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Languages of the World
Languages of the World – Professional Translation for Global Communication
Languages of the World – Professional Translation for Global CommunicationWith over 7,000 languages spoken globally, effective communication across linguistic barriers is essential for businesses, governments, and individuals. Whether for international business expansion, digital globalization, or cross-cultural communication, accurate translations in English, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi, and more help bridge gaps and foster global connections.
At SLS, we specialize in high-quality translation and localization services, ensuring linguistic accuracy, cultural adaptation, and industry-specific precision across multiple world languages.
Why Choose SLS for World Language Translations?
🌍 Expertise in 100+ Global Languages
Our native-speaking translators provide culturally adapted and precisely translated content tailored to international markets.
✅ Industry-Specific Accuracy
We offer specialized translations for finance, healthcare, legal, marketing, and technology, ensuring technical precision.
🔍 100% Accuracy & Quality Control
All translations undergo strict quality checks to maintain linguistic consistency and clarity.
⏳ Fast & Reliable Service
Need translations urgently? Our express services provide fast and high-quality results without compromising accuracy.
🔒 Secure & Confidential Document Handling
We follow strict data protection protocols to ensure your sensitive information remains secure and private.
Top 10 Most Spoken Languages in the World
H3: The Most Widely Spoken Global Languages
✔️ English Translation Services – The global business and internet language
✔️ Mandarin Chinese Translation Services – Spoken by over 1.1 billion people
✔️ Hindi Translation Services – One of India’s major languages
✔️ Spanish Translation Services – Dominant across Latin America and Spain
✔️ French Translation Services – Spoken in Europe, Africa, and Canada
🔗 Explore Spanish & French Translation Services
Additional Influential Languages
✔️ Arabic Translation Services – Used in over 26 countries across the Middle East and North Africa
✔️ Bengali Translation Services – A major language in Bangladesh and India
✔️ Portuguese Translation Services – The official language of Brazil and Portugal
✔️ Russian Translation Services – Widely spoken across Russia and Eastern Europe
✔️ Urdu Translation Services – Official language of Pakistan and widely spoken in India
🔗 Learn More About Arabic & Russian Translation Services
Key Translation Services for Global Languages
1️⃣ Business & Corporate Translation
✔️ Contracts, corporate reports, and presentations
✔️ Marketing materials tailored for international audiences
✔️ Support for global business expansion
🔗 Explore Business Translation Services
2️⃣ Legal & Government Translations
✔️ Certified translations for legal documents and official records
✔️ Court-approved translations and compliance services
✔️ Government policy and immigration document translation
🔗 Check Our Legal Translation Services
3️⃣ Healthcare & Medical Translations
✔️ Medical reports, patient records, and pharmaceutical translations
✔️ Regulatory-compliant healthcare content translation
✔️ Medical device documentation and multilingual communication
🔗 Learn More About Medical Translation Services
4️⃣ Website & Software Localization
✔️ Website, mobile app, and software translations
✔️ SEO-optimized content for multilingual digital audiences
✔️ User-friendly experiences for global customers
🔗 View Website Localization Services
5️⃣ Technical & Engineering Translation
✔️ User manuals, product guides, and technical documents
✔️ Industry-specific terminology precision
✔️ Multilingual engineering project support
🔗 Explore Technical Translation Services
Why Multilingual Translation is Essential for Global Communication
📢 Expand Business Internationally – Break language barriers and access new markets.
🌎 Ensure Clear & Culturally Relevant Communication – Adapt messaging for global audiences.
🔍 Comply with Legal & Regulatory Standards – Certified translations ensure compliance with global trade laws.
📖 Boost SEO & Online Presence – Multilingual websites rank higher in international search engines.
🚀 Strengthen Cultural & Market Engagement – Professional translations build trust and customer loyalty.
Investing in professional language translation services is crucial for businesses, governments, healthcare providers, and educators to succeed in international markets.
Future Trends in Global Language Translation
🚀 AI-Assisted Translation with Human Proofreading – AI enhances speed, while human translators ensure accuracy.
🖥️ Rise of Indigenous & Regional Language Translation – Governments and businesses prioritize inclusivity.
📢 Expansion of Localization for Digital Markets – Companies customize content for global audiences.
At SLS, we blend cutting-edge technology with expert human translation to deliver precise, culturally relevant communication.
Get Professional World Language Translation Services Today
Whether you need business translations, legal documents, medical reports, or software localization, SLS delivers expert translations for global markets.
🔹 Connect with the World’s Most Spoken Languages!
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📍 About SLS
📍 View All Language Services
✅ Industry References & Standards:
🔗 International Federation of Translators (FIT)
🔗 ISO 17100:2015 Translation Standards
🔗 Common Sense Advisory – Global Translation Insights
Languages of the World
A - B
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Abkhazian | Abkhazian (Abkhaz) is a Caucasian language spoken mainly by the Abkhaz people in Abkhazia, the breakaway republic that is generally considered to be part of Georgia |
| Achinese | Achinese (Aceh) is a Malayo-Polynesian language spoken in Aceh and some other parts of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia |
| Acoli | Acoli is spoken by the Acholi people in Acholiland in northern Uganda and in Magwe County in southern Sudan |
| Adangme | Adangme (also Dangme), is a Kwa language spoken in south-eastern Ghana |
| Adyghe; Adygei | Adyghe is s spoken by various tribes of the Adyghe people of Adygea a republic in the Russian Federation |
| Afar | Afar (Qafár af) is a Cushitic language spoken by Afar poeple of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti |
| Afrihili | Afrihili is a constructed language designed in 1970 by K. A. Kumi Attobrah to be used as a lingua franca in all of Africa |
| Afrikaans | Afrikaans is an Indo-European language, derived from Dutch spoken mainly in South Africa and Namibia. Afrikaans developed among the Dutch speaking Protestant settlers, and the indentured or slave workforce of the Cape area in southwestern South Africa |
| Afro-Asiatic languages | Afro-Asiatic languages are a language family with about 375 living languages spoken throughout North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. Semitic, Egyptian, Berber, Chadic, Cushitic, and Omotic are considered to be Afro-Asiatic languages |
| Akan | Akan is a language group of the Kwa language family spoken native peoples mainly in Ghana and eastern Côte d’Ivoire |
| Akkadian | Akkadian (or Assyrian-Babylonian) is a Semitic language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia until the first century CE |
| Albanian | Albanian (Gjuha shqipe) is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in Albania and Kosovo |
| Aleut | Aleut (Unangam Tunuu) is a language of the Eskimo-Aleut language family spoken by the Aleut (Unangax̂) the indigenous people of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, US, and Kamchatka Krai, Russia |
| Algonquian languages | Algonquian languages are a group of Native American languages spoken by Algonquian peoples, one of the most populous and widespread North American Native groups |
| Amharic | Amharic (amarəñña) is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia |
| Apache languages | Apache languages (also Southern Athabaskan) are spoken by various groups of Native American Apache and Navajo peoples in the US |
| Arabic | Arabic (العربية – al-‘arabiyyah) is a Semitic language. Modern Arabic is classified as a macrolanguage with about 30 varieties. Arabic is spoken in the “Arab World” on the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. See: Countries by Languages – List of Arabic speaking countries |
| Aragonese | Aragonese (aragonés) is a Romance language spoken in parts of Aragon, an autonomous community in northeastern Spain |
| Aramaic | Aramaic is a ancient Semitic language, its dialects were widespread during the period of the Assyrian empire |
| Arapaho | Arapaho (hinono’eitiit) is the language of the Native American Arapaho Indians originally living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming (USA). Arapaho language is in danger of becoming extinct |
| Araucanian | Araucanian (Mapudungun) is spoken by indigenous Mapuche people, inhabitants of central Chile and west central Argentina |
| Arawak | Arawak is spoken by some hundred Arawak people in scattered locations across the north of Suriname |
| Armenian | Armenian (Hayeren) is an Indo-European language spoken by the Armenian people. It is the official language of the Republic of Armenia |
| Assamese | Assamese is an Indo-Aryan language that is spoken mainly in the Indian state of Assam |
| Asturian; Bable | Asturian (Asturianu or Bable) is a Romance language of the West Iberian group, it is spoken by the Asturians in Asturias, a province in the northwest of Spain |
