315 World Languages
Most of our languages each have an average of 10,000 instructional phrases — the largest number in the world. This rich catalog of resources allows for the creation of personalized courses tailored to your needs. Each language, including endangered, extinct, or constructed languages, is complemented by a comprehensive Grammar Compendium. Each compendium covers 100 distinct topics and includes 5,000 question and answer pairs, offering limitless potential for further inquiries.
Additionally, you can learn the majority of our selected languages in any of 144 different home languages. For example, you can learn American English in Mexican Spanish, American Sign Language in Haitian Creole, Korean in Japanese, and so on. With over 20,000 possible permutations, the options for learning are vast and varied.
Each language is fascinating in its own way. You can read about each available language below. By clicking on a specific language name, you will be taken directly to that language’s section in the Pronunciator app. If you are not currently logged in, you will be asked to do so, and then you will be automatically redirected to your chosen language.
- Afrikaans: With origins from the Indo-European family, Afrikaans is primarily spoken in South Africa and Namibia by about 7 million people. It developed from Dutch and includes influences from other African languages.
- Ainu: Aimu is an isolate language spoken by the Ainu ethnic group in Japan and Russia. Although considered virtually extinct, efforts have been made to revive it.
- Akkadian: An extinct Semitic language that was once widely spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. Being more than 3000 years old, Akkadian was written in the cuneiform writing system.
- Albanian: An Indo-European language spoken primarily in Albania and Kosovo and by the Albanian diaspora worldwide. Albanian has two primary dialect groups, Gheg and Tosk.
- Alemannic German: A group of dialects in the upper German language family spoken in parts of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Alsace, and southern Germany. Spoken by over a million people, Alemannic maintains distinct grammatical and phonetic differences from Standard German.
- Aleut: This language belongs to the Eskimo-Aleut family and is spoken by the Aleut people residing in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska and Kamchatka Krai of Russia.
- Alsatian: Alsatian is a Low Alemannic German dialect spoken primarily in the French region of Alsace. Influenced significantly by French, it however maintains its Germanic linguistic roots.
- Amazigh: Commonly known as Berber, it is a language family spoken by several ethnic groups across North and West Africa, particularly in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. There are several Berber languages or dialects, but they share many common features.
- American Sign Language (ASL): ASL is the primary sign language used by deaf and hearing-impaired people in the United States and Canada. ASL is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body. It has its own unique rules of grammar and syntax.
- Amharic: It is a Semitic language and the official language of Ethiopia. The script for Amharic, called Ge’ez, is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world.
- Ancient Egyptian: An extinct language that was spoken in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian scripts are seminal to the field of Egyptology and were written in hieroglyphs, hieratic, and later demotic and Coptic scripts.
- Ancient Greek: This language belongs to the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European language family and was spoken in Greece and the eastern Mediterranean around 3000 years ago. Ancient Greek has several dialects, including Ionic-Attic, which contributed significantly to the literature, philosophy, and sciences of the classical period.
- Angevin: Angevin, or Anjou, was a Langue d’oïl dialect formerly spoken in the Anjou region of France. The regional dialect has largely been replaced by standard French over time.
- Angika: Angika is spoken in the Anga region of Bihar, Jharkhand, and parts of West Bengal in India. It is one of the dialects of the Maithili language and is influenced by Hindi, Bhojpuri, and Bengali.
- Apache: Apache languages form part of the Southern Athabaskan group and are native to the American Southwest. The different Apache tribes, which include the Navajo, speak dialects that have a high degree of mutual intelligibility.
- Arabic (Algerian): This is a variety of Arabic specific to Algeria, containing influences from French and Berber languages.
- Arabic (Egyptian): This is the dialect of Arabic primarily spoken in Egypt, along with being widely understood throughout the Arabic-speaking world due to the prevalence of Egyptian media and entertainment.
- Arabic (Gulf): This term encompasses the Arabic dialects spoken by the countries around the Persian Gulf, including Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and others. Colloquial Arabic varies across the region but shares common features.
- Arabic (Levantine): Spoken in the Eastern Mediterranean coast, Levantine Arabic is a collective term for the dialects used in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine.
- Arabic (Moroccan): This is a form of Maghrebi Arabic spoken in Morocco. It contains significant influences from Berber, French, and other languages.
- Arabic (MSA): MSA stands for Modern Standard Arabic, the standardized and literary version of Arabic used in writing and formal speech throughout the Arabic-speaking world. It is related to but distinct from the various colloquial Arabic dialects.
- Arabic (Tunisian): This is a set of dialects of Maghrebi Arabic spoken primarily in Tunisia. It’s known for its significant loanwords from Berber, Latin, French, Turkish, Italian, and Spanish.
- Aragonese: It is a Romance language that developed in the Kingdom of Aragon region, which includes modern-day northern Spain. Despite limited usage in the modern-day, the Aragonese language is still used in some rural communities and in cultural and literary contexts.
- Aramaic: An ancient Semitic language, Aramaic was extensively used in the Near East from the 1st to 6th centuries. While now considered endangered, it played a significant historical role and was the language spoken by Jesus Christ.
- Aranese: This is a standardized form of the Pyrenean Gascon variety of the Occitan language spoken in the Val d’Aran, northwestern Catalonia, Spain. Aranese has been taught in schools and enjoys co-official status in Catalonia.
- Arawak: This refers to the languages spoken by the Arawak peoples spread across the Caribbean and South America. The now-extinct Taino language, spoken at the time of the Spanish colonization, was part of the Arawakan language family.
- Arbëreshë: A language spoken by the Arbëreshë people, who descended from 15th to 18th-century migrants from the Balkans. The language is scattered throughout Southern Italy and Sicily and is closely related to Albanian.
- Archi: A Northeast Caucasian language spoken by the Archis in the village of Archib, southern Dagestan, Russia. Archi has several exceptional linguistic features and has been classified as a language isolate within the Caucasian languages group.
- Armenian: An Indo-European language, Armenian is the official language of Armenia and Artsakh and is widely spoken by Armenian communities around the globe. It has its own unique script, the Armenian alphabet.
- Arpitan (Franco-Provençal): This language, known also as Romand, Patois, Franco-Provençal, and Arpitan, is a Gallo-Romance variety spoken in eastern France, western Switzerland, and northwestern Italy. Arpitan has no official status and has been significantly replaced by French.
- Assamese: An Indo-Aryan language, Assamese is spoken in the Indian state of Assam, where it is the official language. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states.
- Asturian: Asturian, or Bable, is a Romance language spoken primarily in the autonomous community of Asturias in northern Spain. Although not officially recognized, Asturian is protected under the Autonomous Statute of Asturias where the use of the language is promoted and regulated.
- Avestan: An ancient East Iranian language, Avestan was used to compose the sacred hymns and texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta, which is the primary collection of religious texts of Zoroastrianism. The language is now extinct.
