2006-08-19 05:51:41 · 10 answers · asked by mokokeek 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Mother-tongue speakers Official-language populations
1 Chinese (1,000) 1 English (1,400)
2 English (350) 2 Chinese (1,000)
3 Spanish (250) 3 Hindi (700)
4 Hindi (200) 4 Spanish (280)
5 Arabic (150) 5 Russian (270)
6 Bengali (150) 6 French (220)
7 Russia (150) 7 Arabic (170)
8 Portuguese (135) 8 Portuguese (160)
9 Japanese (120) 9 Malay (160)
10 German (100) 10 Bengali (150)
11 French (70) 11 Japanese (120)
12 Panjabi (70) 12 German (100)
13 Javanese (65) 13 Urdu (85)
14 Bihari (65) 14 Italian (60)
15 Italian (60) 15 Korean (60)
16 Korean (60) 16 Vietnamese (60)
17 Telugu (55) 17 Persian (55)
18 Tamil (55) 18 Tagalog (50)
19 Marathi (50) 19 Thai (50)
20 Vietnamese (50) 20 Turkish (50)
The table below presents speaker estimates for the world's top 20 languages (given in millions). The first column lists the languages on the basis of the number of mother-tongue (first-language) speakers they have. The second column gives population estimates for those countries where the language has official status. Note that the totals do not always coincide, since some major languages (such as Telugu and Javanese) are not official languages of whole countries, and some languages (such as Malay and Tagalog) are official languages of multilingual countries. The second column figures are often over-estimates, as by no means everyone in the countries where a second language is recognized (e.g. India) will be fluent in it. The figures are of some interest as indicators of the way languages are moving.
2006-08-27 05:09:37 · answer #1 · answered by Ekamra123 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1 Chinese and all the dialects
2 Hindi
3 English
4 Spanish
5 Arabic
6 Bengali/Bangla
7 Portuguese
8 Russian
9 Japanese
10 German, Standard
11 Korean
12 French
Those are the languages in the order. Consider that Chinese is the most spoken language because they are the most populated country and have the most dialects. However English would be the most popular because it is spoken in 83 different countries.
The site below would explain it much better then I can. I would say that they should be put differently, by the number of countries that speak them. That would make a language most popular.
2006-08-23 11:03:38 · answer #2 · answered by angel20072002 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chines
English
Spanish
French
German
2006-08-20 15:29:31 · answer #3 · answered by Eugenia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Portugese. I am not too sure about the order. But seems like these are the 5 languages.
2006-08-19 05:57:52 · answer #4 · answered by techno_geek 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By # of Native Speakers
---------------------------------
5. Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia
4. English
3. Spanish
2. Hindi
1. Chinese
2006-08-19 06:01:08 · answer #5 · answered by Bob 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
1. English
2. Spanish
3. Chinese
4. Hindi & Urdu (it is almost same in expression)
4. French
2006-08-25 20:56:37 · answer #6 · answered by SESHADRI K 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
By number of millions who speak them
Chinese, both Mandarin and Cantonese
English
Spanish
Arabic
French
Russian
German
2006-08-19 06:52:57 · answer #7 · answered by opaalvarez 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Chinese* (937,132,000)
Spanish (332,000,000)
English (322,000,000)
Bengali (189,000,000)
Hindi/Urdu (182,000,000)
2006-08-19 06:00:04 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Chinese
Spanish
English
German
Russian
2006-08-19 05:57:13 · answer #9 · answered by Avatar13 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most..
English...
Chinese...
Spanish...
Japanese...
French...
primary..
Tagalog...
Malay...
Indian...
Alien languages?..
2006-08-26 17:22:12 · answer #10 · answered by makino 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