| Athapascan languages | Athapascan languages are the languages of the Athabaskan First Nation, a large group of closely related Native American Indians. Northern Athabaskan languages are spoken throughout the interior of Alaska (US), and the interior of northwestern Canada. Pacific Coastal Athabaskan languages are spoken in the US states of southern Oregon and northern California |
| Australian languages | The Indigenous Australian languages comprise several language families native to Australia. Ethnologue’s genetic classification system lists 258 languages for the ISO Code: aus. |
| Austronesian (Other) | |
| Avaric | Avaric or Avar language is spoken mainly in the eastern and southern parts of the Caucasus republic of Dagestan, Russia, and in the north-west region of Azerbaijan |
| Avestan | Avestan is an Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred texts and hymns of the Avesta, the liturgical core of Zoroastrianism, once the dominant religion of much of Greater Iran |
| Awadhi | Awadhi (अवधी: avadhī) an Indo-Aryan language is spoken predominantly in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, a state of India |
| Aymara | Aymara (Aymar aru) is spoken by the Aymara people, a native ethnic group in the Andes and Altiplano regions of western Bolivia, southern Peru and northern Chile |
| Azerbaijani | Azerbaijani (Azərbaycan dili) is a Turkic language closely related to Turkish spoken in southwestern Asia, primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran |
| Balinese | Balinese is spoken on the island of Bali, as well as in the northern region of Nusa Penida, western Lombok and eastern Java, Indonesia |
| Baluchi | Baluchi (Balochi) is spoken by the Baloch an Iranian people living in Balochistan region of Pakistan, in southeast Iran and southern Afghanistan |
| Bambara | Bambara (Bamanankan) is spoken by the Bambara a Mande ethnic group of Mali, in Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal |
| Bamileke languages | Bamileke is a group of languages spoken by the Bamileke people of the western highlands (West Province) of Cameroon |
| Banda | Banda is a family of Ubangian languages spoken by ethnic Banda people in Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Bantu (Other) | Bantu languages are a group of some 600 languages spoken in the regions of central Africa, east Africa, and southern Africa |
| Basa | Basa is a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon |
| Bashkir | Bashkir is a Turkic language spoken by the Bashkirs who live mostly in the republic of Bashkortostan in Russia |
| Basque | Basque (Euskara) is spoken by one quarter of the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain and the adjoining region of South-Western France |
| Batak (Indonesia) | Batak is a language group of seven languages spoken by the Batak people in the highlands of North Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Beja | Beja is spoken by the Beja nomdas of the southern coast of the Red Sea in parts of Egypt, Sudan, and Eritrea |
| Belarusian | Belarusian is spoken by Belarusians an East Slavic ethnic group who populate the majority of the Republic of Belarus |
| Bemba | Bemba (Chibemba) is a Bantu language spoken by the Bemba people primarily in Zambia |
| Bengali | Bengali (Bangla) is an Indo-Aryan language, it is spoken in Bangladesh and in parts of the Indian states of West Bengal and Assam |
| Berber (Other) | Berber languages are a group of languages spoken by the indigenous Berber people of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya |
| Bhojpuri | Bhojpuri (bhōjapurī) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in parts of north-central and eastern India |
| Bihari | Bihari is spoken in Bihar and neighboring states in India |
| Bikol | Bikol languages are a group of closely related languages (macrolanguages) spoken particularly on the Bicol Peninsula on the island of Luzon and parts of Catanduanes and Burias Island in the Philippines |
| Bini | Bini (or Edo) is a Benue-Congo language spoken by the Bini people in Edo State, Nigeria |
| Bislama | Bislama is a English-based creole language spoken in the island state of Vanuatu in the South Pacific Ocean |
| Blin, Bilin | Blin, Bilin is a Cushitic language which is spoken in central Eritrea |
| Bokmål, Norwegian, Norwegian Bokmål | see: Norwegian |
| Bosnian | Bosnian (bosanski jezik) is spoken by Bosniak people, it is the official language of Bosnia and Herzegovina, also spoken in Montenegro and Serbia |
| Braj | Braj (also Brij Bhasha) is a Central Indian language closely related to Hindi |
| Breton | Breton (Brezhoneg) is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany (Breizh/Bretagne) in France |
| Buginese | Buginese is spoken in the southern part of Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian is a Slavic language, it is the national language of Bulgaria |
| Buriat | Buriat are a Mongolic language group spoken by the Buryats in Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia, in northeast Mongolia, and in Hulun-Buyr District, Inner Mongolia, China |
| Burmese | Burmese (mjàmmà) is the official language of Myanmar |
C - D
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Caddo | Caddo is an almost extinct Native American language (25 speakers), spoken by the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma |
| Carib | Carib is an Amerindian language, spoken by about 10 000 people in parts of Venezuela. Carib is also spoken in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname |
| Castilian, Spanish | See below: Spanish |
| Catalan, Valencian | Catalan (valencià) is the language used in the Autonomous Community of Valencia (Alicante, Valencia and Castellón) of Spain. The language is also known as Catalan (català) and is official language of Andorra |
| Cebuano | Cebuano is spoken in Central Visayas and some parts of Mindanao in the Philippines |
| Celtic (Other) | The code corresponds to Shelta, the secret language of Travellers (Pavees) in the British Isles and the US. The language is based largely on Irish, the language of Ireland |
| Central American Indian (Other) | Central American Indian (other) refers to groups of indigenous languages spoken in Meso-America an area which covers southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. There are three major linguistic stocks in Meso-America: Oto-Manguean, Mayan, and Aztec Tanoan languages |
| Chagatai | Chagatai is an extinct Turkic language which was once spoken in Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia |
| Chamic languages | Chamic languages are a group of Cham languages spoken by the Cham people of Southeast Asia, prevalent in Vietnam (100 000) and in Cambodia (220 000 speakers) |
| Chamorro | Chamorro (Chamoru) is the native language of the native Chamorro people of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam |
| Chechen | Chechen (Нохчийн мотт) is spoken by Chechen people (1.3 million spekers) mostly in the Chechen Republic, a federal subject of Russia |
| Cherokee | Cherokee (Tsalagi) is spoken by Native American people of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma and North Carolina, United States |
| Cheyenne | Cheyenne (Tsėhesenėstsestotse) is a Native American language spoken by people of the Cheyenne Nation in the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana and in Oklahoma, United States |
| Chibcha | Chibcha (muyskkubun) an almost extinct language of the Muisca people of the central highlands of Colombia |
| Chichewa, Chewa, Nyanja | see: Nyanja |
| Chinese | Chinese (中文, Zhōngwén) can be considered as a language or a language family, it is originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China. There are some main regional language groups of spoken Chinese of which the most spoken are Mandarin, Wú (Wú yǔ), Min (Mǐn yǔ; 70 million) and Cantonese (Yue; 70 million); all of them with their own dialects or varieties. Some of the regional languages are mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese. Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) is the official language of the PR China |
| Chinook jargon | Chinook jargon (also Chinuk Wawa) was originally an intra-indigenous contact language in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada |
| Chipewyan | Chipewyan (Dene Suline) is spoken by the Native American Chipewyan people of central Canada |
| Choctaw | Choctaw is spoken by the Native American Choctaw people (about 9,200 speakers) of the southeastern United States |
| Chuang, Zhuang | Chuang or Zhuang is spoken by the Zhuang people of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the People’s Republic of China |
| Chuukese | Chuukese (Trukese) is a Trukic language spoken primarily on the islands of Chuuk in Micronesia |
| Chuvash | Chuvash is a Turkic language spoken in central Russia, primarily in the Republic of Chuvashia and adjacent areas |
| Classical Newari, Old Newari, Classical Nepal Bhasa | Classical Newari, see: Old Newari |
| Coptic | Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt, extinct in the 17th century |
| Cornish | Cornish is a formerly extinct language which was revived in the 20th century spoken today by some 2 000 people in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom |
| Corsican | Corsican (Corsu) is the traditional language of the native people living on the island of Corsica (acquired by France in 1768) and northern Sardinia (Italy) |
| Cree | Cree is spoken by approximately 117,000 indigenous Cree people, and is by far the most spoken aboriginal language in Canada |
