In order for a human to sustain in this society, it is important to communicate one’s thoughts, ideas, desires and opinions. The best way to do so is with the tool of language. There are hundreds of languages in the world. Each has its own specialty, background, tune and rhythm. Each has its own essence. But, have you ever wondered what the most popular languages in the world are? Let’s find out:
10 Most Popular Languages in the World:
1. English
Believe it or not, English was not at the first position, but, it closely follows Mandarin to acquire the 2nd position. Now it’s total speakers increased rapidly. As of 2021, it is spoken by more than 1.4 billion people around the world. And also it is another one of the six official languages of the UN. Derived from an Indo-European family of languages, this Germanic language is the global lingua franca. Unlike Mandarin, which is mainly spoken in a particular geographical region, English is the first language in many countries throughout the world across all the continents. And it is spoken by almost a billion people as a second language.
2. Mandarin
Mandarin is spoken by almost 1.2 billion people. And it is one of the 6 official languages of the United Nations. There are 1200 million varieties of this language. It is popularly spoken in northern and south-western China. The language has been derived from Sino-Tibetan family. But, just because this language is perched at the top of the list doesn’t mean it is an easy language to learn or speak. It has several dialects, and each has a number of tones, as a result of which, all the Mandarin-speaking areas have different tone values.
3. Hindi
Hindi is one of the official languages of India. It is the Sanskritized register of the Hindustani langue, with Indo-Aryan and Indo-European roots. It is spoken by millions of local Indians, but, has close resemblance with Urdu that is the native language of Pakistan. A large number of dialects of Hindi are famous throughout India, with about 615 million Hindi-speaking people. But, the main prominence of the language is probably through the Bollywood movies which use Hindi as the lingua franca.
4. Spanish
Another one of the official languages of the UN, Spanish slipped from the 2nd position to the 3rd only recently. It is spoken by more than 586 million people. Also it is a Romance language, born from an Indo-European family. Spanish is used as a native language in Latin America and Equatorial Guinea, apart from Spain. The language is so widely spoken that a lot of Spanish words are used in English language, as well.
5. Bengali
Bengali, or Bangla, is the native language of Bangladesh, as well as West Bengal, southern Assam and Tripura, in India. The national anthems of Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, as well as the national song of India, were all written in Bangla. This language has a long history of evolution from Indo-Aryan dialects like; Prakrit and Pali, developed from Sanskrit. While the language still preserves the originality, it has also absorbed words from foreign languages. Some of the greatest literary works are written in Bengali, including the works of Rabindranath Tagore. About 265 million people speak it.
6. Portuguese
This Romance language of Indo-European root is spoken by more than 270 million people. And it is the official language in Brazil, Mozambique and several other places. The language is spoken in many countries throughout the world.
7. Russian
This Slavic language of Indo-European origin is one of the six official languages recognized by the UN. It is spoken by more than 258 million people. And it is not only in practice in Russian Federation and other constituents of the USSR, but also in the Baltic countries and the United States, to name just a few. In addition, many great works of literature and cinema have been created in this language.
8. Urdu
Considered one of the sweetest languages in the world. Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language, spoken by more than 170 million people, mainly in Pakistan and in 6 states of India. The language bears a close resemblance with Hindi. And also it is associated with the Muslims. Urdu is one of the languages belonging to the Indo-European and Indo-Aryan families. Urdu poetry and songs are celebrated throughout the world.
9. Indonesian
This Austronesian language, spoken in Malaysia and Indonesia, is a register of Malay and belongs to the Malayo-Polynesian family. It is spoken by over 170 million people, and is the official language of Indonesia.
10. Japanese
At the 10th position stands the Japanese language. Approximately 128 million people speak this language; Mainly in the East Asian country of Japan, as well as some other parts of the world where people either learnt the language and know how to speak it, or because Japanese immigrants live there. The language is a member of the Japonic family, and its history is debated.
The languages are all evolving as they absorb new words, phrases and style from other languages, especially English. But, in the essence, each language has its own story to tell, in its own unique way.