Language is an essential tool for human communication. It allows us to express our ideas, share knowledge and form relationships.Language underpins our cultures, national identities and the way we see the world. But how many languages are there in the world? At our translation agency, we will try to answer this question, although you will see that it is not as simple as you may think.A linguistic mosaic
How many languages are there in the world? There is no simple answer to this question. In fact, Ethnologue, which has catalogued the world’s languages, estimates that there are about 7,139 living
languages. However, this figure is constantly changing, since some languages die out while others are being created.The vast majority of these languages, around 6,909 of them, are indigenous, meaning that they are spoken by relatively few people.
In contrast, just 23 languages have more than 50 million native speakers, including Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Arabic and French.
This is how languages are geographically distributed
You probably already think that the geographical distribution of languages will vary and you are right. While there is greater linguistic diversity in Asia, in other continents, such as Oceania, there are scarcely
more than one hundred and fifty different languages.
- Asia: This is the continent with the greatest linguistic diversity, with more than 2,300 languages.Africa: Africa is the one with the next highest number of languages, at around 2,000.America: Around 1,000 languages are spoken in America.Europe: In Europe, the number of languages is lower, at about 287.Oceania: Around 144 languages are spoken in Oceania.
The importance of languages in the world
Why is linguistic diversity important? Its importance lies mainly in its impact on culture.
- Preserving cultural identity:
Each language is a window to a unique way of seeing the world and understanding reality. - Promoting cultural tourism: Knowledge of other languages allows us to connect with other cultures and broaden our perspective.
- Stimulating economic development: Linguistic diversity is an important factor in economic
development, as it facilitates trade and international cooperation. - Protecting human rights:
Access to education and information in your own language is a fundamental
right.
Threats to linguistic diversity
However, linguistic diversity faces many different threats:
- Globalisation: Globalisation is leading to the dominance of a few languages, which can lead to the extinction of others.
- Conflicts: Armed conflicts and forced migration can lead to the loss of the languages involved.
- Discriminatory language policies: Some governments implement policies that discriminate against
certain languages. - Lack of resources: Many languages do not have enough resources to be preserved.
What can we do?
To protect linguistic diversity, we need to implement a
series of actions. These include:
- Promoting the use of minority languages: It is important for us to speak, write and read in our own
language and in other minority languages. - Supporting education in minority languages: Children need to have access to schooling in their own
language. - Preserving documentation: We
need to collect and record the documents in minority languages, so that
they are not lost. - Combatting discriminatory language policies: It is important to defend the right of all speakers to use their own language.
Linguistic diversity is a treasure that we must safeguard. It is our responsibility to protect and promote it for future generations. Each language is a world in itself. By learning a new language, we open our minds to new ways of thinking and feeling.
