Language families and language groups of languages. What are the language groups. History and habitats Language families of Europe table
Russia is a multinational country, which means it is multilingual. Linguistic scientists count 150 languages - here, such a language as Russian, which is spoken by 97.72% of the population in Russia, and the language of the Negidals, a small people (only 622 people!), Living on the Amur River, are taken into account on an equal footing.
Some languages are very similar: people can speak their own language and at the same time understand each other perfectly, for example, Russian - Belarusian, Tatar - Bashkir, Kalmyk - Buryat. In other languages, although they also have a lot in common - sounds, some words, grammar - it will still not be possible to agree: a Mari with a Mordovian, a Lezghin with an accident. And finally, there are languages - scientists call them isolated - that are not like any other. These are the languages of the Kets, Nivkhs and Yukagirs.
Most of the languages of Russia belong to one of four language families: Indo-European, Altaic, Uralic and North Caucasian. Each family has a common language-ancestor - proto-language. The ancient tribes who spoke such a proto-language moved, mixed with other peoples, and the once single language broke up into several. This is how many languages appeared on Earth.
Let's say a Russian belongs to the Indo-European family. In the same family - English and German, Hindi and Farsi, Ossetian and Spanish (and many, many others). Part of the family is a group of Slavic languages. Here, Czech and Polish, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian, etc. coexist with Russian. And together with closely related Ukrainian and Belarusian, it is included in the subgroup of East Slavic languages. More than 87% of the population speaks Indo-European languages in Russia, but only 2% of them are not Slavic. These are Germanic languages: German and Yiddish (see the plot "Jews in Russia"); Armenian (one makes up a group); Iranian languages: Ossetian, Tat, Kurdish and Tajik; Romance: Moldavian; and even the new Indian languages spoken by the gypsies in Russia.
The Altai family in Russia is represented by three groups: Turkic, Mongolian and Tungus-Manchu. There are only two peoples who speak Mongolian languages - Kalmyks and Buryats, but one enumeration of Turkic languages \u200b\u200bmay surprise. These are Chuvash, Tatar, Bashkir, Karachay-Balkar, Nogai, Kumyk, Altai, Khakass, Shor, Tuvan, Tofalar, Yakut, Dolgan, Azerbaijani, etc. Most of these peoples live in Russia. In our country, there are also such Turkic peoples as Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, Turkmens, Uzbeks. The Tungus-Manchu languages include Evenki, Even, Negidal, Nanai, Oroch, Orok, Udege and Ulch.
Sometimes the question arises: where is a separate language, and where are only dialects of the same language? For example, many linguists in Kazan believe that Bashkir is a dialect of Tatar, and the same number of specialists in Ufa are convinced that these are two completely independent languages. Such disputes are not only about Tatar and Bashkir.
The Uralic language family includes the Finno-Ugric and Samolian groups. The concept of "Finnish" is conditional - in this case it does not mean the official language of Finland. It’s just that the languages included in this group have related grammars, a similar sound, especially if you don’t make out the words, but listen only to the melody. Finnish languages are spoken by Karelians, Vepsians, Izhors, Vods, Komis, Mariys, Mordovians, Udmurts, Sami. There are two Ugric languages in Russia: Khanty and Mansi (and the third Ugric is spoken by the Hungarians). Samoyedic languages are spoken by the Nenets, Nganasans, Enets, and Selkups. The Yukaghir language is genetically close to the Uralic. These peoples are very small in number, and their languages cannot be heard outside the north of Russia.
The North Caucasian family is a rather arbitrary concept. Unless specialists-linguists understand the ancient relationship of the languages of the Caucasus. These languages have very complex grammar and phonetics of extraordinary difficulty. They contain sounds that are completely inaccessible to people who speak other dialects.
Specialists divide the North Caucasian languages into Nakh-Lagestan and Abkhaz-Adyghe groups. The Vainakhs speak Nakh languages that are understandable to each other - this is the common name for the Chechens and Ingush. (The group got its name from the self-name of the Chechens - Nakhchi.)
Representatives of about 30 peoples live in Dagestan. "Approximately" - because far from all the languages of these peoples have been studied, and very often people determine their nationality precisely by language.
The Dagestan languages include Avar, Andi, Iez, Ginukh, Gunzib, Bezhta, Khvarshinsky, Lak, Dargin, Lezgin, Tabasaran, Agul, Rutul... We named the largest Dagestan languages, but did not list half of them. No wonder this republic was called the "mountain of languages". And a "paradise for linguists": the field of activity for them is boundless here.