| Creek | Creek (Mvskoke) is spoken by the Native American Muscogee (Creek) peoples in the United States |
| Creoles and pidgins (Other) | Creoles and pidgins are language constructs of two ore more languages resulting of an extended contact between communities (one usually European) with different languages. Examples are English-based Creoles, French-based Creoles, see more below |
| Creoles and pidgins, English-based (Other) | English-based Creoles (English creole) are creole languages based on British English, Irish- or Scottish language. Varieties of English-based Creole are spoken in Jamaica (Jamaican Patois), in Belize (Belizean Kriol), in Nicaragua (Miskito Coastal Creole), in the Bahamas (Bahamian Creole), in Anguilla (Anguillan Creole), in Antigua and Barbuda (Antiguan Creole), in Barbados (Bajan or Barbadian Creole), in Grenada (Grenadian Creole), in Guyana (Guyanese Creole), in Montserrat (Montserrat Creole), in Saint Kitts and Nevis (Saint Kitts Creole) in Trinidad and Tobago (Tobagonian and Trinidadian Creole), and in British Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands (Virgin Islands Creole). Creole varieties are also spoken in Cameroon (Cameroonian Pidgin English, 5% of pop.), in Liberia (Kreyol), Krio is spoken in Sierra Leone, in Nigeria (Nigerian Pidgin) and in Papua New Guinea (Tok Pisin) |
| Creoles and pidgins, French-based (Other) | French-based Creoles are creole languages based on the French language. Varieties of French-based Creole are spoken in the Caribbean on Haiti, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominica, St. Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago. Other varieties are spoken in Mauritius, the Seychelles, the island of Réunion and in New Caledonia |
| Creoles and pidgins, Portuguese-based (Other) | Portuguese-based Creoles are creole languages based on Portuguese language, Portuguese pidgins were used as a lingua franca in Asia and Africa until the 18th century, Portuguese-based Creoles have nearly all lexical content bases on Portuguese, while grammatically they are very different. Portuguese creoles are spoken in Guinea-Bissau (Guinea-Bissau Creole (Kriol)), in Cape Verde (Cape Verdean Creole (Kriolu, Kriol)), in parts of São Tomé and Príncipe, Papiamento is spoken on the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao, in parts of Suriname (Saramaccan) |
| Crimean Tatar, Crimean Turkish | Crimean Tatar is the language of the Crimean Tatars who live predominantly in Crimea, an autonomous republic of Ukraine |
| Croatian | Croatian (Hrvatski) is the national language of Croatia, it is also an official language in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Montenegro |
| Cushitic (Other) | Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken in Eastern Africa (Horn of Africa). Cushitic languages are Oromo, Somali, Sidamo, Hadia, and Kambata |
| Czech | Czech (čeština) is a West Slavic language, it is the official language of the Czech Republic. Czech is similar to and mutually intelligible with Slovak |
| Dakota | Dakota (Sioux) is a Siouan language, it is just one of forty-five languages or dialects spoken by the Native American Sioux tribes of Canada and the US |
| Danish | Danish is one of the Scandinavian languages, it is the official language of Denmark |
| Dargwa | Dargwa or Dargin language is a dialect continuum with three principal dialects, they are spoken by the Dargin people who live mainly in western Dagestan, a republic of Russia |
| Dayak | Dayak languages are a group of languages spoken by the indigenous Dayak people of Borneo, Western Kalimantan, Indonesia |
| Delaware | The Delaware languages is a nearly extinct language family once spoken by the Lenape people of Southern Ontario (Munsee language), Canada. Unami was formerly spoken in northeastern and west central Oklahoma, northern New Jersey, and lower Delaware Valley, in the US |
| Dinka | Dinka (thuongjang) is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Dinka (Mounyjieng), a group of tribes of south Sudan |
| Divehi | Dhivehi (or Divehi) is spoken in the Republic of Maldives |
| Dogri | Dogri is spoken by the Dogras, an ethnic group in South Asia, they live predominantly in Jammu but also in adjoining regions of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Northeastern Pakistan |
| Dogrib | Dogrib is the language of the Native American Tli Cho pepole living in the Northwest Territories (NWT) of Canada |
| Dravidian (Other) | Dravidian is a family of languages spoken mainly in southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka |
| Duala | Duala is the language spoken by the Duala people of coastal Cameroon |
| Dutch, Flemish | Dutch is the national language of the Netherlands. Flemish, the variety of Dutch (not Vlaams) spoken in Belgium is only slightly different from the variety spoken in the Netherlands |
| Dutch, Middle (ca. 1050-1350) | Middle Dutch (Middelnederlands) was once spoken in the Netherlands and Belgium |
| Dyula | Dyula (Dioula; Jula) is spoken by the Dyula people, a Mande ethnic group in western Burkina Faso. It is also spoken in Côte d’Ivoire and Mali |
| Dzongkha | Dzongkha is the language that is spoken in Bhutan |
E - F
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Efik | Efik (a dialect of the Ibibio language) is spoken by the Efik people in Akwa Ibom State and Cross River State in the south of Nigeria |
| Egyptian (Ancient) | Ancient Egyptian was the language of ancient Egypt, it is one of the oldest recorded languages (3000 BC – 300 BC.) |
| Ekajuk | Ekajuk (Akajo) is spoken in the Cross River State and some surrounding regions of southeastern Nigeria |
| Elamite | Elamite is an extinct language, it was an official language of the Persian Empire from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC |
| English | English, a West Germanic language is the first language for about 309–400 million people. See: Countries by Languages – English Speaking Countries |
| English, Middle (1100-1500) | Middle English is is the ancestor of Modern English. The term refers to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the 12th and the 15th century, The language developed on the base of Chancery Standard, a written form of English used by government bureaucracy |
| English, Old (ca.450-1100) | Old English (Englisc) is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland |
| Erzya | Erzya is spoken in the northern and eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent regions |
| Esperanto | Esperanto is the most widely spoken constructed language in the world, created by: L. L. Zamenhof (1887) |
| Estonian | Estonian (eesti keel), a Finno-Ugrian language, is the language spoken in Estonia |
| Ewe | Ewe is a Niger-Congo language spoken in Ghana, Togo and Benin |
| Ewondo | Ewondo is spoken by the Ewondo people of Cameroon |
| Fang | Fang is the language spoken by the Fang people in northern Gabon, southern Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea |
| Fanti | Fante (or Fanti) is a Twi language and is the common language for communicating between the several Kingdoms of the Fante in southern Ghana, though each has its own language |
| Faroese | Faroese (føroyskt) is a Scandinavian language spoken on the Faroe Islands |
| Fijian | Fijian is an Austronesian language spoken in Fiji |
| Filipino, Pilipino | Filipino (Pilipino) is the national language of the Philippines. Pilipino is the de facto standardized version of Tagalog |
| Finnish | Finnish (suomi) is the language spoken in Finland |
| Finno-Ugrian (Other) | Finno-Ugrian or Finno-Ugric is a group of languages in the Uralic language family, comprising Finnish, Estonian, Hungarian and related languages |
| Flemish, Dutch | Dutch is the national language of the Netherlands. Flemish, the variety of Dutch (not Vlaams) spoken in Belgium is only slightly different from the variety spoken in the Netherlands |
| Fon | Fon is spoken mainly in Benin and in parts of Togo |
| French | French (français), a Romance language – a descendant of the Latin language, is the language spoken in France and is officilal language in 28 other countries. (see: List of French speaking countries) |
| French, Middle (ca.1400-1600) | Middle French (le moyen français) is the ancestor of Modern French. French language became the official language of the Kingdom of France (1539) |
| French, Old (842-ca.1400) | Old French (l’ancien français), was a range of Romance dialects spoken in the northern half of modern France and parts of Belgium and Switzerland |
| Frisian | Western Frisian is spoken mainly in Friesland (Fryslân), a province in the north of the Netherlands |
| Friulian | Friulian is a language of northeast Italy in Friuli region and adjacent areas |
| Fulah | Fula is a language of West Africa, spoken by the Fulani people (Fula; Fulɓe) in Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Cameroon and Sudan |
G - H
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Ga | Ga, a Kwa language is spoken in Ghana on the coastal regions around Ghana’s capital Accra |
| Gaelic, Scottish | Gaelic The Gaelic language of Scotland (Scottish Highland) |
| Gallegan | Gallegan (Galician) is spoken in northwest Spain in the Autonomous Region of Galicia. Also spoken in Portugal |
| Ganda | Ganda (also: Luganda) is a language of southeast Uganda, spoken by the Baganda people of Buganda region situated south of Lake Kyoga, to the west of Lake Victoria and to the Tanzania border |
| Gayo | Gayo is spoken in the mountain region of north Sumatra around Takengon, Genteng, and Lokon, Indonesia |