- Awadhi: It is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the Hindi language cluster, and is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh and Terai belt of Nepal. Awadhi has a rich heritage of folk and classical literature.
- Azerbaijani: Also called Azeri, it is a Turkic language spoken primarily in Azerbaijan and northwestern Iran. The language has two primary scripts, Latin in Azerbaijan and Perso-Arabic in Iran.
- Basque: Known as Euskara, it is spoken by the Basque people in the Basque Country, straddling the border between Spain and France. Basque is a language isolate, meaning it has no known relatives, making it unique among the languages of Europe.
- Béarnese: Béarnese is one of the dialects of Gascon, a Romance language spoken in Gascony and Béarn in southwestern France. Influences from Latin, Spanish, and Basque can be seen in Béarnese.
- Belarusian: This is an official language in Belarus, spoken by the Belarusian people. It belongs to the East Slavic group of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European family. The language has strong historical and cultural ties to the country of Belarus.
- Bengali: An Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken in Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. With over 200 million speakers, Bengali is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.
- Bhili: Bhili is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in west-central India, in the regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh. Bhili speakers are predominantly part of the indigenous Bhil people.
- Bhojpuri: A variant of Hindi, Bhojpuri is spoken in the Bhojpur region of Nepal and India, and by significant populations in Fiji, Guyana, Suriname, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, and The Caribbean.
- Bodo: Bodo is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Bodo people in northeastern India, predominantly in Assam, Tripura, and West Bengal. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India as recognized by the Indian Constitution.
- Braj Bhasha: This is historically one of the main languages spoken in the region of Braj in northern India, which is associated with the life of Lord Krishna. It is a Western Hindi language, and has had a strong influence on Hindustani, which later developed into Hindi and Urdu.
- Breton: This is a Celtic language, belonging to the Brythonic branch, and is predominantly spoken in Brittany, France. Breton is one of the few Celtic languages currently in use and has four main dialects: Gwenedeg, Kerneveg, Leoneg, and Tregerieg.
- Bulgarian: Bulgarian, a South Slavic language, is the official language of Bulgaria and is also spoken in parts of Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Canada, USA, Australia, Germany, and Spain. It’s the first Slavic language to be written in the Cyrillic alphabet.
- Bundeli: This is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Bundelkhand region, which spans parts of the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. It has strong affinity with the Awadhi language and is often considered a dialect of Hindi.
- Burmese: The official language of Myanmar, Burmese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. It is the mother tongue of the Bamar ethnic group and is also spoken by significant portions of several other ethnic groups in the country.
- Catalan: A Romance language, Catalan is primarily spoken in the Catalonia region of Spain, Andorra, and parts of Italy and France. Despite suppression during various historical periods, Catalan has experienced a resurgence and is now spoken by several million people.
- Cebuano: Also known as Bisaya, Cebuano is an Austronesian language spoken in the central Philippines, most notably in the Visayas region. Cebuano is the second most widely spoken native language of the Philippines.
- Central Alaskan Yup’ik: Being part of the larger Eskimo-Aleut language family, Yup’ik is spoken by the Yup’ik people of southwestern Alaska. It’s believed to be the most commonly spoken of all the Alaska Native languages.
- Chamorro: Chamorro is an Austronesian language spoken by the Chamorro people, who are the indigenous residents of the Mariana Islands, which include Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
- Champenois: Also known as Champagne dialect, it is a Langue d’oïl language. Historically spoken in the Champagne region of France, Champenois is now considered severely endangered with very few remaining speakers.
- Cherokee: An Iroquoian language, Cherokee is spoken by the Cherokee people predominantly in Oklahoma and North Carolina in the United States. It is unique for having a writing system, the Cherokee syllabary, created by Sequoyah in the early 19th century.
- Chewote: Also known as Chuvash, it is a Turkic language spoken primarily in the Chuvash Republic and adjacent areas in Russia. It is the only extant member of the Oghur branch of Turkic languages.
- Cheyenne: A Plains Algonquian language, Cheyenne is spoken by the Cheyenne people, mostly in Montana and Oklahoma in the United States. The language has two major dialects, Northern and Southern, but both are critically endangered.
- Chhattisgarhi: An Eastern Hindi language, Chhattisgarhi is spoken by over 18 million people in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh and surrounding regions. Despite the significant number of speakers, it was only officially recognized by the Indian government in 2007.
- Chickasaw: Part of the Muskogean language family, Chickasaw is traditionally spoken by the Chickasaw people who originally resided in the Southeastern woodlands of the USA. It is closely related to the Choctaw language and is now critically endangered.
- Chinese (Cantonese): This is one of the main dialects of the Chinese language, spoken largely in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces in China, and by the Chinese diaspora worldwide. It has a complexity of tones and is known for its usage in many historic pieces of Chinese literature.
- Chinese: Refers to the Sinitic languages spoken widely in China, with Mandarin Chinese being the most influential. Mandarin, also known as Standard Chinese, is the official language of China and Taiwan, and one of four official languages in Singapore.
- Chukchi: An indigenous language spoken by the Chukchi people in the easternmost extremities of Siberia, Russia. The Chukchi language is part of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family and has several dialects.
- Cimbrian: A Germanic language related to Bavarian and known for its use in several communities in northeastern Italy. While it’s been replaced by Italian in many areas, some speakers remain in the township of Luserna.
- Cook Islands Maori: Also known as Rarotongan, it is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken in the Cook Islands. It shares similarities to other Polynesian languages, particularly New Zealand Maori and Tahitian.
- Cornish: A Celtic language of the Brittonic branch, Cornish was historically spoken in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Though the language went extinct in the late 18th century, it has been consciously revived and is now spoken by a small community of enthusiasts.
- Corsican: A Romance language from the Italo-Dalmatian family, Corsican is closely related to Italian and is spoken on the Mediterranean island of Corsica. Recent years have seen a cultural revival of the language, including its use in schools.
- Croatian: A South Slavic language, Croatian is the official language of Croatia, and is also spoken in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and neighboring countries. Its writing system uses the Latin script.
- Czech: Part of the West Slavic language group, Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic. Despite its Slavic roots, it has been influenced by Latin and German, and has an intricate system of grammatical declension.
- Dakota: Dakota is a Siouan language, traditionally spoken by the Dakota people, also known as the Santee Sioux in the United States. It has two major dialects: Santee-Sisseton, spoken mainly in Minnesota and Nebraska, and Yankton-Yanktonai, spoken in South Dakota and Montana.
- Danish: A North Germanic language, Danish is spoken primarily in Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. It is mutually intelligible with Swedish and Norwegian and has a unique phonetic system which includes a feature known as ‘stød’, a kind of laryngeal phonation.
- Dari: Also called Dari Persian and Eastern Persian, it is a variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognized and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language.
- Dogri: Dogri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about two million people in the Indian subcontinent, largely in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. It’s also spoken in northern Punjab and parts of Pakistan.
