In selected countries, the percent of the population that speaks each language is also given. Almost half of the worlds population claims one of only 10 languages as their mother tongue. She was involved in several european research projects on multilingualism and is a member of the european commissions languages in education and training group. The following languages are listed as having at least 10 million first language speakers in the 2019 edition of ethnologue, a language reference published by sil international, which is based in the united states. This revised edition includes updated bibliographies for each chapter and uptodate census figures. Determining what are the most spoken languages in the world is a more difficult task than you might imagine. From english, french, spanish and russian to pashto, tagalog, and swahili, this is the first comprehensive reference work to provide detailed information about the worlds forty major languages. Language trends series of reports and produced statistics and policy developments published as languages yearbooks 19952007. An encyclopedia of the world s major languages, past and present uyghur language.
The most widely spoken and likely the fastest spreading world language today is english, with over 1. When a language ceases to be learned by young children, its days are clearly numbered, and we can predict with near certainty that it will not survive the death of the current native speakers. Languages of the world department of computer science. English narrowly edges out chinese for the top spot, japanese and punjabi lose their.
When we count the top 10 most spoken languages according to the total number of people who speak them whether or not the language is their mother tongue, eight of the 10 languages from the list above still make an appearance, but with a few major differences. All modernday sinotibetan languages have evolved from the protosinotibetan language. Languages of the world oxford research encyclopedia of. The linguists usually count around 7,000 languages, and several thousands dialects can also be added. Azerbaijani turkic 89%, russian 3%, armenian 2%, other 6%. Language is the specifically 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. Asia is home to 60% of the worlds population and nearly 30% of the worlds languages. It does matter how major languages stand and evolve in relation to each other. About 7,000 languages are spoken around the world today. Before describing the details of the data, this introduction first describes the rationale that. People often talk about english as a global language or lingua franca. The worlds major languages bernard comrie download. Some vernacular languages, lingua francas vehicular languages, major dialects, pidgins or creoles languages may be missing. How english became the global language ef english live.
Freelang classification of the main languages of the. World languages major world languages and literatures. Hawkins, university of southern california 3 english 77 edward finegan, university of southern california 4 german 110 john a. With more than 350 million people around the world speaking english as a first language and more than 430 million speaking it as a second language, there are english speakers in most countries around the world. At around 8000 bc, linguists estimate that upwards of 20,000 languages may have been in existence.
Two new languages, amharic and javanese, have been included. The third largest language family in the world and the largest in africa is the nigercongo. By 2100, it is quite realistic to expect that half of these languages will be gone, their last speakers dead, their words perhaps recorded in a dusty. Languages spoken in each country of the world the table below lists the official language of each country as well as other languages spoken.
For these assumptions to be successful, the target language must be used most of the time. The interstellar diaspora from earth has been in progress f. This language family is further divided into 6 subgroups. The world s major languages features over 50 of the world s languages and language families this revised edition includes updated bibliographies for each chapter and uptodate census figures. A guide to victorian government policy and procedures, victorian office of multicultural affairs, 2003.
That number is constantly in flux, because were learning more about the world s languages every day. Kooij, university of leiden 6 danish, norwegian and. He is also ucas coordinator and a lecturer at a large sixthform college. The emphasis is on indoeuropean, over half the book being devoted to that family. Classification and index of the world s languages download. But english is one of the worlds most widespread languages. The worlds major languages the worlds major languages second editionedited by bernard comrie first edition publ. World languages and literatures is located in miller center on the undergraduate campus. Buy the world s major languages reprint by comrie, bernard, comrie, bernard isbn. The following languages are listed as having at least 10 million first language. On similar grounds, french and spanish are also commonly categorized as world languages. It now belongs to the world and increasingly to nonnative speakers who today far outnumber native speakers. World englishes, english as an international language and.
Gary king is series advisor for the roultedge colloquials and the author of numerous books on language and linguistics. This document pdf may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. While ethnologue, a publication pertaining to the worlds languages, estimates that there were 6,909 living languages in the world as of 2009, the exact number may never be determined. Dec 29, 2016 uments published in the worlds major languages. Aug 25, 2015 but english is one of the worlds most widespread languages.
Pdf how to compare major wordclasses across the worlds. Why greek is one of the worlds major languages request pdf. The reason why english, french and spanish are among the worlds most widespread languages has its roots in the imperial past of the nations where they originate. Improved world language learning that has moved from a focus on grammar and translation toward effective communication, literacy, and cultural interaction.
This will be valuable to you long after this course is over, for answering many different kinds of the most frequent questions asked about the worlds major languages. The history of the world s languages is largely a story of loss and decline. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook. Katla, atlanticcongo, ijo, dogon, mande, and rashad. The worlds major languages, 2nd edition pdf free download. Western farsi is at the letter w, it is not at the letter f. Korean japanese ainu monkhmer vietnamese and muong are now often accepted as being members of the monkhmer branch of the austric language family. Today the number stands at 6,909 and is declining rapidly. And beyond that, the languages themselves are in flux. December 10, 2010 page 3 of 27 the colorado academic standards for world languages are based on these four assumptions. Volume 26 issue 3 john defrancis, j marshall unger. The world s major languages edited by bernard comrie. It is spoken by a quarter of the worlds population, enabling a true single market in knowledge and ideas. Detailed guide to the world s forty major languages with full historical, sociological, and linguistic information.