| Gbaya | Gbaya languages are spoken mainly in the Central African Republic |
| Geez | Geez, Ge’ez, Ethiopic is an extinct language, but remains in use as a liturgical language in some of the Ethiopian Orthodox and Christian Churches |
| Georgian | Georgian is the official language of Georgia |
| German | German (Deutsch) refers mostly to Standard German (German: Hochdeutsch) the standard variety of the German language used as a written and spoken language. German or its modern dialects is spoken in Germany, Liechtenstein, and in parts of Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Switzerland |
| German, Low; Saxon, Low; Low German; Low Saxon | West Low German, (also known as Low Saxon) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in the Northwest German states (Bundesländer) of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia (the Westphalian part), Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt (western areas), in the northeast of the Netherlands and by a minority in the southernmost part of Denmark |
| German, Middle High (ca.1050-1500) | Middle High German (Mittelhochdeutsch) refers to the general linguistic usage of the German language in the period between 1050 and 1500. Middle High German was a cluster of dialects which were the ancestors of Modern German, spoken in Germany, and parts of Switzerland, and Austria |
| German, Old High (ca.750-1050) | Old High German (Althochdeutsch) refers to the earliest group of West Germanic languages or dialects, which were spoken in southern Germany (south of the city of Duesseldorf), parts of Austria and Switzerland, and in Southern Bohemia |
| Germanic (Other) | Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family. Germanic languages are English, Dutch, and German, and the North Germanic languages including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, and Faroese |
| Gikuyu; Kikuyu | Gikuyu (Kikuyu) is spoken primarily by the Kikuyu people, the largest ethnic group in Kenya |
| Gilbertese | Gilbertese is spoken on the island of Kiribati |
| Gondi | Gondi is spoken by the Gondi people the largest tribe of central India |
| Gorontalo | Gorontalo is spoken inthe Gorontalo area of northwestern Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Gothic | Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths, an East Germanic tribe |
| Grebo | Grebo is the name for a language family spoken by members of the ethnic Grebo group of southeast Liberia, there are also Grebo living in Côte d’Ivoire |
| Greek, Ancient (to 1453) | Ancient Greek in its various dialects was the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilization |
| Greek, Modern (1453) | Modern Greek (Ελληνικά) is the official language of Greece and of the Republic of Cyprus |
| Greenlandic; Kalaallisut | Greenlandic is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken by most people in Greenland. Western Greenlandic (Kalaallisut) is the official language of Greenland |
| Guarani | Guaraní (avañe’ẽ) is one of the official languages of Paraguay (spoken by 94% of the population) |
| Gujarati | Gujarati is official language in the Gujarat state of India, it is also spoken in the Indian Union Territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli |
| Gwich’in | Gwich’in is an Athabaskan language spoken by indigenous Gwich’in people in Canada and the United States |
| Haida | Haida (Xaat Kíl) is an endangered language, only spoken by some 3 or 4 dozen indigenous Haida people of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) Canada, and on Prince of Wales Island in southeast Alaska |
| Haitian Creole; Haitian | Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen) is spoken in Haiti by about 7 million people |
| Hausa | Hausa is spoken by the the Hausa people, who live in Niger and in the north of Nigeria |
| Hawaiian | Hawaiian, an Austronesian language, is along with English official language of the US State of Hawaii |
| Hebrew | Hebrew (עִבְרִית, ‘Ivrit), Modern Hebrew, based on Classical Hebrew, the holy language of the Torah, is is the official language in Israel |
| Herero | Herero (Otjiherero) is spoken by Herero people in Namibia (113,000) and parts of Botswana |
| Hiligaynon | Hiligaynon (Ilonggo) is spoken in Western Visayas, one of the regions of the Philippines |
| Himachali | Himachali (meaning ‘Himachal-speech’) is a cover term for various related languages spoken in Himachal Pradesh state of India |
| Hindi | Hindi a dialect cluster of languages, spoken in northern and central India |
| Hiri Motu | Hiri Motu is an official language of Papua New Guinea |
| Hittite | Hittite or Nesili is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites in the late Bronze Age |
| Hmong | Hmong is a group of dialects spoken by the Hmong people (Mong) of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi in southern China, northern Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos |
| Hungarian | Hungarian (magyar nyelv) is the official language of Hungary |
| Hupa | Hupa is an Athabaskan language (of Na-Dené stock) spoken in the Trinity valley in California by the Native American Hupa people (Natinixwe) |
I - J
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Iban | Iban is spoken by the Iban, who live on the island of Borneo, in the Sarawak state of Malaysia, in the Kalimantan Barat province (West Kalimantan) of Indonesia, and in Brunei |
| Icelandic | Icelandic (íslenska) is the official language of Iceland |
| Ido | Ido is a constructed language created by a group of reformist Esperanto speakers in 1907 |
| Igbo | Igbo (Igbo: Asụsụ Igbo) is a language spoken by the Igbo in Nigeria (20-25 million people), especially in the southeastern region known as Biafra and parts of the southern region of Nigeria |
| Ijo | Ijo is a language cluster within Kwa (a Niger-Congo language) and is spoken by the Ijaw people in Bendel and Rivers states of Nigeria |
| Iloko | Iloko (Ilocano) is the third most-spoken language of the Philippines |
| Inari Sami | Inari Sámi (anarâškielâ) is a Sami language spoken by some 300-400 people, the majority of whom are middle-aged or older and live in the municipality of Inari in in Finnish Lapland, Finland |
| Indic (Other) | Indic, the Indo-Aryan languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family |
| Indo-European (Other) | The Indo-European is a language family of several hundred related languages and dialects — 449 according to the SIL estimate (2005). Subdivisions of the Indo-European languages are: Albanian, Anatolian, Armenian, Balto-Slavic, Celtic, Germanic, Greek, Indo-Iranian, Italic, and Tocharian |
| Indonesian | Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) is the national language of Indonesia |
| Ingush | Ingush (ГІалгІай Ğalğaj) is spoken by the indigenous Ingush in Ingushetia and Chechnya, both republics of Russia |
| Interlingua (International Auxiliary Language Association) | Interlingua is an international auxiliary language (IAL), developed between 1937 and 1951 by the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA) |
| Interlingue | Interlingue (Occidental) is a constructed language created by Edgar de Wahl, published in 1922 |
| Inuktitut | Inuktitut is an Inuit language spoken by Inuits in northern Canada |
| Inupiaq | Inupiaq is a group of dialects of the Inuit language, spoken in northern and northwestern Alaska |
| Iranian (Other) | Language family; the ‘Iranian’ languages branch is so named because its principal member languages, including Persian, have been spoken in the area of the Iranian plateau since ancient times |
| Irish | Irish (Gaeilge), also known as Irish Gaelic is the language spoken in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (UK) |
| Irish, Middle (900-1200) | Middle Irish is the form of Irish used from the 10th to 12th centuries |
| Irish, Old (to 900) | Old Irish is the oldest form of the Irish language spoken in Ireland and Scotland, a still older form of Irish is known as Primitive Irish |
| Iroquoian languages | Iroquoian languages are a Native American language family includes Mohawk, Huron-Wyandot and Cherokee |
| Italian | Italian (italiano) is the official language of Italy, it is also one of four official languages of Switzerland. Italian is official language of San Marino, and primary language of the Vatican City State |
| Japanese | Japanese (日本語, Nihongo) is the official language of Japan |
| Javanese | Javanese is spoken in the central and eastern parts of the island of Java, in Indonesia |
| Judeo-Arabic | Judeo-Arabic are Arabic dialects spoken by Jewish communities in the Arab world |
| Judeo-Persian | Judeo-Persian (Judæo-Persian) are Jewish dialects spoken by the Jews living in Iran |
K - L
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Kabardian | Kabardian is spoken mainly in Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, both republics of Russia |
| Kabyle | Kabyle (Taqbaylit) is a Berber language spoken by the Kabyle people of northeastern Algeria |
| Kachin | Kachin (Jingpho) is spoken in the Kachin state of northern Myanmar and also in adjacent parts of Yingjiang District of PR China |
| Kalaallisut; Greenlandic | Kalaallisut; Greenlandic is an Eskimo-Aleut language spoken by most people in Greenland |
| Kalmyk | Kalmyk is spoken by the Kalmyk people in the autonomous Republic of Kalmykia, Russia |
| Kamba | Kamba (Kikamba) is a Bantu language spoken by the Akamba people of Kenya |
| Kannada | Kannada is spoken by the Kannadigas, it is the official and administrative language of the Indian state of Karnataka |
