There are more than 7,000 languages spoken around the world today, and at least 3,000 of them, or 40 percent, are endangered.
English is the most widely spoken language, with approximately 1.5 billion speakers in 186 countries. According to Ethnologue, a database that lists the world’s languages, two out of every 10 English speakers are native, while the remaining 80 percent speak English as their second, third, or higher language.
Mandarin Chinese is the second most spoken language, with approximately 1.2 billion speakers. However, when native speakers are taken into account, Chinese is the largest language in the world due to its large population.
Hindi ranks third with 609 million speakers, followed by Spanish (559 million) and Standard Arabic (335 million).
Scripts of the world’s most popular languages
According to The World’s Writing Systems, a reference book about global scripts, there are 293 known scripts – sets of graphic characters used to write a language.
More than 156 scripts are still in use today, while more than 137 historical scripts, including Egyptian hieroglyphs and Aztec hieroglyphs, are no longer in use.
The Latin script, which is used to write English, French, Spanish, German, and more, is used in at least 305 of the world’s 7,139 known living human languages. More than 70 per cent of the world’s population uses it.
What are the most endangered languages?
Of the 7,159 languages spoken around the world, 3,193 (44 per cent) are endangered, 3,479 (49 per cent) are stable, and 487 (7 per cent) are institutionalised, meaning they are used by governments, schools, and the media.
A language becomes endangered when its users begin to pass on the more dominant language to the children of the community. Many are used as second languages.
According to Ethnologue, about 337 languages are said to be dormant, while 454 are extinct.
Dormant languages are those whose speakers are no longer proficient, but the language still has social use, and the language is part of an ethnic community’s identity. Extinct languages are those that have no speakers and no social use or groups that claim it as part of their heritage or identity.
According to Ethnologue, 88.1 million people speak the endangered language as their mother tongue. There are:
- 1,431 languages with fewer than 1,000 first-language speakers
- 463 with less than 100 speakers
- 110 with less than 10 speakers
Just 25 countries are home to nearly 80 per cent of the world’s endangered languages. Oceania has the highest number of endangered languages, followed by Asia, Africa and the Americas.
Some endangered languages include:
oceania
In Australia, Yugambeh, an endangered Aboriginal language, is spoken by the Yugambeh people, primarily in the Gold Coast, Scenic Rim and Logan in eastern Australia.
In recent years, a strong community-based revival programme and the use of learning apps have made the language more accessible to younger generations.
Asia
The Ainu (Ainu Itaka) of Japan is a critically endangered language. According to UNESCO, it cannot be definitely linked to any language family. The exact number of Ainu speakers is unknown, although a 2006 survey showed that 304 out of 23,782 Ainu knew the language.
Africa
In Ethiopia, Ongota is a critically endangered language.
It was spoken by a community on the west bank of the Weito River in southwestern Ethiopia. Only about 400 members of the community remain, including a handful of elders who speak the language.
of America
In North and Central America, almost all indigenous languages are endangered. Louisiana Creole, a French-based creole with African and indigenous influences, is a critically endangered language in the United States and is spoken mostly by elders.
Leco is an endangered indigenous language spoken in Bolivia and is considered a separate language – with no genetic connection to other languages. The language is now spoken only by elders in the Leko ethnic population of 13,500.
Europe
Cornish (Kernewic), spoken in southwest England, was marked as an extinct language by UNESCO until it was revived and downgraded to an endangered language in 2010. It is spoken as a first language by 563 people, according to the 2021 England and Wales census.