The Abkhazian-Adyghe languages are spoken by kindred peoples. On the Adyghes - Kabardians, Adyghes, Circassians, Shapsugs; in Abkhazian - Abkhazians and Abaza. But not everything is so simple in this classification. Kabardians, Adyghes, Circassians and Shapsugs consider themselves to be a single people - Adyghes - with one language, Adyghe, and official sources name four Adyghe peoples.
There are languages in Russia that are not included in any of the four families. These are primarily the languages of the peoples of Siberia and the Far East. All of them are few. The Chukchi-Kamchatka languages are spoken by the Chukchi, Koryaks and Itelmens; in Eskimo-Aleut - Eskimos and Aleuts. The languages of the Kets on the Yenisei and the Nivkhs on Sakhalin and the Amur are not included in any language family.
There are many languages, and in order for people to agree, a common one is needed. In Russia, it has become Russian, for Russians are the most numerous people in the country and they live in all its corners. It is the language of great literature, science and international communication.
Languages, of course, are equal, but even the richest country cannot publish, for example, books on all issues in the language of several hundred people. Or even tens of thousands. In a language spoken by millions, this is feasible.
Many peoples of Russia have lost or are losing their languages, especially representatives of small peoples. So, they almost forgot the native language of the Chu-lymys - a small Turkic-speaking people in Siberia. The list is unfortunately long. In the cities of Russia, the Russian language becomes common for the multinational population. And most of all the only one. However, recently national cultural and educational societies have taken care of their own languages in large centers. They usually organize Sunday schools for children.
Most of the languages of Russia until the 20s. 20th century had no writing. Georgians, Armenians, Jews had their own alphabet. The Latin alphabet (Latin alphabet) was written by the Germans, Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, Finns. Some languages do not have a written language even now.
The first attempts to create a written language for the peoples of Russia were made even before the revolution, but they seriously took up this in the 1920s: they reformed the Arabic script, adapting it to the phonetics of the Turkic languages. It did not fit the languages of the Yarods of the Caucasus. They developed the Latin alphabet, but there were not enough letters for the exact designation of sounds in the languages of small peoples. From 1936 to 1941, the languages of the peoples of Russia (and the USSR) were translated into the Slavic alphabet (except for those that had their own, moreover, ancient), added superscript signs, tall straight sticks to indicate guttural sounds, and strange combinations of letters for the Russian eye like "ь" and "ь" after vowels. It was believed that a single alphabet helped to better master the Russian language. Recently, some languages have begun to use the Latin alphabet again. (For a detailed classification, see the volume "Linguistics. Russian Language" of the "Encyclopedia for Children".)
Languages of the peoples of Russia
1. Indo-European languages
o Slavic (namely East Slavic) - Russian (about 120 million speakers according to the 1989 census)
o Germanic languages - Yiddish (Jewish)
o Iranian languages - Ossetian, Talysh, Tat (language of Tats and Mountain Jews)
o Indo-Aryan languages - Romani
2. Uralic languages
o Finno-Ugric languages
§ Mari
§ Sami
§ Mordovian languages - Moksha, Erzya
§ Ob-Ugric languages - Mansi, Khanty
§ Permian languages - Komi-Zyryan, Komi-Permyak, Udmurt
§ Baltic-Finnish - Vepsian, Votic, Izhorian, Karelian
o Samoyedic languages - Nganasan, Nenets, Selkup, Enets
3. Turkic languages- Altai, Bashkir, Dolgan, Karachay-Balkar, Kumyk, Nogai, Tatar, Tofalar, Tuva, Khakass, Chuvash, Shor, Yakut
4. Tungus-Manchu languages- Nanai, Negidal, Orok, Oroch, Udege, Ulch, Evenk, Even
5. Mongolian languages- Buryat, Kalmyk
6. Yenisei languages- Ket
7. Chukchi-Kamchatka languages- Alyutor, Itelmen, Kerek, Koryak, Chukchi
8. Eskimo-Aleut languages- Aleutian, Eskimo
9. Yukaghir language
10. Nivkh language
11. North Caucasian languages
o Abkhazian-Adyghe languages - Abaza, Adyghe, Kabardino-Circassian
o Nakh-Dagetan languages
§ Nakh languages - Batsbi, Ingush, Chechen
§ Dagestan languages
§ Avar
§ Andean languages - Andian, Akhvakh, Bagvalin (Kvanadin), Botlikh, Godoberin, Karata, Tindin, Chamalin
§ Dargin
§ Lak
§ Lezgi languages - Agul, Archa, Budukh, Kryz, Lezgi, Rutul, Tabasaran, Udi, Khinalug, Tsakhur
§ Tsuz languages - Bezhta (Bezhitinsky, or Kapuchinsky), Ginukhsky, Gunzibsky (Gunzalsky, Khunzalsky, Nahadinsky), Khvarshinsky, Tsezsky
Many speakers of languages of other states live in Russia, including those that were part of the USSR. These languages include Ukrainian, Belarusian, Kazakh, Armenian, Azerbaijani, as well as German, Bulgarian, Finnish, etc.