| Kanuri | Kanuri is spoken mainly in lowlands of the Lake Chad basin comprising parts of Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria |
| Karachay-Balkar | Karachay-Balkar is spoken by the Karachays and Balkars in the north Caucasus, Russia |
| Kara-Kalpak | Kara-Kalpak is spoken by Karakalpaks in Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic of Uzbekistan |
| Karen | Karen languages are spoken by the Karen people in Myanmar (primarily in Karen State) and western Thailand |
| Kashmiri | Kashmiri is an official language of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and is spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley and in parts of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan |
| Kashubian | Kashubian language has evolved from the language spoken by Kashubians, some early Slavic tribes who settled in the region of Pomerania, today part of Poland and Germany |
| Kawi | Kawi (Bhāṣa Kawi) is the ancestor language of modern Javanese spoken on Java, Indonesia. Other names; Old Javanese |
| Kazakh | Kazakh, a Turkic language, is the official language of Kazakhstan (10 m), spoken also in China Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region |
| Khasi | Khasi is an Austro-Asiatic language, official regional language of Meghalaya state in India |
| Khmer | Central Khmer; Alternate names: Khmer, Cambodian; spoken throughout Cambodia (12 m) also spoken in Viet Nam (1 m) |
| Khoisan (Other) | Khoisan (Other) are the indigenous languages of the Kalahari Desert in southern and eastern Africa, spoken in southern Africa by the Khoi and Bushmen (Saan), in east Africa by the Sandawe and Hadza peoples. The languages are famous for their clicks |
| Khotanese | Khotanese is a language once spoken (10th century A.D.) in the Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan that was located in the area which is today Xinjiang province in China north of Tibet (TAR) |
| Kikuyu; Gikuyu | Kikuyu (Gikuyu) is spoken primarily by the Kikuyu people, the largest ethnic group in Kenya |
| Kimbundu | Kimbundu is one of the most widely spoken languages in Angola, especially in the north-west of the country |
| Kinyarwanda | Kinyarwanda is a Bantu language spoken primarily in Rwanda |
| Kirghiz | Kirghiz is a Turkic language spoken in Kyrgyzstan, it is the official language of the country, together with Russian |
| Klingon; tlhIngan-Hol | Klingon (tlhIngan Hol in Klingon) is the artificial language spoken by Klingons, a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe. The language was created by Marc Okrand, an American linguist |
| Komi | Komi is a Finno-Permic language spoken by the Komi peoples in the northeastern European part of Russia |
| Kongo | Kongo (Kikongo) is a Bantu language spoken by the Bakongo and Bandundu people living in the tropical forests of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola |
| Konkani | Konkani are two individual languages, Konkani and Goan Konkani spoken by the Konkani people of Konkan a section of the western coastline of India in Maharashtra state |
| Korean | Korean is the language of the Korean peninsula, today divided in North Korea and South Korea |
| Kosraean | Kosraean is spoken on the Micronesian island of Kosrae part of the Federated States of Micronesia |
| Kpelle | Kpelle is a language family of very closely related languages (macrolanguage) of the Mande language family spoken in Guinea and Liberia |
| Krio | Krio is the lingua franca language spoken throughout Sierra Leone by 97% of the population |
| Kru | Kru is a Niger-Congo language family refering to a number of related dialects spoken in the south-east of Liberia, the east of Côte d’Ivoire and in some souther parts of Burkina Faso |
| Kumyk | Kumyk is a Turkic language, spoken by the Kumyks, inhabitants of the Kumyk plateau in north Dagestan, a republic of the Russian Federation |
| Kurdish | Kurdish is the language spoken by Kurds, who live in the southeastern part of Turkey, in northern Iraq and northwestern Iran |
| Kurukh | Kurukh is spoken by the Kurukh people, a native Indian tribe (Ādivāsīs) inhabiting the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and parts of northern Bangladesh |
| Kutenai | The Kutenai language is nearly extinct, it is the language of the Native American Kootenai people inhabiting south-eastern British Columbia (Canada) and the adjacent portions of Montana and Idaho (USA) |
| Kwanyama, Kuanyama | Kwanyama (Oshiwambo) is a standardized dialect of the Oshiwambo language, it is a national language of Angola and Namibia |
| Ladino | Ladino (Judeo Spanish) is a Jewish language derived from Old Spanish, it is influenced by Hebrew and Aramaic, but also Arabic, Turkish and to a lesser extent Greek. Spoken by about 100,000 in Israel |
| Lahnda | Lahnda, also known as Western Panjabi is a dialect of the Punjabi language spoken in the historical Punjab region (now divided between Pakistan and India) |
| Lamba | Lamba is the language of the Lamba people of Zambia, Lamba is also spoken in parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Lao | Lao is the official language of Lao PDR, and also spoken in the northeast of Thailand (Isan) |
| Latin | Latin (lingua Latīna) historically spoken in Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe. Latin was the international language of science and scholarship in central and western Europe until the 17th century |
| Latvian | Latvian (latviešu valoda) is the official state language of Latvia |
| Lezghian | Lithuanian (lietuvių kalba) is Lithuania’s official language |
| Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish | Limburgish, is a language of Franconian varieties, spoken in the Limburg and Rhineland regions, near the common Dutch / Belgian / German border |
| Lingala | Lingala is a Bantu language spoken throughout the northwestern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa) and in a large part of the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian |
| Lojban | Lojban is a logically engineered human language based on predicate logic |
| Low German; Low Saxon; German, Low; Saxon, Low | West Low German, (also known as Low Saxon) is a group of Low German dialects spoken in the Northwest German states (Bundesländer) of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia (the Westphalian part), Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt (western areas), in the northeast of the Netherlands and by a minority in the southernmost part of Denmark |
| Lower Sorbian | Lower Sorbian is a Slavic minority language spoken in eastern Germany in the historical province of Lower Lusatia, today part of Brandenburg. (see also Upper Sorbian) |
| Lozi | Lozi (Silozi) is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in neighboring countries |
| Luba-Katanga | Luba-Katanga (Kiluba) is a language spoken mostly in the south-east area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Luba-Lulua | Luba-Lulua (Tshiluba) is a Bantu language, it is one of the four national languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Luiseno | Luiseno is a nearly extinct language (total speakers: 30–40) spoken by the Luiseño people, Native Amercan Indians in southern California |
| Lule Sami | Lule Sami is a Sami language spoken by about 1500 people along the Lule River in Gällivare and Jokkmokk in northern Sweden. about 500 speakers in the province of Nordland in Norway |
| Lunda | Lunda is spoken in the northern part of Zambia, as well as in parts of Angola and, to a lesser extent, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Luo (Kenya and Tanzania) | Luo is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by about 3 mi people in Kenya’s Nyanza Province, also spoken by few in Tanzania |
| Lushai | Lushai, (Mizo) language is spoken by the Mizos in the Indian state of Mizoram, the language is known as the Lushai Hills District till 1954 |
| Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch | Luxembourgish is a West Central German dialect of High German spoken in Luxembourg |
M - N
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Macedonian | Macedonian is the official language of the Republic of Macedonia |
| Madurese | Madurese is the language of the Madurese people from Madura Island, Indonesia |
| Magahi | Magahi is a language spoken in the Indian state of Bihar |
| Maithili | Maithili is a language spoken in the eastern part of India, mainly in the Indian state of Bihar and in the eastern Terai region of Nepal |
| Makasar | Makasar is both a language and a writing system used by the ethnic Makassar in South Sulawesi island (Celebes) in Indonesia |
| Malagasy | Malagasy is the national language of Madagascar |
| Malay | Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is spoken by the Malay peoples who predominantly inhabit the Malay Peninsula, the east coast of Sumatra, and the coast of Borneo. Malay is official language in: Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and East Timor |
| Malayalam | Malayalam is predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Kerala, in southern India |
| Maltese | Maltese (Malti) is the national language of Malta |
| Manchu | Manchu used to be the language of the Manchu peoples who originated in Manchuria (today’s Northeastern China) Today the Manchus speak Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) and the Manchu language is almost extinct. (See also Qing Dynasty) |
| Mandar | Mandar is spoken on South Sulawesi, Indonesia |
| Mandingo | Mandingo (Mandinka) spoken by the Mandinka people, one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. Mandinka is spoken in Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Chad |
