LANGUAGE- THE WAY IT IS TODAY
The population of the world as of December 24, 2006 was approximately 6,674,844,105. There are 6,912 known living languages in the world.
According to www.infoplease.com the Most Widely Spoken Languages in the world in approximate number of speakers are:
1. Chinese (Mandarin) 1,075,000,000
2. English 514,000,000
3. Hindustani 496,000,000
4. Spanish 425,000,000
5. Russian 275,000,000
6. Arabic 256,000,000
7. Bengali 215,000,000
8. Portuguese 194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian 176,000,000
10. French 129,000,000
The above is from Ethnoloque, 13th edition, and other sources. Hindustani encompasses multiple dialects, including Hindu and Urdu.
According to www.krysstal.com The 30 Most Spoken Languages of The World are:
# Language/ Family / Script /Speakers In Millions/ Where Spoken
1. Mandarin/ Sino-Tibetan /Chinese/ 1051 /China,Malaysia Characters Taiwan
2. English /Indo-European /Latin /510/ USA,UK,Australia, Canada, New Zealand
3. Hindi /Indo European/ Devanagari/ 490 /North and Central India
4. Spanish/Indo-European/Latin/425 / The Americas, Spain
5. Arabic/ Afro-Asiatic/ Arabic / 255 / Middle East,Arabia, North Africa
6. Russian/ Indo-European/ Cyrillic / 254 / Russia, Central Asia
7. Portuguese/ Indo-European / Latin / 218 / Brazil, Portugal, South Africa
8. Bengali / Indo-European / Bengali /215 /Bangladesh, Eastern India
9. Malay, Indonesian/Malay-Indonesian/ Latin /175 / Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
10. French/ Indo-Eurpean / Latin / 130 / France, Canada, West Africa, Central Africa
11. Japanese/ Alraic / Chinese Characters & 2 Japanese Alphabets / 127 / Japan
12. German/ Indo-European/ Latin / 123 / Germany, Austria, Central Europe
13. Farsi (Persian) / Indo-European / Nastaliq / 110 / Iran, Afganistan, Central Asia
14. Urdu / Indo-European / Nastaliq / 104 / Pakistan, India
15. Punjabi / Indo-European / Gurumukhi / 103 / Pakistan, India
16. Vietnamese / Austroasiatic / Based on Latin / 86 /Vietnam, China
17. Tamil / Dravidian / Tamil / 78 / Southern India, Sri lanka, Malyasia
18. Wu / Sino-Tibetan /Chinese Characters / 77 / China
19. Javanese / Polynesian / Javanese / 76 / Indonesia
20. Turkish/ Altaic /Latin / 75 / Turkey, Central Asia
21. Telugu / Dravidian / Telugu / 74 / Southern India
22. Korean / Altaic / Hangul / 72 / Korean Peninsula
23. Marathi / Indo-European / Devangari / 71 / Western India
24. Italian / Indo-European / Latin / 61 / Italy, Central Europe
25. Thai / Sino-Tibetan / Thai / 60 / Thailand, Laos
26. Cantonese / Sino-Tibetan / Chinese Characters /55 / Southern China
27. Gujarati / Indo-European / Gujarati / 47 / Western India, Kenya
28. Polish / Indo-European / Latin / 46 / Poland, Central Europe
29. Kannada / Dravidian / Kannada / 44 / Southern India
30. Burmese / Sino-Tibetan / Burmese / 42 / Myanmar
Therefore out of the 30 most spoken languages of the world; 2,907,000,000 people speak Indo-European; 1,285,000,000 speak Sino-Tibetan; 274,000,000 speak Altaic; 255,000,000 speak Afro-Asiatic; 251,000,000 speak Malaya-Polynesian; and, 196,000,000 speak Dravidian.
According to www.internetworldstats.com as of December 1, 2006 the top 10 languages of the world are on the internet are:
1. English - 322,000,000
2. Chinese - 144,000,000
3. Japanese - 86,000,000
4. Spanish - 81,000,000
5. German - 58,000,000
6. French - 49,000,000
7. Portuguese - 34,000,000
8. Korean - 32,000,000
9. Italian - 28,000,000
10. Russian - 23,000,000
All of the previous figures are associated with primary languages. Secondary and tertiary languages are becoming more common especially with the global economy as it is going, for example it is my understanding that Prof. Braj Kachru's book Asian Englishs claims that in India and China there are over 500,000,000 people or "users" of English. With the diversity of languages in Europe where many people speak or understand more than one language it would be interesting to see the statistic on secondary, tertiary and more languages .
After doing this project and taking into consideration the primary, secondary, tertiary and more languages when all is counted I believe that it will be something similar to this:
1. English - 2,500,000,000 to 3,000,000,000
2. Chinese - 1,300,000,000 to 2,000,000,000
3. Hindu-Bengali - 600,000,000 to 1,000,000,000
4. Spanish - 500,000,000 to 900,000,000
5. Arabic - 300,000,000 to 500,000,000
6. Russian - 300,000,000 to 400,000,000
7. Portuguese - 275,000,000 to 350,000,000
8. French - 200,000,000 to 300,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian - 200,000,000 to 275,000,000
10. Japanese - 150,000,000 to 200,000,000
11. German - 125,000,000 to 140,000,000
According to www.infoplease.com the Most Widely Spoken Languages in the world in approximate number of speakers are:
1. Chinese (Mandarin) 1,075,000,000
2. English 514,000,000
3. Hindustani 496,000,000
4. Spanish 425,000,000
5. Russian 275,000,000
6. Arabic 256,000,000
7. Bengali 215,000,000
8. Portuguese 194,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian 176,000,000
10. French 129,000,000
The above is from Ethnoloque, 13th edition, and other sources. Hindustani encompasses multiple dialects, including Hindu and Urdu.