- Dothraki: Dothraki is a constructed fictional language in George R. R. Martin’s fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. It was developed by linguist David J. Peterson and is spoken by the nomadic Dothraki people.
- Dutch: A West Germanic language, Dutch is the official language of the Netherlands, Belgium, Suriname, and the Dutch Antilles. It shares several characteristics with English and German, being closer to the latter in grammar but to the former in terms of vocabulary.
- Dzongkha: An official language of Bhutan, Dzongkha belongs to the Tibetic language family and is spoken by over half a million people. It uses the Tibetan script for writing.
- Emilian: Also known as Emilian-Romagnol, it’s a Gallo-Italic language spoken in the Northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, parts of Lombardy, Umbria, and Tuscany. Emilian dialects have significant differences but share a common linguistic heritage.
- English (Australian): This refers to the English language as spoken in Australia. It is characterized by unique accents, vocabulary, idioms, and some grammatical features influenced by the country’s history, indigenous culture, and regional variations.
- English (British): British English is the standard dialect of English language as spoken and written in the United Kingdom. Variations exist in formal, written English in the UK and for spoken, colloquial forms of English in the United Kingdom, each presenting unique features and vocabulary.
- English (Canadian): This is the variety of English spoken in Canada, featuring distinct accents, vocabulary, and grammar from other English variants. It has been shaped by the country’s British colonial heritage and influenced by American English due to geographical closeness.
- English (India): Also known as Indian English, this refers to the subsets of English language spoken in India, which carry distinctive phonetics, vocabulary, and syntax. It stands as a second language for many Indians, and continues to be used across the country for administrative and educational purposes.
- English (Irish): Known as Hiberno-English, it’s the variety of English that has been influenced by the Irish language and is spoken in Ireland. It’s characterized by specific accents and certain unique vocabulary and grammar structures.
- English (New Zealand): Referring to English as it is spoken in New Zealand, it exhibits influence from the Maori language in vocabulary and place names. The New Zealand English accent is also distinct, with vowel pronunciation differing significantly from other English variants.
- English (Scottish): Also known as Scottish English, it is the variety of English spoken in Scotland. It has distinctive accents and certain lexicon informed by Scots, a sister language of English, and Scottish Gaelic. It should not be confused with Scots which is a separate language from English, albeit closely related.
- English (US): Also known as American English, this is the variety of English spoken in the United States. It’s characterized by distinct regional accents, vocabulary, grammar, and spelling, differing from British English in many aspects due to historical, linguistic, and cultural reasons.
- Esperanto: This is a constructed international auxiliary language, designed to be easy to learn and neutral, not favoring any particular ethnic or national group. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in the late 19th century, it has gained a small but dedicated community of speakers who see it as a possible solution to language barriers.
- Estonian: A Finno-Ugric language, Estonian is the official language of Estonia. It’s one of the few languages in Europe that is not Indo-European and is most closely related to Finnish.
- Ewe: A Niger-Congo language spoken in southeastern Ghana and southern Togo. Ewe is part of the Gbe language cluster, a group of about twenty related languages stretched across the area between eastern Ghana and western Nigeria.
- Extremaduran: A Romance language, Extremaduran is spoken in Extremadura, a region in Spain, and in border regions in Portugal. It has been influenced heavily by Spanish, but retains distinct vocabulary and grammatical features.
- Eyak: An extinct Na-Dene language that was spoken in the Delta of the Copper River in Alaska, the Eyak language became extinct when its last native speaker Marie Smith Jones passed away in 2008.
- Faroese: Belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages, Faroese is the native language of the Faroe Islands, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. With only around 66,000 speakers, Faroese is one of the smallest of the Germanic languages.
- Fijian: The official language of Fiji, Fijian is an Austronesian language with about 450,000 speakers. The Fijian language has many dialects, and it’s a member of the Eastern Oceanic group of languages.
- Finnish: A Finno-Ugric language, Finnish is the official language of Finland and one of the official languages of the European Union. The language is notable for its complex grammar system, and it has lent words to other languages including to English.
- Flemish: A term commonly used to refer to a group of dialects of Dutch language spoken in Belgium. It’s not an independent language but a term used to refer to the Dutch language as spoken in Flanders, including all its regional variants.
- French (Canadian): A variety of the French language spoken in Canada, primarily in the province of Quebec, where it is the majority language. Canadian French includes multiple dialects and has been influenced by English and Indigenous languages.
- French: Originating from France, French is a Romance language spoken by about 220 million people worldwide. It is an official language in 29 countries and widely learned as a second language. It’s also one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
- Frisian: A group of Germanic languages native to the coastal parts of the Netherlands and Germany. It’s the closest language to English that is officially recognized and has three dialects: West Frisian, Saterland Frisian, and North Frisian.
- Friulian: Spoken in the Friuli region of northeastern Italy, Friulian is a Romance language also called Eastern Ladin. Although it’s not officially recognized or protected in Italy, it’s estimated to have around 600,000 speakers.
- Fula: Also known as Fulfulde and Pulaar, Fula is a language of West Africa, spoken by the Fula people from Senegambia and Guinea to Cameroon and Sudan. It belongs to the Niger-Congo language family and has numerous dialects.
- Galatian: An extinct Celtic language formerly spoken in Galatia in Asia Minor from the 3rd century BC up to the 4th century AD. This language was likely quite similar to contemporary Gaulish vernaculars in Western Europe.
- Galician: A language of the Western Ibero-Romance branch, Galician is spoken by some 3 million people in Spain’s northwestern region of Galicia. It closely resembles Portuguese and has been influenced by Spanish.
- Gallurese: A variety of Sardinian language spoken in the northern part of Sardinia, specifically in the region of Gallura. Despite its similarities with Corsican, it is typically classified as an Eastern Romance language.
- Garhwali: An Indo-Aryan language native to the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, India. With approximately 2.5 million speakers, it’s considered a dialect of Central Pahari, alongside Kumaoni, the other main language of Uttarakhand.
- Garo: A Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Garo people in the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam, and Tripura, as well as in certain regions of Bangladesh. Garo has a significant number of dialects but no standardized written form.
- Gascon: A dialect of Occitan, it is mainly spoken in Gascony and Béarn in southwestern France. Inhibited by the official status of French in France, it is not widely spoken today.
- Georgian: Georgia’s official language, it’s notable for its unique writing system, developed in the 5th century. The language has around 4 million speakers and it is the most pervasive of the Kartvelian languages.
- German: This widely spoken language is native to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, and it’s also spoken in other parts of Europe due to migration. German has many dialects and varieties and uses the Latin script for writing.
- Greek: An independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, Greek has been spoken in the Balkan Peninsula since the 2nd millennium BC. With a rich literary tradition extending over 2,500 years, it’s considered one of the oldest documented Indo-European languages.
- Greenlandic (Kalaallisut): An Eskimo-Aleut language spoken by about 56,000 Greenlandic Inuit in Greenland. As the official language of Greenland, it is used in government and education. It’s famous for its long words and complex morphology.
