Languages are the basic communication activity for interaction in society. Language is the specific human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of acoustic as well as kinesic signals to express thoughts and feelings, and language is used for the exchange of knowledge and experiences. On this planet, languages greatly vary from region to region.
Even India has a number of languages due to the different regional settlements and cultural diversification. Some languages have different dialects. When the Portuguese migrated to Brazil in South America, they brought the Portuguese language with them. Let us learn more about the Languages of the world.
Languages of the World
Mandarin Chinese – This is a group of Sinitic languages spoken around the world. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese. Mandarin originated in North China. Most Mandarin varieties have four tones. The final stops of the Middle Chinese have disappeared in most of these varieties.
English – English is a West Germanic language first spoken in early medieval England which eventually became the leading language of international discourse in today’s world. English is most closely related to Frisian and Low Saxon while the vocabulary has been influenced by other Germanic languages.
Spanish – This is a Romance language that originated in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It has evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in Iberia after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Beginning in 1492, the Spanish language was taken to the viceroyalties of the Spanish Empire, most notably to the Americas, as well as territories in Africa, Oceania, and the Philippines.
Arabic – It is a Semitic language that first emerged in the 1st to 4th centuries CE. It is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. It is named after the Arabs, a term initially used to describe peoples living in the area bounded by Mesopotamia in the east and the Anti-Lebanon mountains in the west, in northwestern Arabia, and in the Sinai Peninsula.
Hindi – It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in India. Hindi is often described as a standardized and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language, which itself is based primarily on the Khariboli dialect of Delhi and neighboring areas of Northern India. It is written in Devanagari script.
Bengali – It is also known as Bangla. It is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent spoken by the Bengalis in Bangladesh and India. It is the most widely spoken language in Bangladesh. Bengali literature with its millennium-old literary history, has extensively developed since the Bengali Renaissance and is one of the most prolific and diverse literary traditions in Asia.
Russian – It is an East Slavic language native to the Russians in Eastern Europe. It is an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan as well as in other Baltic states and Central Asia. Russian is the largest native language in Europe and the most geographically widespread language in Eurasia.
Portuguese – It is a Western Romance language originating in the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. It is the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea -Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and Sao Tome and Principe. It also has a co-official language in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, and Macau.
| Rank,Language | Countries | Population(in millions) |
| 1. Chinese, Mandarin | Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Philippines, Singapore, S. Africa, Taiwan, Thailand | 1120 |
| 2. English | Australia, Belize, Botswana, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, India, Ireland, Israel, Lesotho, Liberia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Namibia, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, S. Africa, Suriname, Swaziland, Tonga, U.K., U.S., Vanuatu, Zimbabwe, many Caribbean states, Zambia. | 480 |
| 3. Spanish | Algeria, Andorra, Argentina, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Rep., Ecuador, El Salvador, Eq. Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mali, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Niger, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Togo, Tunisia, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela. | 332 |
| 4. Arabic | Egypt, Sudan, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Lybia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, UAE, Oman, Iraq, Lebanon | 235 |
| 5. Bengali | Bangladesh, India, Singapore | 189 |
| 6. Hindi | India, Nepal, Singapore, S. Africa, Uganda | 182 |
| 7. Russian | Belarus, China, Estonia, Georgia, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, U.S., Uzbekistan | 180 |
| 8. Portuguese | Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, France, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Macau | 170 |
| 9. Japanese | Japan, Singapore, Taiwan | 125 |
| 10. German | Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Czech Rep., Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Paraguay, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland | 98 |
| 11. Chinese, Wu | China | 77.2 |
| 12. Javanese | Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore | 75.5 |
| 13. Korean | China, Japan, N. Korea, S. Korea, Singapore, Thailand | 75 |
| 14. French | Algeria, Andorra, Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Laos, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Monaco, Morocco, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu, Vietnam | 72 |
| 15. Turkish | Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, Uzbekistan | 69 |
| 16. Vietnamese | China, Vietnam | 67.7 |
| 17. Telugu | India, Singapore | 66.4 |
| 18. Chinese, Yue(Cantonese) | Brunei, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Malaysia, Panama, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam | 66 |
| 19. Marathi | India | 64.8 |
| 20. Tamil | India, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, S. Africa, Sri Lanka | 63.1 |
| 21. Italian | Croatia, Eritrea, France, Italy, San Marino, Slovenia, Switzerland | 59 |
| 22. Urdu | Afghanistan, India, Mauritius, Pakistan, S. Africa, Thailand | 58 |
| 23. Chinese, Min Nan | Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand | 49 |
| 24. Chinese, Jinyu | China | 45 |
| 25. Gujarati | India, Kenya, Pakistan, Singapore, S. Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe | 44 |
| 26. Polish | Czech Rep., Germany, Israel, Poland, Romania, Slovakia | 44 |
| 27. Ukrainian | Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine | 41 |
| 28. Persian | Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Oman, Qatar, Tajikistan, U A Emirates | 37.3 |
| 29. Chinese, Xiang | China | 36 |
| 30. Malayalam | India, Singapore | 34 |
| 31. Chinese, Hakka | Brunei, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Panama, Singapore, Suriname, Taiwan, Thailand | 34 |
| 32. Kannada | India | 33.7 |
| 33. Oriya | India | 31 |
| 34. Panjabi, Western | India, Pakistan | 30 |
| 35. Sunda | Indonesia | 27 |
| 35. Panjabi, Eastern | India, Kenya, Singapore | 26 |
| 36. Romanian | Hungary, Israel, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine | 26 |
| 37. Bhojpuri | India, Mauritius, Nepal | 25 |
| 38. Azerbaijani, South | Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey | 24.4 |
| 40. Maithili | India, Nepal | 24.3 |
| 41. Hausa | Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan, Togo | 24.2 |
| 43. Burmese | Bangladesh, Myanmar | 22 |
| 44. Serbo-Croatian4 | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia | 21 |
| 45. Chinese, Gan | China | 20.6 |
| 46. Awadhi | India, Nepal | 20.5 |
| 47. Thai | Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia | 20 |
| 48. Dutch | Belgium, France, Netherlands, Suriname | 20 |
| 49. Yoruba | Benin, Nigeria | 20 |
| 50. Sindhi | Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Singapore | 19.7 |
Conclusion
India has different languages and dialects spoken all around the country. It comes from different traditions and cultures. In ancient times people used to communicate via “hoot” and other types of languages, also sign languages.
Latin was considered to be an important subject in Europe at a particular time. So was Sanskrit and Arabic. These are the base languages from which other major speaking languages have evolved.