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Language List

Names are assigned to languages based on their usage (if they are used in countries where people speak the given language) or based on their origin (if the oldest known form of the name is from the given language).

The list of 128 languages and language groups occuring in the database:

LanguageDescription
African groupgroup of the languages that are spoken in Black Africa
AkanAkan, a language spoken in the African country of Ghana
AkkadianAkkadian, the oldest of the Semitic languages, from around 2500 BC until 600 AD, with Babylonian as a variant
Albanianmodern Albanian, the language of the European country Albania on the Balkans
Arabicmodern Arabic
AramaicAramaic, a Semitic language, since around 1200 BC, e.g. the mother tongue of Jesus, widely used in the Middle East until around 700 AD, today still spoken in some parts of Syria
Armenianmodern Armenian, the language of Armenia
AustralianAustralian, here used for the various languages of the Australian Aborigines
AvestanAvestan, a language of Old Persia, related to Sanskrit
Azerbaijanimodern Azerbaijani, the language of Azerbaijan, related to Turkish
Basquemodern Basque, spoken in the Basque region between France and Spain, a very old language predating the arrival of Indoeuropean languages
BretonBreton, a language of Celtic origin spoken in the Brittany (Bretagne) in France, probably brought there by Celts from England around the 6th century AD
Bulgarianmodern Bulgarian
Catalanmodern Catalan, a language closely related to Spanish
CelticCeltic, the language of the Celts, since around 1000 BC, widely spoken in Europe around 300 BC; today few speakers remain in regions like Ireland, Scottland and Wales
Celtic familyfamily of the Celtic languages
Czechmodern Czech
DakotaDakota, the language of an Indian nation in North America
Dutchmodern Dutch
EgyptianEgyptian, the language of old Egypt, since around 3000 BC until around the year 0
Englishmodern English
Estonianmodern Estonian, the language of Estonia, related to Finnish
Ethiopianmodern Ethiopian, the language of the African country of Ethiopia
Etruskthe language of the Etrusk, an old people once living next to the Romans, around 600 BC
Finnishmodern Finnish
Frenchmodern French
FrisianFrisian, a language spoken in Frisia (a province of the Netherlands) and Northern Germany, related to Dutch
Georgianmodern Georgian, the language of Georgia, an Asian country in the Caucasus
Germanmodern German
GermanicGermanic as the original language of the Germanic tribes, since around 500 BC until around 750 AD, e.g. spoken during the time of the Roman Empire, ancestor of Old High German
Germanic familyfamily of the Germanic languages, i.e. Germanic and all languages that are its descendants
GikuyuGikuyu, also called Kikuyu, one of the main languages of Kenya in Africa
GothicGothic, the language of the Visigoths, a Germanic people, e.g. around 400 AD in Spain
Greekmodern Greek
GreenlandicGreenlandic, also called Kalaallisut, the language of the Inuit in Greenland
HausaHausa, one of the main languages of Nigeria in Africa
HawaiiHawaii, the native language of Hawaii, member of the large Austronesian language family
HebrewHebrew, an old Semitic language, since around 2000 BC, from around 200 AD until the end of the 19th century only used as a written language, later revived as spoken language, today the language of Israel
HindiHindi, the most widely spoken language in India and one of the two official languages, descendant of Sanskrit
Hungarianmodern Hungarian
IcelandicIcelandic, the language of Iceland, the island
IgboIgbo, one of the main languages of Nigeria in Africa
IndianIndian in general, from one of the several modern languages of India
Indian groupgroup of the languages that are spoken by native Indians in North America
IndoeuropeanIndoeuropean, the origin of nearly all European languages, since around 4000 BC
InuktitutInuktitut, the language of the Inuit (Eskimos)
Irishthe native language of Ireland (spoken before the arrival of English and still today), a celtic language, also called Gaelic
Italianmodern Italian
Japanesemodern Japanese
KambaKamba, the language of a people in Kenya
Kanji symbolKanji symbols, the originally Chinese writing symbols in use in Japan, where each symbol stands for a complete word
KikongoKikongo, also called Kongo, a Bantu language spoken in Congo and in Angola
KimbunduKimbundu, one of the languages of Angola, a country in Africa
KurdishKurdish, the language of the Kurds, a people living in Turkey and other countries
LatinLatin, the language of the Romans, since around 600 BC until around 500 AD, ancestor of all Romance languages (Italian, Spanish, French etc), after 500 AD widely used as the language of the European scholars
LatinizedLatinized, according to the habit of medieval scholars to modify names of various languages (e.g. German) into Latin-sounding forms, e.g. by appending -us
Latvianmodern Latvian, the language of Latvia, a member of the Baltic family of languages (related to the Slavic family)
Lithuanianmodern Lithuanian, the language of Lithuania, a member of the Baltic family of languages (related to the Slavic family)
Low GermanLow German, also called Platt, a group of distinct dialects spoken in Northern Germany
Macedonianmodern Macedonian, closely related to Bulgarian
MalayMalay, a language with variants spoken in several South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore
Maltesemodern Maltese, the language of Malta, descended from a dialect of Arabic
Mandarinmodern Mandarin, often simply called Chinese, the most frequently spoken language in China by far
MaoriMaori, the language of the Maori, the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand
MapudungunMapudungun, often also called Mapuche, the language of the Mapuche, an Indian people in South America (Chile and Argentina)
MayaMaya, the language of the Maya, an Indian people in South America
MongolianMongolian, the language of the Mongols in Central Asia
NahuatlNahuatl, a language of Indian natives of Mexico, the language of the former Aztecs
NavajoNavajo, the language of the Indian nation of the Navajo in North America
NdauNdau, a dialect of the Shona language spoken in East Zimbabwe, Africa
OjibwayOjibway, the language of an Indian nation in North America
Old EnglishOld English, ancestor of modern English, since around 500 AD until around 1100 AD
Old FrenchOld French, ancestor of modern French, descendant of Latin, from around a 900 AD until around 1400 AD
Old GreekOld Greek, the language of classic Greece, ancestor of modern Greek, since around 1000 BC until around 300 AD
Old High GermanOld High German, ancestor of modern German, from around 750 AD until around 1050 AD, descendant of Germanic
Old IcelandicOld Icelandic, the original language of Iceland, a variant of Old Norse, since around 900 AD
Old IrishOld Irish, a Celtic language, ancestor of modern Irish, since around 800 AD until around 1200 AD
Old NorseOld Norse, the ancestor of the Scandinavian languages, since around 1000 AD, among others the language of the Vikings
Old PersianOld Persian, the Indoeuropean language of old Persia, since around 1000 BC, ancestor of the modern language of Iran
Old ProvençalOld Provençal, ancestor of Provençal, a Romance language closely related to French and Spanish, spoken in the Provence (a part of France)
Old SaxonOld Saxon, the oldest form of Old German, spoken at the same time as Old High German
Old SlavicOld Slavic, also called Old Slavonic, the origin of all Slavic languages, since around 300 BC until around 1000 AD, later split into the various Slavic languages
PersianPersian, also called Farsi, the modern language of Iran, a language of the Indoeuropean family (in contrast to Arabic)
PhoenicianPhoenician, a Semitic language related to Hebrew, spoken from around 1000 to 100 BC in the region that is Lebanon today
Polishmodern Polish
Portuguesemodern Portuguese
ProvençalProvençal, a Romance language closely related to French and Spanish, spoken in the Provence (a part of France)
PulaarPulaar, one of the main languages of Senegal in Africa
PunjabiPunjabi, a language spoken in the Punjab (a region in India and Pakistan); many Sikhs speak this language
Rhaeto-RomanicRhaeto-Romanic, a Romance language, spoken in some regions of the Swiss Alps
Romance familyfamily of the Romance languages, i.e. Latin and all languages that are its descendants
Romanianmodern Romanian, the language of Romania in Eastern Europe
Russianmodern Russian
SanskritSanskrit, the Indoeuropean language at the root of many of today's languages of India, since about 1000 BC
ScandinavianScandinavian in general, i.e. either from Swedish, Norwegian or Danish, not further specified here because these languages are all closely related
ScottishScottish, or Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language still spoken in parts of Scottland, closely related to Irish
Semitic familyfamily of the Semitic languages
Serbo-Croatianmodern Serbo-Croatian, depending on country also called Serbian or Croatian
SesothoSesotho, also called Sotho, a Bantu language spoken in Lesotho and in South Africa
SlavicSlavic in general, i.e. from one of the Slavic languages like Russian, Polish, Czech etc, often not further specified here specified these languages are all closely related
Slavic familyfamily of the Slavic languages
Slovakmodern Slovak
Slovenianmodern Slovenian
South-American groupgroup of the languages that are spoken by various indigenous people in Middle and South America
Spanishmodern Spanish
SumerianSumerian, a language spoken from around 3000 BC to 1 AD in Mesopotamia, a region that today mostly belongs to Iraq
SwahiliSwahili, also called Kiswahili, a Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa (e.g. Tanzania, Kenya)
Swiss GermanSwiss German, the German dialect spoken in Switzerland
TagalogTagalog, one of the major languages of the Philippines, among others the language of the capital, Manila
TahitianTahitian, the native language of the island of Tahiti, member of the large Austronesian language family
TainoTaino, the language of an Indian nation in North America
Tatarmodern Tatar, the language of the Tatars, related to Turkish
Thaimodern Thai, the language of Thailand
TibetanTibetan, i.e. the group of dialects spoken in the Himalayan country of Tibet
TswanaTswana, also called Setswana, a Bantu language spoken in Botswana and in South Africa
TumbukaTumbuka, a Bantu language spoken e.g. in Malawi, an African country
TupiTupi, a family of languages of Indian natives of Brasil
Turkishmodern Turkish
Turkmenmodern Turkmen, the language of Turkmenistan, related to Turkish
Unknownlanguage of origin unknown (either really unknown, or unknown because the author of this database could not find out the language)
UrduUrdu, the national language of Pakistan, also spoken in some provinces of India
VietnameseVietnamese, the modern language of Vietnam
Welshthe native language of Wales (spoken before the arrival of English and still today), a Celtic language
WolofWolof, the national language of the African country of Senegal
XhosaXhosa, also called isiXhosa, a Bantu language spoken in Zimbabwe and in South Africa
YiddishYiddish, a language of the European jews, originated from a mix of Hebrew and German, since around the 13th century
YorubaYoruba, one of the main languages of Nigeria in Africa
ZuluZulu, a Bantu language mostly spoken by the Zulu people in South Africa