- Griko: A Greek dialect spoken in the southern Italian provinces of Calabria and Apulia. Griko dates back to Byzantine rule over southern Italy and has been heavily influenced by Italian.
- Guaraní: A language of Paraguay, where it is recognizably co-official with Spanish, and parts of the surrounding countries. Guaraní possesses the unique characteristic of maintaining the vast majority of its pre-Columbian vocabulary.
- Guernésiais: A language that falls under the category of “Oïl languages,” it is the regional language of Guernsey. The last lickety-split native speakers may be disappearing, but revivification efforts look buoyant.
- Gujarati: An Indo-Aryan language native to the Gujarati people primarily living in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is part of the greater Indo-European language family. Gujarati has taken script from the Devanagari syllabary.
- Haitian Creole: Haitian Creole is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12 million people worldwide, and the only language of most Haitians. It has a large influence from languages of West Africa as well as elements from Portuguese, Spanish, and indigenous Taino.
- Hakka: This dialect of Chinese is primarily spoken by the Hakka people in southern China, Taiwan and throughout parts of Southeast Asia.
- Haryanvi: An Indo-Aryan language, Haryanvi is spoken in the Haryana region of northern India. It has less recognition as a stand-alone language and is often considered a dialect of Hindi.
- Hausa: Hausa is a Chadic language with about 44 million speakers, mainly in Nigeria and Niger. Hausa is written in both Latin and Arabic scripts.
- Hawaiian: Indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands, this Austronesian language is critically endangered with only about 24,000 speakers left as of 2018.
- Hebrew: This Semitic language is spoken by over 9 million people worldwide and is the official language of Israel. It’s known for being revived after almost becoming extinct.
- Hiligaynon: Also known as Ilonggo, this is an Austronesian language spoken in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines.
- Himachali: Various dialects of the Western Pahari group are spoken in the Himachal Pradesh region in India, sometimes grouped together under the non-official designation of Himachali.
- Hindi: An Indo-Aryan language, Hindi is spoken by over 41% of the population in India and is one of the country’s official languages.
- Hinglish: This is a hybrid language combining words and phrases from Hindi and English. It’s widely used across India, particularly in urban areas.
- Hittite: An ancient Anatolian language, Hittite was spoken in the Hittite Empire in modern-day Turkey. The language was written using a variant of the ancient cuneiform script.
- Hmong: A language of the Hmong people, an indigenous ethnic group in Southeast Asia. Spoken primarily in China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Linguistically, it belongs to the Hmong-Mien family.
- Hopi: A Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Hopi people, a Native American Tribe primarily living on the Hopi Reservation in northeastern Arizona. It’s notable for its complex verbs and sound symbolism.
- Hungarian: Also known as Magyar, it’s a Uralic language and the official language of Hungary. Unlike most other European languages, which belong to the Indo-European language family, Hungarian is from the Uralic language family.
- Icelandic: An Indo-European, North Germanic language, it’s the official language of Iceland, and has the smallest population of any country with its own distinct language. It has remained largely unchanged from its Ancient Norse roots.
- Igbo: Igbo is a Niger-Congo language spoken by the Igbo people of southern Nigeria. The language has more than 20 million speakers and has over 20 dialects.
- Ilocano: An Austronesian language spoken mainly in the northern Luzon region of the Philippines. It is the third most-spoken language in the Philippines and has approximately 9.1 million speakers.
- Indonesian: An Austronesian language that is used as the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian, also known as Bahasa Indonesia, was standardized from Malay and is understood throughout the Malay Archipelago.
- Inuktitut: A group of Inuit languages spoken in northern Canada, across the Arctic, and by the Inuit people. It’s generally written in a special syllabics script developed by missionaries in the 19th century.
- Inupiaq: A group of dialects of the Inuit languages spoken in northern and northwestern Alaska by the Iñupiat people. The language has two major dialects, North Alaskan Inupiaq and Seward Peninsula Inupiaq.
- Inuvialuktun: An indigenous language group native to the Inuvialuit in the western Canadian Arctic. It has three dialects and is part of the larger Eskimo-Aleut language family.
- Irish: This is an indigenous, Goidelic language of the Irish people in Ireland, also known as Gaelic. Irish is still taught in schools and remains a vital part of Ireland’s cultural heritage.
- Istro-Romanian: A Romance language spoken by the Istro-Romanians of Eastern Istria in Croatia. It is considered endangered as it is spoken by less than 200 people.
- Italian: A Romance language originating from Italy and the official language in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino and Vatican City. It is spoken by approximately 70 million people worldwide and has various dialects.
- Japanese: An East Asian language spoken by about 125 million speakers, primarily in Japan where it is the national language. It uses three different writing systems: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.
- Javanese: An Austronesian language spoken mainly on the island of Java in Indonesia. It is used by around 98 million people, making it the 12th most spoken language in the world. Javanese uses several script styles including Latin, Javanese, and Arabic.
- Jèrriais: A Romance language that originates from Jersey in the Channel Islands, which are British Crown dependencies located near the coast of Normandy, France. It is a variety of the Norman language and is recognized as the regional language of the island.
- Kannada: A Dravidian language spoken predominantly by people in the Indian state of Karnataka. It also has its own script derived from an ancient Brahmi script.
- Karbi: Also known as Mikir or Arleng language, it is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Karbi people primarily in Northeast India.
- Kashmiri: An Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in the Kashmir Valley in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.
- Kashubian: Also known as Cassubian or Pomeranian, it’s a West Slavic language spoken in the historical region of Pomerania in modern north-central Poland. It’s one of the recognized languages in Poland, despite having a relatively small number of speakers.
- Kazakh: A Turkic language primarily spoken in Kazakhstan and parts of China and Mongolia. It has its own alphabet based originally on the Cyrillic script, but now transitioning to Latin.
- Khasi: Part of the Austroasiatic language family, this language is spoken in Meghalaya, India, as well as in parts of Bangladesh, where it is recognized as a regional language.
- Khmer: The language of Cambodia, related to Vietnamese and Mon. Often written in its own script, which derives from the script of South India.
- Kikuyu: A Bantu language, it’s the primary language of the Kikuyu people in Kenya. The language is spoken by more than 20% of the population in Kenya.
- Klingon: A constructed language, created by Marc Okrand for the Star Trek franchise. Though originally intended for entertainment purposes, it has a fully functional grammar and vocabulary that can be learned.
- Konkani: An Indo-Aryan language predominately spoken in the West Indian state of Goa. It is one of India’s official 22 languages and has various dialects based on the region and religion of the speakers.
- Korean: Spoken in both North and South Korea, Korean is part of the small Koreanic language family. It uses a unique writing system, known as Hangul, created during the 15th Century.
- Koro: A Sino-Tibetan language spoken by a small population in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Koro is distinctly different from other languages in the region and is considered critically endangered by UNESCO.