According to www.krysstal.com The 30 Most Spoken Languages of The World are:
# Language/ Family / Script /Speakers In Millions/ Where Spoken
1. Mandarin/ Sino-Tibetan /Chinese/ 1051 /China,Malaysia Characters Taiwan
2. English /Indo-European /Latin /510/ USA,UK,Australia, Canada, New Zealand
3. Hindi /Indo European/ Devanagari/ 490 /North and Central India
4. Spanish/Indo-European/Latin/425 / The Americas, Spain
5. Arabic/ Afro-Asiatic/ Arabic / 255 / Middle East,Arabia, North Africa
6. Russian/ Indo-European/ Cyrillic / 254 / Russia, Central Asia
7. Portuguese/ Indo-European / Latin / 218 / Brazil, Portugal, South Africa
8. Bengali / Indo-European / Bengali /215 /Bangladesh, Eastern India
9. Malay, Indonesian/Malay-Indonesian/ Latin /175 / Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore
10. French/ Indo-Eurpean / Latin / 130 / France, Canada, West Africa, Central Africa
11. Japanese/ Alraic / Chinese Characters & 2 Japanese Alphabets / 127 / Japan
12. German/ Indo-European/ Latin / 123 / Germany, Austria, Central Europe
13. Farsi (Persian) / Indo-European / Nastaliq / 110 / Iran, Afganistan, Central Asia
14. Urdu / Indo-European / Nastaliq / 104 / Pakistan, India
15. Punjabi / Indo-European / Gurumukhi / 103 / Pakistan, India
16. Vietnamese / Austroasiatic / Based on Latin / 86 /Vietnam, China
17. Tamil / Dravidian / Tamil / 78 / Southern India, Sri lanka, Malyasia
18. Wu / Sino-Tibetan /Chinese Characters / 77 / China
19. Javanese / Polynesian / Javanese / 76 / Indonesia
20. Turkish/ Altaic /Latin / 75 / Turkey, Central Asia
21. Telugu / Dravidian / Telugu / 74 / Southern India
22. Korean / Altaic / Hangul / 72 / Korean Peninsula
23. Marathi / Indo-European / Devangari / 71 / Western India
24. Italian / Indo-European / Latin / 61 / Italy, Central Europe
25. Thai / Sino-Tibetan / Thai / 60 / Thailand, Laos
26. Cantonese / Sino-Tibetan / Chinese Characters /55 / Southern China
27. Gujarati / Indo-European / Gujarati / 47 / Western India, Kenya
28. Polish / Indo-European / Latin / 46 / Poland, Central Europe
29. Kannada / Dravidian / Kannada / 44 / Southern India
30. Burmese / Sino-Tibetan / Burmese / 42 / Myanmar
Therefore out of the 30 most spoken languages of the world; 2,907,000,000 people speak Indo-European; 1,285,000,000 speak Sino-Tibetan; 274,000,000 speak Altaic; 255,000,000 speak Afro-Asiatic; 251,000,000 speak Malaya-Polynesian; and, 196,000,000 speak Dravidian.
According to www.internetworldstats.com as of December 1, 2006 the top 10 languages of the world are on the internet are:
1. English - 322,000,000
2. Chinese - 144,000,000
3. Japanese - 86,000,000
4. Spanish - 81,000,000
5. German - 58,000,000
6. French - 49,000,000
7. Portuguese - 34,000,000
8. Korean - 32,000,000
9. Italian - 28,000,000
10. Russian - 23,000,000
All of the previous figures are associated with primary languages. Secondary and tertiary languages are becoming more common especially with the global economy as it is going, for example it is my understanding that Prof. Braj Kachru's book Asian Englishs claims that in India and China there are over 500,000,000 people or "users" of English. With the diversity of languages in Europe where many people speak or understand more than one language it would be interesting to see the statistic on secondary, tertiary and more languages .
After doing this project and taking into consideration the primary, secondary, tertiary and more languages when all is counted I believe that it will be something similar to this:
1. English - 2,500,000,000 to 3,000,000,000
2. Chinese - 1,300,000,000 to 2,000,000,000
3. Hindu-Bengali - 600,000,000 to 1,000,000,000
4. Spanish - 500,000,000 to 900,000,000
5. Arabic - 300,000,000 to 500,000,000
6. Russian - 300,000,000 to 400,000,000
7. Portuguese - 275,000,000 to 350,000,000
8. French - 200,000,000 to 300,000,000
9. Malay-Indonesian - 200,000,000 to 275,000,000
10. Japanese - 150,000,000 to 200,000,000
11. German - 125,000,000 to 140,000,000
posted by comprehensive | 3:05 PM
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