| Manipuri | Manipuri (Meitei) is the predominant language and lingua franca in the southeastern Himalayan state of Manipur, and is also spoken in the Indian states of Assam and Tripura and some parts of Bangladesh |
| Manobo languages | Manobo languages are a language family spoken in the Southern Philippines |
| Manx | Manx, also known as Manx Gaelic, is spoken on the Isle of Man, a self-governing Crown Dependency of the UK |
| Maori | Maori, (te reo Māori, te reo) is the language of the Māori peoples of Aotearoa (New Zealand) where it is an official language |
| Marathi | Marathi is the official language of the Indian state of Maharashtra. The language is spoken by the Marathi people of western India |
| Mari | Mari is spoken primarily by the Mari people in the Mari Republic of the Russian Federation |
| Marshallese | Marshallese is a Polynesian language of the Marshall Islands. There are two major dialects: Rälik (western) and Ratak (eastern). Also spoken in Nauru |
| Marwari | Marwari is dialect of Hindustani and is spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan, but is also found in the neighboring state of Gujarat and in Eastern Pakistan |
| Masai | Masai (Maa), the Maasai language is spoken in Southern Kenya and Northern Tanzania by the semi-nomadic Maasai people |
| Mayan languages | Mayan languages are a language family spoken by various indigenous Maya peoples in Mesoamerica and northern Central America, primarily in Guatemala, Mexico, and Belize |
| Mende | Mende (Mɛnde yia) is spoken by the Mende people and by other ethnic groups as a regional lingua franca, Mende is a major language of Sierra Leone |
| Micmac; Mi’kmaq | Micmac; Mi’kmaq (Míkmawísimk) is a Native American language spoken by the Míkmaq of eastern Canada and in the United States |
| Minangkabau | Minangkabau (Bahasa Minangkabau) is the language of the Minangkabau-people of West Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Mirandese | Mirandese language is sparsely spoken in a small area of northeastern Portugal |
| Mohawk | Mohawk is the language spoken by the Native American Mohawk nation in the United States and Canada |
| Moksha | Moksha is a language spoken by the people in the western part of the Russian province of Mordovia |
| Moldavian | Moldavian is the official language of the Republic of Moldova, the language is identical to Romanian but is written in Latin alphabet |
| Mon-Khmer (Other) | The code referes to 144 languages of the Mon-Khmer language family, descendants of the languages spoken in the Dvaravati and Angkor empires of Southeast Asia |
| Mongo | Mongo is spoken by the Mongo people of the southern part of Équateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo |
| Mongolian | Mongolian is the officiall language of Mongolia, Mongolian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet |
| Mossi | The Mòoré language is spoken by the Mossi people, the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso. The language is closely related and mutually intelligible with the Dagbani language spoken in northern Ghana |
| Multiple languages | |
| Munda languages | The Munda languages are a language family spoken by about nine million people in central and eastern India and Bangladesh |
| Nahuatl | Nahuatl referes to a group of languages and dialects of the Nahua people, descendants of the Aztecs, who live in Central Mexico |
| Nauru | Nauru ((dorerin Naoero)) is a language spoken on the Micronesian island of Nauru |
| Navajo; Navaho | Navajo is spoken by the Navajo people (Diné), a Native American Nation of the southwest United States |
| Ndebele, North | The Northern Ndebele language is a Nguni language spoken in Zimbabwe |
| Ndebele, South | The Southern Ndebele language, is also a Nguni language (Sotho-Tswana) it is spoken in South Africa |
| Ndonga | Ndonga is a Bantu language spoken in Namibia and southern Angola |
| Neapolitan | Neapolitan (Napoletano-Calabrese) is the language of the city of Naples and in parts of the Campania and Calabria provinces of Italy |
| Nepal Bhasa; Newari | Nepal Bhasa, also known as Newari is one of the oldest written languages of Nepal spoken mainly by the Newars, inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley |
| Nepali | Nepali (not to be confused with Nepal Bhasa) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Nepal, Bhutan, and some parts of India and Myanmar (Burma), it is the lingua-franca of Nepal |
| Nias | Nias is spoken on Nias and Batu islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia |
| Niger-Kordofanian (Other) | The term refers to a proposed super language family spoken in Sudan’s Kurdufan region |
| Nilo-Saharan (Other) | The Nilo-Saharan languages are a hypothetical group of African languages spoken mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers (hence the term “Nilo-“), including historic Nubia (see: Nubian languages) |
| Niuean | Niuean is a Polynesian language spoken on the island nation of Niue. The language is closely related to Tongan |
| Nogai | Nogai (Nogai Tatar) is a Turkic language spoken in the Caucasus region of southwestern Russia |
| Norse, Old | Old Norse is the North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. Modern Scandinavian languages are the linguistic descendant of Old Norse |
| North American Indian (Other) | The term referes to all Indigenous languages of the Americas, spoken by First Nation peoples from the southern tip of South America to Alaska and Greenland |
| Northern Sami | Northern Sami is the most widely spoken language of the Sami people of the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland as well as northwestern parts of Russia |
| Northern Sotho; Pedi; Sepedi | See: Sotho language |
| North Ndebele | Northern Ndebele (isiNdebele) language is spoken by the Ndebele or Matabele people of Zimbabwe |
| Norwegian | The language of Norway. There are two official forms of written Norwegian – Bokmål (literally “book language”) and Nynorsk (literally “new Norwegian”) |
| Nubian languages | Nubian languages referes to the Nubian language group still spoken in southern Egypt and in the Sudan |
| Nyamwezi | Nyamwezi (Kinyamwezi) is the language spoken by the Nyamwezi in northwest central Tanzania, they are the second-largest of over 120 ethnic groups in the country |
| Nyanja; Chichewa; Chewa | Nyanja (Chichewa) is the language of the Chewa people, it is widely spoken in south-central Africa and is the National language of Malawi |
| Nyankole | Nyankole (Nyankore) is the language of the Nyankore people, the third largest of 43 ethnic groups living in Uganda |
| Nynorsk, Norwegian; Norwegian Nynorsk | Nynorsk (literally “New Norwegian”) is one of the two official languages of Norway, the other being Bokmål |
| Nyoro | Nyoro (Runyoro) language of the Nyoro people of west-central Uganda |
| Nzima | Nzima (N |
O - P
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Occitan (post 1500); Provençal | See below: Provençal |
| Ojibwa | Ojibwa (Chippewa, Ojibwe) is the language of the Amerindian Ojibwa tribes, inhabitants of the of the Great Lakes and the northern Great Plains. Canada and USA |
| Old Newari; Classical Newari; Classical Nepal Bhasa | The early form of the Newari language a Tibeto-Burman language, mother tongue of the Newars, the earliest settlers of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal |
| Old Slavonic; Church Slavonic; Old Bulgarian; Church Slavic; Old Church Slavonic | Old Church Slavonic, also known as Old Bulgarian, was the first literary Slavic language used in the 9th century for the translation of the Bible and other ancient texts |
| Oriya | Oriya is an Indian language, mainly spoken in the Indian state of Orissa |
| Oromo | Oromo a Cushitic language is spoken by the Oromo people of Ethiopia and Kenya |
| Osage | Osage is the language of the Osage Nation an Indian tribe in the United States, which is mainly based in Osage County, Oklahoma |
| Ossetic; Ossetian | Ossetic is an East Iranian language spoken in Ossetia wich is ocated partly in Russia and Georgia |
| Otomian languages | Otomian languages refers to the Oto-Manguean group of 11 Amerindian languages spoken in Mexico |
| Pahlavi | Pahlavi or Pahlevi denotes a particular and exclusively written form of various Middle Iranian languages |
| Palauan | Palauan is spoken in the Micronesian island Republic of Palau |
| Pali | Pali is a literary and liturgical language of India, there are no native speakers, it is best known as the language of the earliest extant Buddhist scriptures and the language of Theravada Buddhism. (see also: Prakrit) |
| Pampanga | Pampanga (Kapampangan) is one of the major languages of the Philippines spoken by the people in Pampanga province |
| Pangasinan | Pangasinan is spoken by more than 1.5 million Pangasinan people, it is one of the twelve major languages in the Philippines |
| Panjabi; Punjabi | See: Punjabi |
| Papiamento | Papiamento (or Papiamentu) is a creole language spoken on the Caribbean island of Aruba, and in the Netherlands Antilles on the islands of Bonaire, and Curaçao |
| Papuan (Other) | Papuan |
| Pedi; Sepedi; Northern Sotho | See: Sotho |
| Persian | Persian (Farsi) is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and has official-language status in all three countries |
| Persian, Old (ca.600-400 B.C.) | Old Persian was spoken in Ancient Iran, sources of the language appears primarily in inscriptions, clay tablets, and seals of the Achaemenid era |