- Kumaoni: Spoken primarily in the Indian region of Kumaon in Uttarakhand, Kumaoni is an Indo-Aryan language. This language features several dialects and has seen a decrease in speakers in recent years.
- Kurdish: Primarily spoken by the Kurds, spread over a region spanning Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, it belongs to the western Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. The language exists in two primary dialects, Kurmanji and Sorani, and is written using multiple different scripts.
- Kyrgyz: A Turkic language spoken by the Kyrgyz people, predominantly in Kyrgyzstan and by some communities in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is closely related to the Kazakh language.
- Ladakhi: It’s a Tibetic language spoken in the Ladakh region of India. It’s known for its unique pronunciation different from other Tibetan dialects.
- Ladin Dolomitan: A Romance language mainly spoken in the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy. It is one of the three official languages of South Tyrol, alongside Italian and German.
- Ladin: Also known as Dolomite, this is a Romance language or group of dialects spoken in the Dolomite Mountains, in Northern Italy. It is closely related to Swiss Romansh and Friulian.
- Ladino: Also known as Judeo-Spanish, it is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish. Traditionally spoken by Spain’s Sephardic Jewish population, it is currently considered to be an endangered language.
- Lao: It’s a Tai-Kadai language primarily spoken in Laos, where it’s the official language. Lao has numerous dialects that can be grouped into three types: Lao Kao (high Lao), Lao Theung (mid Lao), and Lao Loum (low Lao).
- Latin: It’s a classical language that originated in the Italian peninsula. Although no longer commonly spoken, it’s considered the precursor of the Romance languages and is still used in the scientific, legal, and religious spheres.
- Latvian: It’s a Baltic language spoken in Latvia, where it’s the official language. Latvian has several dialects, though the standard language is based on the central and eastern dialects.
- Leonese: It’s a Romance language that originated in the medieval Kingdom of León, present-day northwestern Spain. Although its use has diminished, it is still spoken in rural communities and recognised as a minority language in Spain.
- Ligurian: It’s a Romance language spoken primarily in Liguria, a region in Northwest Italy. It is not officially recognised as a language but is kept alive in songs, folklore, and poetry.
- Limbu: It’s a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Limbu people, primarily in Eastern Nepal, Darjeeling Hills, and Sikkim in India. The Limbu language has its own script, known as Sirijanga.
- Limburgish: A West Germanic language, Limburgish is spoken in the Dutch and Belgian provinces of Limburg and in the neighbouring regions of Germany. It’s recognized as a regional or minority language in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
- Lithuanian: This is the official state language of Lithuania and one of the oldest living Indo-European languages. It comprises two main dialects: Aukštaitian (High Lithuanian), spoken in the east and north, and Samogitian, spoken in the west.
- Llanito: This unique language is a blend of Andalusian Spanish and British English, with influences from Maltese, Portuguese, Genoese, and Haketia. Llanito is primarily spoken in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.
- Lombard: Lombard is a Romance language spoken in Northern Italy, mainly in Lombardy and Piedmont. Despite its lack of official recognition, the language has approximately 3.6 million speakers.
- Lorrain: Part of the langues d’oïl family, Lorrain is spoken in Lorraine, a historical and cultural region in Northeastern France. This language has seen a significant decline in use but still has regular speakers in rural areas.
- Low Saxon: This West Germanic language, also known as Low German, is primarily spoken in Northern Germany and the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is officially recognized as a regional language in Germany and the Netherlands.
- Lower Sorbian: It’s a West Slavic language, and along with Upper Sorbian, it constitutes the Sorbian language group. Lower Sorbian is primarily spoken in the Lower Lusatia region of Germany.
- Luganda: Luganda, often referred to as Ganda, is a prominent member of the Bantu language family. It is widely spoken in Uganda, particularly in the Buganda region and the nation’s capital, Kampala.
- Luxembourgish: The official national language of Luxembourg, Luxembourgish is a Moselle Franconian variety of West Central German. While it is closely related to German, it also incorporates many French loanwords and phrases.
- Macedonian: A South Slavic language, Macedonian is the official language of North Macedonia. It has a relatively simpler grammar compared to other Slavic languages, and it’s written in the Cyrillic script.
- Magahi: It’s an Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly in the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand. Magahi is derived from Magadhi Prakrit, which was spoken in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, an important center of Buddhism and Jainism.
- Maithili: An Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Bihar and Jharkhand states of India and in the southeastern plains of Nepal. It’s one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and an officially recognized language in Nepal.
- Malagasy: The national language of Madagascar, Malagasy, actually belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family despite Madagascar’s location off the Southeast coast of Africa.
- Malay: It’s an Austronesian language spoken in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and parts of Thailand. Malay has been influenced by a variety of languages due to historical trade, including Sanskrit, Arabic, Portuguese, Dutch, and English.
- Malayalam: A Dravidian language native to the Indian state of Kerala, Malayalam has a unique script that’s derived from the Brahmi script. It’s deeply influenced by Sanskrit and Arabic.
- Maltese: The national language of Malta, Maltese is the only Semitic language written in the Latin script and has a significant impact from Italian, Sicilian, and English due to historical interactions.
- Malvi: Also known as Malwi, it’s an Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Malvi has several dialects and has been influenced by the Rajasthani and Gujarati languages.
- Manipuri: Manipuri, also known as Meiteilon, is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken predominantly in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. It’s recognized as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India.
- Mansi: It’s a Uralic language spoken by the Mansi people in Russia. Mansi is considered endangered, with only around 2,000 speakers remaining. It uses a form of the Cyrillic alphabet.
- Manx: Originally spoken on the Isle of Man, Manx is a Celtic language closely related to Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It became extinct in the 20th century but revival efforts are underway, including children’s television programming in the language.
- Maori: The language of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand, this Polynesian language shares some vocabulary with other Polynesian languages like Hawaiian and Tahitian. It’s one of New Zealand’s official languages.
- Mapudungun: This native language belongs to the Araucanian family, spoken by the Mapuche people of south-central Chile and western Argentina. It’s considered vulnerable, with a declining number of speakers.
- Marathi: An Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken in Maharashtra, India. Marathi is the fourth most spoken language in India and has many dialects, influenced by various Indian languages over its history.
- Marwari: A Rajasthani language spoken in the Indian state of Rajasthan, Marwari has over 20 million speakers. It maintains a rich oral tradition with a wide range of folk literature.
- Maya: A Native American language spoken primarily by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. Mayan hieroglyphs are one of the few writing systems believed to have been invented in Mesoamerica.
- Meitei: Also known as Manipuri, is the official language of the northeastern Indian state of Manipur. It belongs to the Tibeto-Burman group and is spoken by about 1.5 million people.
- Mewati: An Indo-Aryan language mainly spoken in the Mewat Region of India and Pakistan. It is closely related to Braj Bhasha and Haryanvi.