Language families is a term used in the classification of peoples according to linguistic characteristics. The language family includes languages that are related to each other.
It manifests itself in the similarity of the sound of words denoting the same subject, as well as in the similarity of such elements as morphemes, grammatical forms.
According to the theory of monogenesis, the language families of the world were formed from the proto-language spoken by the ancient peoples. The division occurred due to the predominance of the tribes and their remoteness from each other.
Language families are subdivided as follows.
Language family name | Languages in the family | Distribution regions |
Indo-European | India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Fiji |
|
India, Pakistan |
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Countries of the former USSR and Eastern Europe |
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English | USA, UK, Europe, Canada, Africa, Australia |
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German | Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy |
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French | France, Tunisia, Monaco, Canada, Algeria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg |
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Portuguese | Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Macau |
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Bengal | Bengal, India, Bangladesh |
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Altai | Tatar | Tatarstan, Russia, Ukraine |
Mongolian | Mongolia, PRC |
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Azerbaijani | Azerbaijan, Dagestan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Central Asia |
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Turkish | Turkey, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Romania, USA, France, Sweden |
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Bashkir | Bashkorstan, Tatarstan, Urdmutia, Russia. |
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Kyrgyz | Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, China |
|
Ural | Hungarian | Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia |
Mordovian | Mordovia, Russia, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan |
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Evenki | Russia, China, Mongolia |
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Finland, Sweden, Norway, Karelia |
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Karelian | Karelia, Finland |
|
Caucasian | Georgian | Georgia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Iran |
Abkhazian | Abkhazia, Türkiye, Russia, Syria, Iraq |
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Chechen | Chechnya, Ingushetia, Georgia, Dagestan |
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Sino-Tibetan | Chinese | China, Taiwan, Singapore |
Laotian | Laos, Thailand, |
|
Siamese | ||
Tibetan | Tibet, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan |
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Burmese | Myanmar (Burma) |
|
Afro-Asian | Arab | Arab countries, Iraq, Israel, Chad, Somalia, |
Barbary | Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Niger, Egypt, Mauritania |
This table shows that the languages of one family can be distributed in various countries and parts of the world. And the very concept of "language families" was introduced to facilitate the classification of languages and the compilation of their genealogical tree. The most widespread and numerous is the Indo-European family of languages. Peoples who speak the languages of the Indo-European family can be found in any hemisphere of the Earth, in any on any continent and in any country. There are also languages that are not included in any language family. This is also artificial.
If we talk about the territory of Russia, then there are a variety of language families. The country is inhabited by people of more than 150 different nationalities, who can consider their mother tongue from almost every language family. The territorial language families of Russia are distributed depending on which country a particular region borders on, which language is most common in the country bordering the region.
Some nationalities have occupied a certain territory since ancient times. And at first glance it may seem strange why these particular language families and languages predominate in this region. But there is nothing strange in this. In ancient times, people's migrations were determined by the search for new hunting grounds, new lands for agriculture, and some tribes simply led a nomadic lifestyle.
The forced resettlement of entire peoples during the Soviet era also played a significant role. The languages from the Indo-European, Uralic, Caucasian and Altaic families are most fully represented in Russia. The Indo-European family occupies Western and Central Russia. Representatives live mainly in the north-west of the country. The northeast and southern regions are predominantly occupied by the Altaic language groups. Caucasian languages are represented mainly in the territory lying between the Black and Caspian Seas.
hyperfamily- association of macrofamilies, extremely hypothetical.
