There are almost 7,000 living languages in the world, plus hundreds of extinct and endangered languages. There are more than 2,000 living languages in both Africa and Asia, and there are about 200 languages spoken in Europe on a daily basis.
More talking points about languages:
- About 95 percent of the world's languages are spoken by only about 6 percent of the global population. That means that the majority of languages have only a small number of people who use them regularly.
- The language with the most native speakers is Mandarin Chinese, with almost 900 million speakers. Spanish is the language with the next most native speakers, with more than 400 million native speakers, followed by English, which has about 300 million native speakers.
- Some linguists believe that 90 percent of all languages will become extinct by 2050. They claim that the whole structure of language is in crisis, in part because of the spread of the Internet, and that language will completely revamp itself in the coming years.
Follow wiseGEEK:
Discuss this Article
|
anon176391
Post 3 |
Yeah, makes sense. But English is already a lingua franca in many countries - that means that it's the common language of business and international relations. As it is so commonly taught in so many countries, you can bet that if two people don't share the same native tongue, they'll certainly have English in common to rely on. Yes, it may be third on native basis, but you can bet it's the first in spoken language, native or otherwise. Despite, a big effort must be made for people to learn each others' language, more if possible. |
|
anon143232
Post 1 |
Spanish is gonna wipe out all other languages. It already has in America! |