| Phoenician | Phoenician is a Semitic language originally spoken in Phoenicia (Canaan) the coastal region in Ancient Egypt (1200 BC – 333 BC) |
| Pilipino; Filipino | Pilipino (Filipino) is the national language of the Philippines. Pilipino is the de facto standardized version of Tagalog |
| Pohnpeian | Pohnpeian is a Micronesian language, it is spoken on the island of Pohnpei and the Caroline Islands of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) |
| Polish | Polish is the official language of Poland |
| Portuguese | With Portugal’s establishment of a colonial and trade empire, the Portuguese language spread worldwide in the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese is official language in Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, and São Tomé and Príncipe |
| Prakrit languages | Historic languages of Ancient India, the linguistic precursor of Sanskrit |
| Provençal; Occitan (post 1500) | Provençal (Provençau) is one of several dialects of Occitan also known as langue d’oc, and closely related to Catalan, spoken by a minority of people in southern France, mostly in Provence |
| Provençal, Old (to 1500) | An extinct language of Southern France. The ancestor of modern Occitanian |
| Punjabi; Panjabi | Punjabi is spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region (today parts of India and Pakistan) |
| Pushto | Pushto, also known as Afghani, is spoken primarily in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan |
Q - R
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Quechua | Quechua is a Native American language spoken in various regional forms in parts of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. Quechua is official language in Bolivia and Peru |
| Raeto-Romance | Raeto-Romance, also Romansh is one of the four official languages of Switzerland |
| Rajasthani | Rajasthani is spoken in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some adjacent areas of Pakistan |
| Rapanui | The Rapa Nui is spoken by the inhabitants of Easter Island, the Rapanui |
| Rarotongan | Rarotongan is the Maori language of the Cook Islands |
| Romance (Other) | Romance (Romanic languages) comprises all the languages that descend from Latin |
| Romanian | Romanian is primarily spoken in Romania and Moldova, Romanian is written in the Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet |
| Romany | Romany is the language of the Romani people, a Gypsies group of eastern Europe |
| Rundi | Rundi (Kirundi) is a Bantu language spoken by some 6 million people in Burundi and adjacent parts of Tanzania and Congo-Kinshasa |
| Russian | Russian is the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages, and the native language in the Russian Federation |
S - T
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Salishan languages | The Salishan language family consists of twenty-three languages spoken in the Pacific Northwest (the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana) |
| Samaritan Aramaic | Samaritan Aramaic was the language of the Samaritans who inhabited the Levant. Samaritan Aramaic ceased to be a spoken language some time between the 10th and the 12th centuries |
| Sami languages (Other) | Sami languages are the general name for a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sami people of the Sápmi area in parts of northern Finland, Norway, Sweden and extreme northwestern Russia |
| Samoan | Samoan (Sāmoan) is a Polynesian language, it is the traditional language of Samoa and American Samoa. There are approximately 900 000 Samoan speakers worldwide, 70% of whom live in the Samoan Islands |
| Sandawe | Sandawe is spoken by about 40 000 Sandawe people in the Dodoma region of Tanzania |
| Sango | Sango is the primary language spoken in the Central African Republic |
| Sanskrit | Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India |
| Santali | Santali is spoken by the Santali, a Scheduled Tribe* in India |
| Sardinian | Sardinian (Sardu) is, after Italian, the main language spoken on the island of Sardinia, Italy |
| Sasak | Sasak is spoken by the Sasak people of Lombok, Indonesia, the ethnic group make up the majority of Lombok’s population |
| Saxon, Low; German, Low; Low Saxon; Low German | Also Low German (de.: Plattdeutsch) spoken mainly in northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands |
| Scots | The Lowland Anglic language of Scotland |
| Scottish Gaelic; Gaelic | The Gaelic language of Scotland (Scottish Highland) |
| Selkup | Selkup is spoken by about 1,500 Selkup people in the region between the Ob and Yenisei Rivers (in Siberia, Russia) |
| Semitic (Other) | Semitic languages are a group of languages,most spoken semitic languages are Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, and Hebrew |
| Sepedi; Northern Sotho; Pedi | see below: Sotho |
| Serbian | Serbian is spoken in the countries of former Yugoslavia mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro (64%), and Croatia |
| Serer | Group of languages spoken by the Serer people in West Africa, mainly in Central Senegal |
| Shan | Shan is spoken in the Shan State in Northeast Myanmar and in adjacent regions of China, Laos and Thailand. Shan is related to the Thai language |
| Shona | Shona (chiShona) is the native language of the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia |
| Sichuan Yi | Sichuan Yi is spoken by the Yi people (Nuosu; eng.: Lolo) one of the most numerous minority nationalities in China |
| Sicilian | Sicilian is spoken on the island of Sicily, and in parts of southern Italy |
| Sidamo | Sidamo is spoken in parts of southern Ethiopia |
| Sign languages | Sign languages are the communication language of the Deaf community, they are representations of meanings in a gestural-visual form |
| Siksika | Siksika or Blackfoot are Algonquian languages spoken by the Blackfoot tribes of Native Americans |
| Sindhi | Sindhi is the language of the Sindhis of the Sindh region, a province of Pakistan. is official language in Pakistan and India |
| Sinhalese; Sinhala | Sinhala is the native language of the Sinhalese, the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, where it is one of two official languages, the other is Tamil |
| Sino-Tibetan (Other) | Not clear classified language family composed of Chinese and the Tibeto-Burman languages |
| Siouan languages | Siouan languages are a Native American language family spoken amongst others by the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people of the Great Sioux Nation |
| Skolt Sami | Skolt Sami is one of the official Sami languages in Finland, but only spoken by approximately 400 speakers |
| Slave (Athapascan) | Slave also Slavey is spoken among the Slavey First Nations of Canada in the Northwest Territories |
| Slavic (Other) | Slovenian is the official language in: Slovenia |
| Slovak | Slovak is spoken in the Slovak Republic (Slovakia) |
| Slovenian | Slovenian (Slovene) is the national language of Slovenia |
| Sogdian | Extinct language spoken in Sogdiana, an ancient civilization centered around Samarkand (Uzbekistan) |
| Somali | Somali is spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya |
| Songhai | Songhai is widely used as a lingua franca** on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the west African nations of Mali, Niger, and Benin |
| Soninke | Soninke is a Mande language spoken by the Soninke people of West Africa, primarily in Mali |
| Sorbian languages | Sorbian languages are the native languages of the Sorbs, a Slavic minority in eastern Germany. See: Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian |
| Sotho, Northern; Pedi; Sepedi | Sesotho sa Leboa is one of the official languages of South Africa spoken in the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga |
| Sotho, Southern | Sesotho (Southern Sotho) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa and in Lesotho |
| South American Indian (Other) | Indigenous languages of the Americas |
| Southern Sami | Southern Sami is a seriously endangered language. There are approximately 2000 people considered ethnically Southern Sami in Norway and Sweden, but only approximately 500 of them can fluently speak the language |
| South Ndebele | The Southern Ndebele language (isiNdebele) is spoken by the Ndebele people (amaNdebele) of South Africa |
| Spanish; Castilian | Spanish (Español), is one of the most-spoken languages by native speakers. See: Countries by Languages – Spanish Speaking Countries |
| Sukuma | Sukuma is a Bantu language spoken by the Sukuma people of northern Tanzania |
| Sumerian | Sumerian was the language of ancient Sumer of the Tigris-Euphrates river region |
| Sundanese | Sundanese (Basa Sunda) is spoken by about 27 million people from the western third of Java, Indonesia |
| Susu | Susu is one of the national languages of Guinea and spoken mainly in the coastal region of the country, also Also spoken in parts of Guinea-Bissau, and Sierra Leone |
| Swahili | Swahili (Kiswahili) the first language* of the Swahili people, it is one of the working language of the African Union, and official language of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda |
| Swati | Swati (siSwati) is a Bantu language spoken in Swaziland and South Africa |
| Swedish | Swedish (svenska) is a North Germanic language, spoken by more than ten million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland |
| Syriac | The individual languages within this macrolanguage are:Assyrian Neo-Aramaic [aii] and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic [cld] |
| Tagalog | Tagalog is one of the major languages used in the Philippines, widely used as a lingua franca throughout the country |