- Mexican Sign Language (LSM): LSM is a sign language used by Deaf community in Mexico. It is different from Spanish, with its own syntax and grammar, and it’s also not a derivative of American Sign Language. The Mexican government recognizes LSM as a national language along with Spanish.
- Mirandese: A Romance language spoken in the small region of Miranda do Douro in northeastern Portugal. It is one of Portugal’s officially recognized minority languages.
- Mixtec: An indigenous Mesoamerican language spoken by the Mixtec people of Mexico. There are several distinct varieties of Mixtec, some of which are mutually unintelligible.
- Mizo: A language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages, mainly spoken in the Mizoram state of India, and also in Chin State in Burma and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh.
- Mòcheno: A language of the Upper German branch of the Germanic languages, spoken in three towns of the Fersina Valley in Trentino, Italy.
- Mohawk: A Native American language of the Iroquoian family, spoken by the Mohawk people, primarily in parts of Canada and the United States.
- Mongolian: The official language of Mongolia and is also spoken in parts of China. It belongs to the Mongolic languages family.
- Muscogee (Creek): An indigenous North American language spoken mainly in Oklahoma and Florida, among the Muscogee people, also known as the Creek Nation.
- Nagamese: A creole language widely spoken in the northeastern Indian state of Nagaland. It is based on Assamese and serves as the lingua franca among the various tribes in the state.
- Nagpuri: Also known as Sadri, it’s an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha, as well as in parts of Bangladesh.
- Nahuatl: The language of the Aztecs, it’s spoken by more than a million Nahua people in central Mexico. Nahuatl has influenced the Mexican Spanish language and has given English words such as “tomato” and “chocolate.”
- Navajo: Navajo is a language of the Athabaskan branch of the Na-Dené family, spoken by the Navajo people, primarily in the Southwestern United States. It is the most widely spoken Native American language north of the US-Mexico border.
- Neapolitan: Regional language spoken in the Italian region of Campania and parts of several neighboring regions. While it is not officially recognized by the Italian government, it has a rich literary tradition and distinct grammatical and phonetic features.
- Nepali: An Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in Nepal, where it is the official language. It is also spoken by a significant number of people in the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal.
- Nicobarese: This refers to a group of Austroasiatic languages spoken on the Nicobar Islands, part of the Indian Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- Nissi: Also known as Nishi or Nisi, it is a Sino-Tibetan language native to Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, where the Nissi tribe resides.
- Norman: A Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. It is principally spoken in the Norman region of France where it has a strong cultural identity.
- Norn: An extinct Norse language that was spoken on the Orkney and Shetland Islands, off the north coast of mainland Scotland.
- Northern Sotho: One of the Bantu languages spoken in South Africa, primarily in the northeastern part of the country. It is one of the eleven official languages of South Africa.
- Norwegian: A North Germanic language spoken mainly in Norway, where it is the official language. It has two official written forms, Bokmål and Nynorsk, both based on different dialect groups.
- Nǀuu: Also known as the !Kung language, it is nearly extinct, spoken by a few elderly people in the African nation of Botswana. It is notable for its extensive use of click consonants.
- Occitan: A Romance language spoken in southern France, Italy’s Occitan Valleys, Monaco, and Spain’s Val d’Aran.
- Oglala Lakota: A Siouan language spoken by the Oglala, a tribe of the Lakota people located in the U.S. Great Plains region.
- Ojibwe: Also known as Anishinaabe, this is an indigenous language of North America from the Algonquian language family. It is spoken by the Ojibwe communities in Canada and the United States.
- Old Church Slavonic: As an extinct language, it was the first Slavic literary language and was used by 9th century missionaries to translate the Bible and other Christian texts into the Slavic languages.
- Oneida: An endangered Iroquoian language that was spoken by the Oneida people traditionally residing in New York, Wisconsin, and Ontario in Canada.
- Oriya: Also known as Odia, it’s an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Indian state of Odisha, where it is one of the official languages.
- Oromo: A Cushitic language that is spoken by the Oromo people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia. It is one of the most spoken languages in Africa.
- Otomi: An indigenous language spoken by the Otomi people from Central and Eastern Mexico. There are several dialects of Otomi, which are recognized as separate languages by some authorities.
- Pali: An ancient language native to the Indian subcontinent, Pali is best known as the language of many of the earliest Buddhist scriptures. Though no longer spoken conversationally, Pali continues to be studied by scholars and students of Buddhism.
- Papiamento: A Creole language that incorporates elements of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, English, and other languages, Papiamento is widely spoken in the Dutch Caribbean, including Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao.
- Pashto: As an Eastern Iranian language, Pashto is primarily spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan and is one of the official languages of Afghanistan. It has a variety of dialects and is written with a modified form of the Arabic Script.
- Persian: Also known as Farsi, it’s a major language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan, as well as among many communities scattered throughout the Middle East. Persian uses a variant of the Arabic script and has a rich literary tradition dating back many centuries.
- Picard: A Romance language closely related to French and Walloon, Picard is traditionally spoken in the northernmost part of France and parts of Belgium. While it has been strongly influenced by French, Picard maintains a distinct grammar and vocabulary.
- Pirahã: A unique language belonging to the Mura family, Pirahã is predominantly spoken by the Pirahã people in the Amazon Rainforest of Brazil. Notably, it has a very simplified grammar and a unique numeral system that lacks specific words for exact numbers.
- Pite Sami: One of the nine Sami languages, Pite Sami is spoken by the Sami people primarily in the Arjeplog area of Sweden. It is currently classified as endangered, with only a small number of speakers left.
- Poitevin-Saintongeais: A group of the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance languages, Poitevin-Saintongeais is spoken in the historical regions of Poitou and Saintonge in western France. Somewhat similar to French, it has several dialects.
- Polish: A West Slavic language of the Lechitic group, Polish is the official language of Poland and is spoken by millions of people. The language maintains a unique alphabet enriched with special characters, and it has a rich literature dating back to the Middle Ages.
- Portuguese (Brazil): A Romance language originated from Latin, the Brazilian variant of Portuguese is spoken by the majority of Brazil’s population. It has some differences in grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation from its European counterpart due to African, indigenous, and other European influences.
- Portuguese (Portugal): This is the original Romance language from which all other variations of Portuguese have derived. It’s the official language of Portugal and has a significant impact on Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) countries worldwide.
- Potawatomi: Belonging to the Algonquian family, Potawatomi is a native language traditionally spoken by the Potawatomi people, who are indigenous to North America. It’s an endangered language, with only a handful of fluent speakers left.
- Provençal: A dialect of Occitan, Provençal is native to Provence in southeast France. Despite having its own distinctive sound and vocabulary, its use has been declining in favor of French.
- Pueblo: Rather than a single language, Pueblo refers to a group of Native American languages spoken by the Pueblo people in Southwestern United States. Each Pueblo village has its unique dialect, making it a diverse and complex language family.