The notion of major language is obviously primarily a social characterisation, and the fact that a language is not included in this volume implies no denigration of its importance as a language in its own right. The worlds major languages germanic languages routledge. The world is growing closer and this historical development is matched by largescale linguistic adjustments, the most dramatic of which being the explosive growth of the english language. The routledge concise compendium of the world s languages remains the ideal compact reference for all interested linguists and professionals alike. The world s major languages features over 50 of the world s languages and language families. Other possible world languages include arabic, mandarin chinese, russian and portuguese. This volume features over 50 of the world s languages and language families. Children learn the worlds languages in the same way and pass through the same stages of acquisition if children are born with ug, then they can acquire language so quickly and easily because they already know the universal properties of language and only need to learn the specific rules of the language s they are acquiring. Any substantial or systematic reproductions, redistribution, reselling, loan or. Scientists say they have traced the world s 6,000 modern languages from english to mandarin back to a single mother tongue, an ancestral language spoken in africa 50,000 to 70,000 years ago.
This list of languages is alphabetical by english name. The actual number depends on where the line is drawn between language and dialectan arbitrary decision, because languages are always in flux. English language teaching september, 2009 35 world englishes, english as an international language and applied linguistics ferit kilickaya maria curiesklodowska university, di vision of applied linguistics institute of german studies pl. Theyre living and dynamic, spoken by communities whose lives are shaped by our rapidly changing world. An encyclopedia of the worlds major languages, past and present. The table below which shows about 800 main languages is only a glimpse of the huge diversity of languages. This accessible volume will appeal to anyone with an interest in linguistics. At 1,025 pages, this book gives an extensive history and study of most of the major languages. In this paper, i argue that major wordclasses, such as nouns, verbs and adjectives, cannot be compared across languages by asking questions such as those in 1 and 2. The world readiness standards for learning languages clarify and better illustrate each goal area and standard in order to guide implementation and influence assessment, curriculum, and instruction. Other data sets count languages differently, but most agree that there are more than 6,000. How to compare major wordclasses across the world s languages 2012.
Worlds languages traced back to single african mother. Click download or read online button to get classification and index of the world s languages book now. But specialists applying a reasonably uniform criterion across the globe count well over 2,000 languages in asia and africa, while europe has just shy of 300. The featured languages have been chosen based on the number of speakers, their role as official languages and their cultural and historical importance. The threat of extinction thus affects a vastly greater proportion of the worlds languages than its biological species.
Of these, chinese and all of its variants and dialects have 1. The worlds major languages 3rd edition bernard comrie. Based on this consensus from all levels of language educators, the five goal areas and the 11 standards have been maintained. The inclusion of greek in bernard comrie s edited volume the world s major languages croom helm, 1987. Adamawa fulfulde is at the letter a, it is not at the letter f. The table below lists the official language of each country as well as other languages spoken. These are grouped into just a handful of major families, leaving out several important isolates, and due to long periods of contact, theres less diversity than one might expect. English as a global language with millions of popular intuitions at a level which had simply not existed a decade before. List of languages by number of native speakers wikipedia. From english, french, spanish and russian to pashto, ta.
Language list by country and place adapted from improving the use of translation and interpreting services. The worlds top 20 languagesand the words english has. Once we go beyond the major languages of economic and political power, such as english, mandarin chinese. Pdf languages are still a major barrier to global science. Gained independence from britain in 1776 mauna kea in the state of hawaii is the worlds tallest mountain if measured from where it starts at the bottom of. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Russian is the largest native language in europe, the most geographically widespread language in eurasia, one of the six official languages of the united nations, and. Language list by country and place department of social. World languages major 2019 20 this major allows students to pursue the study of any two of the following languages.
One might buy the book for the information it contains, but it gives much pleasure also. Pdf on 20140114 dwyer, arienne 2001, uyghur, in garry, jane. The following table contains the top 100 languages by estimated number of native speakers in the 2007 edition of the swedish encyclopedia nationalencyklopedin. To find a language in the table, you can use the edit, search function of your browser. Languages with at least 10 million first language speakers. How to compare major wordclasses across the worlds languages martin haspelmath. Ranking the world s current top languages is not just an idle pastime. The worlds major languages by bernard comrie librarything. This is a treasury of authoritative yet concise information about major languages and language families. It is home to the three major language families on the african continent.
This new edition adds two new languages javanese and amharic and increases the number of such scholars to 52. The worlds major languages features over 50 of the worlds languages and language families. Of course english is a global language,they would say. Aninterna tionally renowned writer, journal editor, lecturer and broadcaster, he. As census methods in different countries vary to a considerable extent, and given that some countries do not record language in their censuses, any list of languages by native speakers, or total speakers, is effectively based on estimates. Ranging from english, french, spanish, and russian, to pashto, tagalog, and swahili, this comprehensive reference work provides the first detailed guide to the world s forty major languages. These are the kinds of statement which seem so obvious that most people would give them hardly a second thought.
How to compare major wordclasses across the worlds languages. Explanations on the shift in classical languages from decoding and translation to. Searching for scientific documents pub lished in 2014 with two keywords, biodiversity and conservation, in 16 languages on. A great reference work combining the results of many scholars work. Country language afghanistan pashtu, farsi, dari, hazaragi, other turkic and minor. From english, french, spanish and russian to pashto, tagalog, and swahili, this is the first comprehensive reference work to provide detailed information about the world s forty major languages.
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