| Tahitian | Tahitian is one of the languages spoken in French Polynesia (along with French and other Polynesian languages) |
| Tai (Other) | Tai languages are a subgroup of the Tai-Kadai language family, including Thai, the national language of Thailand, Lao or Laotian, national language of Laos, the Shan language in Myanmar, and Zhuang, a major language of southern China |
| Tajik | Tajikis is official language in Tajikistan, it is a modern variety of the Persian language (Farsi) and spoken in Central Asia |
| Tamashek | Tamashek is a Berber language spoken by the nomadic Tuareg (Kel Tamasheq), in many parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso |
| Tamil | Tamil is one of the four “classical languages” of India, spoken predominantly by Tamil people. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore |
| Tatar | Tatar is the language of the ethnic group of theTatars, who mainly inhabiting Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan |
| Telugu | Telugu or Telugu bhasha is one of the four “classical languages” of India, mostly spoken in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, where it is the official language |
| Tereno | Tereno also Terêna is spoken in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in 20 villages and 2 cities |
| Tetum | Tetum is the national language and one of the two official languages of East Timor |
| Thai | Thai is the national language of Thailand, also spoken in Northern Malaysia, in parts of Cambodia, parts of Myanmar, and in Laos |
| Tibetan | Tibetan is official language in Tibet Autonomous Region of China |
| Tigre | Tigre also known as Xasa is spoken by about 800 000 people in Eritrea, also spoken in parts of Sudan |
| Tigrinya | Tigrinya is one of the two official languages of Eritrea, and in also spoken in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia |
| Timne | Timne is spoken by about 1 million people in Central Sierra Leone |
| Tiv | The Tiv language also known as Munshi is spoken by more than 2 million people in Nigeria, and by a minority in Cameroon |
| Tlingit | Endangered language spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska (USA) and Western Canada, with fewer than 140 native speakers |
| Tok Pisin | Tok Pisin is an English-based creole language spoken throughout Papua New Guinea |
| Tokelau | Austronesian language, is spoken by some 1,700 people on the atolls of Tokelau (Polynesia) and by the few inhabitants of Swains Island in neighbouring American Samoa |
| Tonga (Nyasa) | Tonga is spoken by around 170,000 in the north of Malawi |
| Tonga (Tongan; Tonga Islands) | Tongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga |
| Tsimshian | Tsimshian is spoken by ethnic Tsimshian people in northwestern British Columbia, (Canada) and and the southernmost corner of Alaska (USA) |
| Tsonga | Tsonga or Xitsonga is spoken in southern Africa by the Tsonga people, inhabiting the southern coastal plain of Mozambique, parts of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, and the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga |
| Tswana | Tswana (Setswana), is a Bantu language. It is the national language of Botswana, the majority of Setswana speakers are actually in South Africa |
| Tumbuka | Tumbuka is a a Bantu language spoken in parts of Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania |
| Tupi languages | The language family of Tupi or Tupian comprises about 70 languages spoken in South America, best known of this lingua franca are Tupi proper and Guarani wich is one of the official languages of Paraguay and Bolivia |
| Turkish | Predominantly spoken in Turkey. Turkish has about 60 million speakers, with many enclaves in the Balkans and Cyprus, Since 1928 the language is written in a phonetic variant of the Latin alphabet |
| Turkish, Ottoman (1500-1928) | The Ottoman Turkish language is variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language in Turkey and all the countries where the Ottoman Empire has expanded. Ottoman Turkish was written in a version of the Perso-Arabic alphabet |
| Turkmen | The national language of Turkmenistan. It is spoken in parts of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Turkey |
| Tuvalu | Tuvaluan language is spoken on the Polynesian island of Tuvalu formerly known as the Ellice Islands |
| Tuvinian | Tuvan also known as Tuvinian, Tyvan, or Tuvin, is spoken by around 200 000 people in the Russian Republic of Tuva in south-central Siberia |
| Twi | Twi is a language predominantly spoken in the Ashanti Region of Ghana by about 15 million people |
U - Z
| Language Name | Spoken in |
| Udmurt | Udmurt is spoken by the Udmurts, natives of Udmurtia, a constituent republic of the Russian Federation, where it is co-official with the Russian language |
| Ugaritic | The Ugaritic language, discovered by French archaeologists in 1928, is known only in the form of writings found in the lost city of Ugarit, near the modern village of Ras Shamra, Syria |
| Uighur; Uyghur | see: Uyghur |
| Ukrainian | The official language of Ukraine |
| Umbundu | Umbundu is a language spoken by the Ovimbundu people in the central highlands of Angola. It is the most widespread Bantu language in Angola |
| Upper Sorbian | Upper Sorbian is a minority language spoken in Germany in the historical province of Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz), which is today part of Saxony. (see also: Lower Sorbian) |
| Urdu | Urdu is the official language of Pakistan and is partly-spoken in India (it is one of 23 official languages of India) |
| Uyghur; Uighur | Uyghur is spoken by the Uyghur population in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region,a Central Asian region administered by China. Uyghur is also spoken by 300 000 people in Kazakhstan |
| Uzbek | Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan |
| Vai | A Mande language. The majority of its speakers live in Liberia. Vai is also spoken in Sierra Leone |
| Valencian; Catalan | Valencian (valencià) is the language used in the Autonomous Community of Valencia (Alicante, Valencia and Castellón) of Spain. The language is also known as Catalan (català) and is official language of Andorra |
| Venda | Venda also known as Tshivenḓa, or Luvenḓa is an official language in South Africa. There are also speakers in Zimbabwe |
| Vietnamese | The national and official language of Vietnam |
| Volapük | Volapük (worldlanguage) is an artificial language, proposed in 1879 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a German Catholic priest |
| Votic | Votic is spoken by the Votes of Ingria (Region south of Finland in Russia). It is closely related to Estonian |
| Wakashan languages | Family of languages spoken in British Columbia and on Vancouver Island (Canada), and in the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state (USA) |
| Walamo | Walamo also Wolaytta is an Omotic language spoken in the Wolaytta Region, Lake Abaya area of Ethiopia |
| Walloon | Romance language spoken as a second language by some in Wallonia, Belgium |
| Waray | Spoken in the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte (eastern portion), and Biliran in the Philippines |
| Washo | Endangered Native American language isolate spoken by the Washo on the California–Nevada border especially around Lake Tahoe (USA) |
| Welsh | Language spoken natively in Wales (Cymru), and in England by some along the Welsh border |
| Wolof | Wolof is the native language of the Wolof people, most spoken in Senegal, but also in The Gambia, and Mauritania |
| Xhosa | Xhosa is one of the Bantu languages and is an official language of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people |
| Yakut | Sakha, or Yakut, is a Turkic language with around 460,000 speakers spoken in the Sakha Republic in the Russian Federation |
| Yao | Spoken by Yao (Mien) people in China Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar |
| Yapese | One of theAustronesian languages, spoken by about 6600 people on the island of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia) |
| Yiddish | A non-territorial High German language of Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. Unlike other such languages, Yiddish is written with the Hebrew alphabet as opposed to a Latin alphabet |
| Yoruba | Language of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo |
| Yupik languages | Eskimo-Aleut languages spoken by several Yupik peoples of western and southcentral Alaska (USA) and northeastern Siberia (Russia) |
| Zande | Zande language is spoken by the Azande, primarily in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and southwestern Sudan, but also in the eastern part of the Central African Republic |
| Zapotec | Mesoamerican languages spoken by the indigenous Zapotec people from Mexico’s southwestern-central highlands region. Present-day numbers of native speakers are estimated at over half a million, with the majority inhabiting the state of Oaxaca |
| Zenaga | Berber language spoken by some 200 to 300 people (Ethnologue estimate, 1998) between Mederdra and the Atlantic coast in southwestern Mauritania |
| Zhuang; Chuang | Spoken by the Zhuang people in the People’s Republic of China. Most speakers live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region |
| Zulu | Language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority (over 95%) of whom live in South Africa. Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Swaziland |
| Zuni | Language of the Zuni people, indigenous to western New Mexico and eastern Arizona in the United States |