Macrofamily
Macrofamily- a structural unit in linguistics, which includes several families of languages. The association of several families into one large macrofamily is usually based only on hypotheses, and therefore is perceived by many linguists ambiguously. Therefore, speaking of any macrofamily, for example, Nostratic or Sino-Caucasian, it should be remembered that the term macrofamily in this case means only a possible connection between the groups of languages included in it.
Some proposed macrofamilies
Borean hyperfamily
Afroasian macrofamily
- Nostratic macrofamily (Indo-European, Altai, Kartvelian, Dravidian, Ural-Yukagir, Eskimo-Aleutian)
- Sino-Caucasian macrofamily (Basque, Dene-Yenisei, North Caucasian, Burushaski, Hurrito-Urartian, Sino-Tibetan, the inclusion of a whole group of isolates in this family is also questionable)
- Austrian macrofamily (Austroasiatic languages, Austronesian languages, Dongtaic languages, Miao-Yao languages)
- Amerindian macrofamily
Niger-Saharan hyperfamily
- Niger-Congo languages
- Nilo-Saharan languages
Khoisan languages
Indo-Pacific languages
- Andamanese languages
- Papuan languages
- Tasmanian languages
- ? isolates of India: kusunda, nihali
Australian languages (29 Australian language families)
Family
Family- the basic level on which all language systematics is based. A family is a group of distinctly, but fairly distantly related, languages that have at least 15% overlap in the base list (a 100-word variant of the Swadesh list).
The most common language families:
1. Indo-European languages ~ 2.5 billion speakers, including Indo-Aryan languages, Germanic languages and Balto-Slavic languages;
2. Sino-Tibetan languages ~ 1.2 billion speakers, including mainstream Chinese;
3. Ural-Altaic languages (formation of the superfamily level) ~ 500 million speakers, including the main Turkic languages.
Indo-European languages
The Indo-European family includes Albanian, Armenian, and Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Celtic, Italic, Romance, Illyrian, Greek, Anatolian (Hitto-Luvian), Iranian, Dardic, Indo-Aryan, Nuristani, and Tocharian language groups. At the same time, the Italic (if Romance is not considered Italian), Illyrian, Anatolian and Tocharian groups are represented only by dead languages.
Indo-European language family. On the left - centum languages, on the right - satem. Dead languages are marked in red.
Sino-Tibetan languages
Full composition and classification:
Chinese
Taiwanese
Cantonese
Putonghua
Mandarin
Kachin language
Burmese
Mizo
Bodo
Garo
Dungan language
bai
Dzongkha
Tibetan language
Gandu
Newar language
According to the 2009 census, representatives of more than 130 nations and nationalities lived on the territory of Belarus. Among them, the most represented are Belarusians (7,957,252 or 83.7%), Russians (785,084 or 8.3%), Poles (294,549 or 3.1%), Ukrainians (158,723 or 1.7%), Jews (12 926), Armenians, Tatars, Gypsies, Azerbaijanis, Lithuanians. From 1 to 3.5 thousand Moldovans, Turkmens, Germans, Georgians, Chinese, Uzbeks, Latvians, Kazakhs, Arabs and Chuvashs also live in Belarus (Table 7).
Throughout Belarusian history, it turned out that the main population of the countryside were Belarusians, Jews in cities and towns, many Poles lived in the north-west of the country, and Russians, including Old Believers, lived in the east. Numerous nobility - the gentry - was heavily Polonized. At present, a motley ethnic composition is observed in cities and villages, although the majority of the population (more than 80%) consider themselves to be representatives of the Belarusian nation.
Table 7- Dynamics of the national composition of Belarus according to the population censuses of 1959-2009.
| Nationality | Number, pers. | Share, % |
| total Belarus | ||
| Belarusians | 83,73 | |
| Russians | 8,26 | |
| Poles | 3,10 | |
| Ukrainians | 1,67 | |
| Jews | 0,14 | |
| Armenians | 0,09 | |
| Tatars | 0,08 | |
| gypsies | 0,07 | |
| Azerbaijanis | 0,06 | |
| Lithuanians | 0,05 | |
| Moldovans | 0,04 | |
| Turkmens | 0,03 | |
| Germans | 0,03 | |
| Georgians | 0,03 | |
| Chinese | 0,02 | |
| Uzbeks | 0,02 | |
| Latvians | 0,02 | |
| Kazakhs | 0,01 | |
| Arabs | 0,01 | |
| Chuvash | 0,01 | |
| Mordva | 0,01 | |
| Bashkirs | 0,01 |
The language family is the largest unit of classification of peoples (ethnic groups) on the basis of their linguistic kinship - the common origin of their languages from the alleged base language. Language families are divided into language groups (Tables 8 - 9).
