communications between Europe and South America. Meanwhile, due to the migratory flow between the United States and Latin America, there is an increased interest in Spanish as a second language, and that’s why it’s no surprise that Spanish is the fourth most studied language in the world.
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What Are The Most Spoken Languages In The World
- English is the most spoken language in the world, with nearly 1.13 billion speakers.
- Three of the 44 romance languages are in the top ten most spoken languages: Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
- The top five to ten spoken languages in the world are very close in number of speakers, ranging from 199-280 million speakers.
Languages have historically spread through trade, conquests, colonization, immigration, and cultural interactions. English is the most spoken language in the world, with nearly 1.13 billion speakers . That being said, English does not rank first in terms of the number of native speakers. Rather, it has gained prominence mostly from its popularity as a foreign language subject, and the. Here is an analysis of the world’s most popular languages in terms of both native speakers and those who have learned the language.
Top 10 Most Spoken First Languages In 2022
Currently, these are the 10 most spoken languages in the world in 2022, sorted by number of mother language speakers: Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Bengali, Portuguese, Russian, Japanese, Yue chinese, Vietnamese.
Information on such is an approximation. The exact number of speakers is difficult to measure as in most cases these may vary rapidly due to many factors. So, keeping all of this in mind, lets look at the ranking for The Top 10 Most Spoken First Languages in the World by the year 2022:
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Portuguese 232 Million Native Speakers
This is another language whose reach owes much to its colonial past. Starting in the 15th century, avid Portuguese traders and conquerors brought their language to Africa, Asia and the Americas. The spread of Portuguese may have initially been tied to European colonization, but the colonized countries developed their own vibrant cultures that transformed the language forever. Today, Portuguese is spoken by 232 million native speakers in countries like Brazil, Goa, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bisseau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Macau. Its also the language of Machado de Assis, Bossa Nova, Mia Couto, Fernando Pessoa and Agualusa.
Most Spoken Languages In The World
There are about 7,100 distinct languages spoken across the entire universe but the most vital languages for global business expansion are just a handful.
English is the de facto language for international business but for professional networking, travel, academic collaboration, and other aspects, people prefer to deal in their native languages. This is where translation paves the way to international business and exposure to reach unexplored global audiences and niches.
There are ten other languages that also extend their usage in communication, which can be referred to as the most spoken languages in the world. English is an international language spoken around the world every single day. On a rough sketch, half of the worlds population speak the below 10 languages as they are native speakers of the same.
Note: This list is about the languages spoken as the first language or native speakers.
Here are the Top 10 most spoken languages in the world:
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The Importance Of Learning Languages
Knowing different languages is always helpful. It opens an array of opportunities to travel and work across the world. Languages are interlinked with cultures. Learning a new language also opens you up to new cultures and understanding them. In the modern world, proficiency in more than one language is advantageous. Be it in a professional environment or a learning experience, learning a new language will expand knowledge and broaden your opportunities.
How Many Languages Are There In The World
There are about 7,099 languages spoken in the world. This number is constantly increasing because new worlds languages emerge every day. These languages are dynamic and living. With modernization, a third of these languages face the risk of extinction. Many factors such as the spread of old civilizations, terrain, and cultural history determine the number of languages spoken in a particular region. The Asian continent has the largest percentage in terms of the number of languages spoken, which is 32%. About 2,300 languages are spoken across the continent. The Africa continent follows closely with 30%. There are an estimated 2,000 languages spoken on the continent of Africa. Pacific is third with 18.5%, the Americas are fourth with 15%, and Europe is last with 4%.
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The Aulan Language Family Of The Dwarves
It makes sense that the language of the Dwarves would be named after the Valar that created them, Aulë. The tongues of humans also borrow from the Khuzdul tongue to some extent, but this language is unique from others in Middle-Earth in the sense that it’s mostly a secret. Dwarves only speak it among themselves in the privacy of their mountain homes.
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The dialects in this language family not only sound differently from those of the Oromëan group, but they also use a different script. The runes are distinctive and were inspired by ancient Semitic languages as opposed to Norse or Germanic, which Tolkien clarified in a BBC interview in 1971.
Mandarin Chinese 929 Million Native Speakers
The languages that takes the number 1 place in our list and therefore, the most spoken language in the world is, by far, Mandarin Chinese. Mandarin is only one of the many Chinese dialects spoken in China, but it is considered the Official Language of the Peoples Republic of China. Because of this reason, mandarin is often referred as Standard Chinese.
China has around 1.4 billion inhabitants, around 70% of all Chinese speakers speak mandarin as their father language. This leaves us with about 929 Million Mandarin speakers over a large area in China and roughly 33 countries around the world.
In this other article we will tell you about the Oldest Languages in the World
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More Than You Might Have Thought
When people are asked how many languages they think there are in the world, the answers vary quite a bit. One random sampling of New Yorkers, for instance, resulted in answers like probably several hundred. However we choose to count them, though, this is not close.
When we look at reference works, we find estimates that have escalated over time. The 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, for example, implies a figure somewhere around 1,000, a number that climbs steadily over the course of the twentieth century. That is not due to any increase in the number of languages, but rather to our increased understanding of how many languages are actually spoken in areas that had previously been underdescribed.
Much pioneering work in documenting the languages of the world has been done by missionary organizations with an interest in translating the Christian Bible. As of 2009, at least a portion of the bible had been translated into 2,508 different languages, still a long way short of full coverage. The most extensive catalog of the worlds languages, generally taken to be as authoritative as any, is that of Ethnologue , whose detailed classified list as of 2009 included 6,909 distinct languages.
Did you know that languages belong to a family?
One area of particularly high linguistic diversity is Papua-New Guinea, where there are an estimated 832 languages spoken by a population of around 3.9 million. That makes the average number of
Photo credit: Minna Sundberg
Then What Are Romance Languages And Why Are They Called That
Romance languages are modern-day languages that have evolved from Roman times and, more specifically, Vulgar Latin.
Latin was the language of the Romans during the third and eighth centuries. As the Romans travelled and settled throughout Europe, many Latin dialects evolved. The term Vulgar Latin refers to these dialects, and itâs these that unite all Romance languages.
âRomanceâ specifically indicates the connection of all these languages with Rome.
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