- Punjabi: As one of the dominant languages in India and Pakistan, Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by millions of people. It has two written scripts: Gurmukhi, predominantly used in India, and Shahmukhi, mainly used in Pakistan.
- Quechua: An indigenous language family spoken by the Quechua peoples, predominantly living in the Andes and highlands of South America. It was the language of the Inca Empire, and it’s estimated to have around 8 million speakers today.
- Romani: An Indo-Aryan language mainly used by the Romani people, who trace their origins to northern India. Today, it is spoken by several million people across Europe and Americas, with many diverse dialects and variants.
- Romanian: A Romance language originated in Romania, and it’s the only one in the Eastern Europe. It’s spoken by about 24 million people, mostly in Romania and Moldova.
- Rotokas: A North Bougainville language spoken by approximately 4,320 people on Bougainville Island in Papua New Guinea. It has the smallest alphabet in use today, consisting of only 12 letters.
- Russian: It’s an East Slavic language native to Russia. Russian is the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers. It uses the Cyrillic script and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.
- Saami (Sámi): It’s a group of Uralic languages spoken by the Sámi people, who inhabit the Arctic areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. It has several dialects, about nine of which have survived to the present day.
- Sadri: Also known as “Nagpuri,” it is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh. It is heavily influenced by the local tribal languages.
- Sakha (Yakut): It is a Turkic language mostly spoken in the Sakha Republic in the northeastern part of Russia. This language is unique due to its isolation from the other Turkic languages and adaptation to the harsh Arctic environment.
- Sambalpuri: An Indo-Aryan language variety spoken in western Odisha, India. It’s known for its rich oral literature including folk songs, ballads, and tales.
- Samoan: An Austronesian language spoken primarily in Western Samoa and American Samoa. It’s the first language of the Samoan Islands and part of the Samoic subgroup of the Polynesian languages.
- Sango: Sango is a creole language in the Central African Republic and the primary language spoken in the country. Despite French being the official language, Sango serves as a lingua franca between the various groups in the country.
- Sanskrit: It’s an ancient Indo-Aryan language from the Indian subcontinent, which served as the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It’s a highly respected language in India, with a rich heritage of literature and scientific texts.
- Santali: It’s a language in the Munda subfamily of Austroasiatic languages, spoken by around 6.2 million people in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal. Santali is notable for having its own script, known as Ol Chiki.
- Saraiki: It’s an Indo-Aryan language spoken primarily in south Punjab, Pakistan. Saraiki has a rich tradition of poetry and music and is known for its distinct intonation patterns.
- Sardinian: Sardinian is a Romance language spoken by people on the islands of Sardinia and Corsica in Italy. It’s one of the closest living languages to Latin and is often considered the most conservative of the Romance languages.
- Scots Gaelic: An Indo-European language, specifically in the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, which is native to the Gaels of Scotland. Scots Gaelic, also known as Gàidhlig, has been influenced by both Irish and Old Norse.
- Sentinelese: Is the language of the Sentinelese people, an indigenous people living on North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in India. Little is known about the language due to the isolation and limited contact with the outside world.
- Serbian: Serbian is a South Slavic language spoken mainly in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, and North Macedonia. It’s written in both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets and has a rich literature history.
- Shanghainese: A dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai and the surrounding region. It is known for its unique pronunciation and vocabulary, distinct from Mandarin Chinese.
- Sherpa: Sherpa is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Sherpa people in Nepal and the Himalayas. It is most well-known due to the prestigious role of the Sherpa people in mountain climbing expeditions.
- Shona: Predominantly spoken in Zimbabwe, this is the most widely spoken Bantu language. It is the native language of the Shona people, Zimbabwe’s largest ethnic group.
- Shuadit: Also known as Judaéo-Comtadin, it’s a nearly extinct Jewish language that was spoken by the Jewish community in the Comtat Venaissin region of France. It belongs to the Occitano-Romance subgroup of Romance languages.
- Sicilian: A Romance language primarily spoken in the Italian island of Sicily and its surrounding areas. Sicilian has been significantly influenced by Greek, Arabic, French, Catalan, and Spanish.
- Silbo Gomero: A unique language made completely of whistling, used by the inhabitants of La Gomera in the Canary Islands. It’s an adapted version of Spanish created to communicate across the island’s deep valleys.
- Sindhi: An Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in the Sindh region of Pakistan and in Western India. Sindhi is written using a modified version of the Arabic script.
- Sinhala: Also known as Sinhalese, it’s an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhala people in Sri Lanka, with over 16 million native speakers.
- Sioux: This is a group of three related languages spoken by the Sioux people, primarily in the United States. The three languages—Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota—have different dialects and are written in the Latin script.
- Sirenik Yupik: This is an almost extinct Eskimo–Aleut language. It was traditionally spoken on the easternmost tip of the Siberian Chukchi Peninsula.
- Slovak: An Indo-European language belonging to the West Slavic subgroup, Slovak is the official language of Slovakia. It’s also recognized as a minority language in several neighboring countries.
- Slovene: Also referred to as Slovenian, it’s a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia. Slovene features many dialects and is one of the 24 official and working languages of the European Union.
- Somali: A Cushitic language, Somali is primarily spoken by the Somali people in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya. It is also spoken among expatriate communities in the Middle East and Europe.
- Southern Sotho: Also known as Sesotho, it’s a Bantu language mainly spoken by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it’s one of the two official languages, as well as in South Africa.
- Spanish (Latin America): Also known as American Spanish, it consists of various dialects of the Spanish language spoken in different parts of Latin America. Despite the regional variances, all Latin American countries use the same written standard.
- Spanish (Mexican): This refers to the variety of Spanish spoken in Mexico, where it’s the official language. Mexican Spanish, the most widely spoken variety of Spanish, includes multiple indigenous influences.
- Spanish (European): Known as Peninsular Spanish or Castilian, it’s the Spanish dialect from Northern and Central Spain. It’s also the standard dialect taught in Spanish-language schools worldwide.
- Sundanese: Mainly spoken by the Sundanese people in the Indonesian province of West Java, it is the second-largest regional language in the country.
- Swahili: Also known as Kiswahili, it’s a Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. Swahili is the official language of Kenya, Tanzania, and has official status in Uganda.
- Swedish: An Indo-European language, Swedish is the official language of Sweden and one of the official languages of Finland. It’s also a recognized minority language in some parts of Norway.
- Sylheti: A language native to the Sylhet Division in Bangladesh and Barak Valley in the Indian state of Assam. Despite being closely related to Bengali, it has a distinct dialect and script.
- Tagalog: The basis of the Philippines’ national language, Filipino. It’s primarily spoken in the Metro Manila Region and by Filipino communities across the world.
- Tajik: An Indo-European language, Tajik is the official language of Tajikistan. It is closely related to Persian and written in Cyrillic script. Most Tajik speakers are located in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
- Tamil: A Dravidian language predominantly spoken by Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka. It’s also an official language in Singapore and Sri Lanka. The language boasts a rich literature and is recognized as classical by the Government of India.