The largest in number is the Indo-European language family, which includes language groups:
Romance: French, Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, Moldavians, Romanians, etc.;
Germanic: Germans, British, Scandinavians, etc.;
Slavic: Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Bulgarians, Serbs, Croats, etc.
The second largest is the Sino-Tibetan language family, with the largest Chinese language group.
The Altaic language family includes a large Turkic language group: Turks, Azerbaijanis, Tatars, Kazakhs, Turkmens, Uzbeks, Kirghiz, Yakuts, etc.
The Uralic language family includes the Finno-Ugric group: Finns, Estonians, Hungarians, Komi, etc.
The Semitic group belongs to the Semitic-Hamitic language family: Arabs, Jews, Ethiopians, etc.
The Belarusian language belongs to the Slavic group of the Indo-European language family.
Table 8- Largest language families
| Family | Number of living languages | Number of media | Main countries of use | ||
| Number | Share of the total number of languages, % | Number, million | Share of population, % | ||
| Altai | 0.93 | 2,53 | Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Georgia, Iran, China, Russia, Mongolia, Turkey | ||
| Afro-Asian | 5,11 | 5,93 | Algeria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Israel, Somalia, UAE, Chad | ||
| Austronesian | 18,03 | 5,45 | Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, New Zealand, Samoa, USA | ||
| Dravidian | 1,06 | 3,87 | India, Nepal, Pakistan | ||
| Indo-European | 6,22 | 44,78 | Austria, Armenia, Belgium, Belarus, Great Britain, Venezuela, Germany, India, Peru, Russia, USA, Ukraine, France, South Africa | ||
| Niger-Congolese | 21,63 | 6,26 | Angola, | ||
| Sino-Tibetan | 5,77 | 22,28 | Bangladesh, India, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia | ||
| Non-Austronesian languages of New Guinea | 8,12 | 0,06 | Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea | ||
| Total | 65,94 | 91,16 | - |
Table 9- Division into language families and groups
| Family | Group | Subgroup | peoples |
| Indo-European | Slavic | East Slavic | Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians |
| West Slavic | Poles, Lusatians, Czechs, Slovaks | ||
| South Slavic | Slovenes, Croats, Muslim Slavs (Bosniaks), Serbs, Montenegrins, Macedonians, Bulgarians | ||
| Baltic | Lithuanians, Latvians | ||
| german | Germans, Austrians, Swiss Germans, Liechtensteiners, Alsatians, Luxembourgers, Flemings, Dutch, Frisians, Afrikaners, Jews of Europe and America, English, Scots, Jutlando-Irlappers, Anglo-Africans, Anglo-Australians, Anglo-New Zealanders, Anglo-Canadians, US Americans, Bahamians, Sept. enes, jamaicans, Grenadians, Barbadians, Trinidadians, Belizeans, Guyanese Creoles, Surinamese Creoles, Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, Faroese, Danes. | ||
| Celtic | Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, Breton | ||
| Romanskaya | Italians, Sardins, Sanmariners, Italoshwa-Tsars, Corsicans, Retormans, French, Monegaski (Monaks), Normanders, Francoschers, Wallons, Francocracias, Guadelups, Martiniki, Guyan, Haistani, Ruyunon, Kreolici, Mavriki-Kreoliki, Saletsy, Saletsy, Saletsy. , Gibraltars , Cubans, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, Costa Ricans, Panamanians, Venezuelans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, Peruvians, Bolivians, Chileans, Argentines, Paraguayans, Uruguayans, Catalans, Andorrans, Portuguese Lecians, Galicians, Brazilians , Antilles, Romanians, Moldavians, Aromans, Istro-Romanians. | ||
| Albanian | Albanians | ||
| Greek | Greeks, Greek Cypriots, Karakachans | ||
| Armenian | Armenians | ||
| Iranian | Talysh, Gilyans, Mazendarans, Kurds, Balochs, Lurs, Bakhtiars, Persians, Tats, Khazars, Charaimaks, Tajiks, Pamir peoples, Pashtuns (Afghans), Ossetians. | ||
| Nuristan | Nuristani | ||
| Indo-Aryan | Bengalis, Assamese, Oriya, Biharis, Tharu, Hindustanis, Rajasthani, Gujaratis, Parsis, Bhils, Marathas, Konkanis, Punjabis, Dogras, Sindhis, Western Paharis, Kumaonis, Garkhwalis, Gujars, Nepaleses, Kashmiris, Sheenas, Kohistanis, Khos, Pashais , Thirahs, Indo-Mauritians, Indo-Pakistani Surinamese, Indopakistani Trinidadians, Fijian Indians, Gypsies, Sinhalese, Veddas, Maldivians. | ||
| Ural-Yukaghir family | Finno-Ugric | Finns, Karelians, Vepsians, Izhors, Estonians, Livs, Sami, Mari, Mordovians, Udmurts, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Hungarians, Khanty, Mansi | |
| samoyed | Nenets, Enets, Nganasans, Selkups | ||
| Yukagir | Yukagirs | ||
| Altai | Turkic | Turks, Turkish Cypriots, Gagauz, Azerbaijanis, Karadags, Shahsevens, Karapapahis, Afshars, Qajars, Kashkais, Khorasan Turks, Khalajs, Turkmens, Salars, Tatars, Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Bashkirs, Karachays, Balkars, Kumyks, Nogais, Kazakhs, Caracal paki , Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Uighurs, Altaians, Shors, Khakasses, Tuvans, Tofalars, Uriankhais, Yugu, Dolgan Yakuts | |
| Mongolian | Khalkha Mongols, PRC Mongols, Oirats, Darhats, Kalmyks, Buryats, Daurs, Tu (Mongors), Dongxiang, Baoan, Mughals | ||
| Tungus-Manchu | Evenks, Negidals, Evens, Orochs, Udeges, Nanais, Ulchis, Oroks | ||
| Kartvelian | Georgians | ||
| Dravidian | South | Tamil, Irula, Malayali, Erawa, Erukala, Kaykadi, Kannara, Badaga, Kurumba, Toda, Kodagu, Tulu, Telugu | |
| Central | Kolami, parji, gadaba, gond, khond (kui, kuvi), konda | ||
| northeastern | Oraon (kuruh), malto | ||
| Northwestern | Bragui | ||
| Korean | Koreans | ||
| Japanese | Japanese | ||
| Eskimo-Aleutian | Eskimos (including Greenlanders), Aleuts | ||
| Sino-Tibetan | Chinese | Chinese, Hui (Dungan), Bai | |
| Tibeto-Burmese | Tibetans, Bhotia, Sherpa, Bhutanese, La Dakhi, Balti, Magar, Qiang, Myanmar (Burmese), Izu, Tuja, Naxi, Hani, Lisu, Lahu, Chin, Kuki, Mizo (Lush), Manipur (Meithei), Naga , mikir, karens, kaya | ||
| Kachinskaya | Kachin (jingpo), sak, etc. | ||
| Bodo-garo | Garo, bodo, tripura | ||
| Miju | Miju | ||
| Digaro | Digaro, midu | ||
| Miri | Adi (abor), Miri | ||
| Dhimal | Dhimal | ||
| Lekcha | Lekcha | ||
| East Himalayan | Rai (Kirati), Limbu | ||
| Newari | Newari | ||
| Gurung | Gurung, tamang (murumi), limbu | ||
| Afroasian (Semitic-Hamitic) | Semitsk | Arabs of Southwest Asia and North Africa, Maltese, Jews of Israel, Assyrians, Amhara, Argobba, Harari, Gurage, Tigray, Tigre | |
| Berber | Kabils, Shauya, Reefs, Tamazight, Shilh (Shleh), Tuareg | ||
| Chadian | Hausa, angas, sura, ankwe, bade, boleva, bura, mandara (vandala), kotoko, masa, mubi | ||
| Cushitic | Beja, agau, afar (danakil), sakho, oromo (gal-la), somali, konso, sidamo, ometo, kaffa, gimira, maji | ||