- Tatar: A Kipchak Turkic language, primarily spoken by Volga Tatars mostly located in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan in Russia. It’s written in Cyrillic script in Tatarstan while Latin script in the diaspora.
- Telugu: A Dravidian language mainly spoken in Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Yanam. It’s the third most spoken language in India and has the status of a classical language.
- Thai: A Tai–Kadai language, Thai is Thailand’s national language. Thai is known for its complex written script and five tone system.
- Sumerian: A language isolate, Sumerian was spoken in ancient Sumer, in what is now Southern Iraq. The language is non-Semitic and lasted as a spoken language until the 18th century BC, but continued to be used in writing until about the 1st century AD.
- Swazi: Swazi, or SiSwati, is a Bantu language of the Nguni group spoken in Swaziland and South Africa by the Swazi people. The language is taught in the schools of Eswatini and the eastern part of Mpumalanga province in South Africa.
- Tahitian: A member of the East Polynesian group of the Polynesian sub-family of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family, it’s spoken on the islands of Tahiti, Moorea, and neighbouring islands.
- Tibetan: An official language of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, it is a member of the Tibeto-Burman subdivision of the Sino-Tibetan family. The language has its own alphabet and the classical Tibetan language is used in Buddhist literature.
- Tigrinya: An Afro-Asiatic language, from the Semitic branch, it’s mainly spoken in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. Written in the Ge’ez script, it is amongst the languages with the oldest history of written literature in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Tlingit: Primarily spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada, Tlingit is a branch of the Na-Dené language family. It is critically endangered, with about 200 fluent speakers left.
- Toda: A Dravidian language spoken by the Toda people, a pastoral community who live in the Nilgiri mountains of South India. Toda is notable for its many fricatives and trills, and it’s considered endangered, with fewer than 50 speakers remaining.
- Tok Pisin: An English-based creole language, Tok Pisin is one of the official languages of Papua New Guinea. Most of the vocabulary comes from English, but the grammar is inherited from the local Austronesian languages.
- Tongan: This is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga where it is also the national language. It has around 100,000 speakers and is noted for its rich oral literature tradition.
- Tsakonian: A highly divergent modern form of Greek, it’s spoken in the Tsakonian region of the Peloponnese, Greece. Tsakonian is considered critically endangered, with only a few hundred fluent speakers remaining.
- Tswana: Known also as Setswana, this language is a member of the Bantu group of languages, primarily spoken in Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa. It is the national language of Botswana.
- Tulu: A Dravidian language predominantly spoken in the Indian state of Karnataka and the region of Kasaragod, Kerala. Though not officially recognized in India, it has a robust oral tradition going back centuries.
- Turkish: A member of the Turkic language family, Turkish is the official language of Turkey and one of the official languages of Cyprus. It is spoken by about 80 million people worldwide.
- Turkmen: The official language of Turkmenistan, Turkmen is a Turkic language. It’s spoken by about 7 million people primarily in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
- Uighur: A Turkic language spoken primarily by the Uighur ethnic group residing in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The language borrows widely from Arabic and Persian and is written in a modified Arabic script.
- Ukrainian: This is a Slavic language primarily spoken in Ukraine. With its roots in the Old East Slavic and influenced by Polish and Russian, it is the official language of Ukraine and is spoken by about 40 million people globally.
- Urdu: Known for its poetic tradition dating back a thousand years, Urdu is the official language of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in India. Urdu uses the Perso-Arabic script, with several added letters to accommodate special sounds.
- Uzbek: This is a Turkic language primarily spoken in Uzbekistan. It’s written using a variety of scripts including Cyrillic, Latin and Persian-Arabic, and is influenced by Persian, Arabic, and Russian.
- Varhadi: This is an Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly in the Vidarbha region and Khandesh of Maharashtra, India. Also referred to as Varhadi-Nagpuri, it is considered a dialect of Marathi.
- Venetian: Venetian or Veneto is a Romance language spoken primarily in the Veneto region of Italy, by about two million people. It has several dialects and is often mistakenly assumed to be a dialect of Italian.
- Vietnamese: It’s an Austroasiatic language that originated in Vietnam where it is the national and official language. Vietnamese is also spoken by significant minorities in the four remaining countries of the former French Indochina.
- Walloon: It is a Romance language of Belgium, predominantly spoken in Wallonia. It is one of the langues d’oïl—languages spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French evolved from.
- Warao: This is a language isolate spoken by the Warao people who inhabit regions in North-East Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname. The language has a unique grammar system and lacks stable word order.
- Warlpiri: An indigenous language unique to the Northern Territory in Australia and predominantly spoken by the Warlpiri people.
- Wayuu: Also known as Guajiro, it’s an Arawakan language spoken by the Wayuu people in the Guajira Peninsula region straddling Colombia and Venezuela.
- Welsh: A Celtic language originating from Wales in the United Kingdom. This ancient language has made a substantial resurgence over the past years with an increasing number of speakers.
- Wolof: It’s a language of Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and the native language of the Wolof people. It belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo language family.
- Xhosa: One of the official languages of South Africa, which is characteristic for its complex click consonants. It’s a Bantu language spoken by the Xhosa people.
- Xokleng: Also known as Laklãnõ, it’s a Jê language spoken by the Xokleng people in the southern region of Brazil. This language is currently in danger of extinction.
- Yanyuwa: An Aboriginal language spoken by the Yanyuwa people of the Sir Edward Pellew Group of Islands in the Gulf of Carpentaria in Northern Australia. The language is notable for its rarity that differentiates between male and female speech.
- Yiddish: It’s a High German-derived language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. Yiddish incorporates elements from Hebrew, Aramaic, and several Romance and Slavic languages.
- Yoruba: Predominantly spoken in West Africa, especially in southwestern Nigeria, Yoruba is a Niger-Congo language with over 20 million speakers, extending to communities in Benin and Togo as well.
- Yuchi: Also known as Euchee, it’s a language isolated spoken by the Yuchi people in northeastern Oklahoma in the United States. The language has less than 12 fluent speakers, all of whom are elderly, making it critically endangered.
- Zapotec: A group of indigenous Mesoamerican languages spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico. The Zapotec languages are part of the Oto-Manguean language family.
- Zhuang: Predominantly spoken in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. Zhuang belongs to the Tai linguistic group and is the most populous minority language in China.
- Zulu: With over 10 million speakers, Zulu is one of South Africa’s official languages and the most widely spoken home language. It’s a member of the Bantu/Nguni language family and is most commonly spoken in the eastern provinces of South Africa.
- Zuni: It’s the unique language of the Zuni people, an indigenous tribe in the southwestern United States, primarily in New Mexico. Zuni is considered a language isolate, having no apparent relation to any other language, including those in the surrounding area.