| Niger-Kordofanian (Congo-Kardafanian) | Mande | Malinke, Bambara, Gyula, Soninke, Susu, Mende, Kpel-le, Dan | |
| niger-congo | West Atlantic | Fulbe, Tukuler, Wolof, Serer, Diola, Bolante, Temne, Kisei, Limba | |
| Central Niger-Congo | Gur: mine, gourma, somba, bobo, pears, tem, cabre, loby, bariba, kulango, senufo, dogon, etc. Kru peoples: kru, here, grebo, bahwe, bete, etc. Western peoples: akan, anyi, Baule, Guang, Ga, Adangme, Ewe, Fon, etc. Eastern peoples: Yoruba, Gegala, Nule, Gwari, Igbira, Idamo, Bini, Igbo, Jukun, Ibibio, Kambari, Katab, Tiv, Ekoi, Bamileke, Tikar, Duala , fang, makaa, teke, bobangi, ngombe, bua, mongo, tetela, konzo, rwanda (nyaruanada), rundi, ha, nyoro, nyankole, kiga, ganda, soga, haya, ziba, luhya, gishu, geese, kikuyu, meru, kamba, chaga, mijikenda, fipa, nyamwesi, gogo, shamballa, zaramo, swahili, comoros, hehe, bena, kinga, congo, ambundu, chokwe, liona, luba, lunda, conde, tonga, matengo, bemba, malavi, Yao, Makonde, Makua, Lomwe, Ovim-Bundu, Ovambo, Shona, Venda, Tswana, Pedi, Suto, Lozi, Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Ndebele, Matebele, Ngoni, Tsonga (Shangaan), Santomy, Pygmies, etc. Adamua - Ubangu peoples: Chamba, Mumuye, Mbum, Gbaya, Ngbandi, Mundu, Sere, Banda, Zande (Azande), Mba, Binga Pygmies | ||
| Kordofanskaya | Ebang, tegali, talodi, katla, kadugli | ||
| Nilo-Saharan | East Sudanese | Nubians, Highland Nubians, Murle, Tama, Daju, Dinka, Kumam, Nuer, Shilluk, Acholi, Lango, Alur, Luo (Joluo), Kalenjin, Bari, Lotuko, Maasai, Teso, Turkana, Karamojong | |
| Central Sudanese | Kresh, Bongo, Sarah, Bagirmi, Moru, Mangbetu, Efe Pygmies and Asua | ||
| Bertha | Bertha | ||
| Kunama | Kunama | ||
| Saharan | Kanuri, tubu, zagawa | ||
| Songhai | Songhai, shit, dandy | ||
| Fur | Fur | ||
| Komuz | Coma, running | ||
| Khoisan | South African Khoisan | Hottentots, Mountain Damara, Kung Bushmen, Kham Bushmen | |
| Sandawe | Sandawe | ||
| Hadza | Hadza | ||
| North Caucasian | Abkhaz-Adyghe | Abkhazians, Abazins, Adyghes, Kabardians, Circassians | |
| Nakh-Dagestan | Avars (including Ando-Tsezes), Laks, Dargins, Lezgins, Udins, Aguls, Rutuls, Tsakhurs, Tabasarans, Chechens, Ingush | ||
| Western Himalayan | kanauri, lahuli | ||
| Austroasiatic | Mon-Khmer | Viet (throw), muong, tho, khmer, sui, sedang, kui, khre (tamre), bahnar, mnong, stieng, koho (cf), moi, wa, palaung (benlun), puteng, bulan, lamet, khmu. Ashley group. Peoples: Senoi, Semangs | |
| Nicobar | Nicobars | ||
| Khasi | Khasi | ||
| Munda | Santals, munda, ho, bhumij, kurku, kharia | ||
| miao yao | Miao, she, yao | ||
| Kadai | Thai | Siamese (Khontai), Fuan, Li (Lu), Shan, Danu, Khun, Dai, Lao (Laotian), Thai, Phutai, Tai, Nung, Santai, Zhuang | |
| Kamsuyskaya | Dong (kam), shui (sui) | ||
| Ong-be | Ong-be | ||
| Lee | Lee | ||
| Lakkya | Lakkya | ||
| Gelao | Gelao (galo), mulao (mulem), maonan | ||
| Austronesian | West Austronesian | Cham (Tyam), Raglai, Ede (Rade), Zarai, Indonesian Malays, Malaysian Malays, Malays, Minangkabau, Kerinchi, Rejang, Middle Sumatran Malays (Pasemah, Seravei), Lembak, Banjars, Iban, Kedayan, Kubu, Aceh, Madurians, Gayo, Batak, Alas, Simalurians, Nias, Abung (Lampungians), Sunds, Javanese, Tengger, Balinese, Sasak, Sumbavians, Barito-Dayaks (Maanyan, etc.), Ngaju, Otdanum, Sushi Dayaks (Clementan), Murut, Kadazan (Dusun), Kelabit, Melanau, Kayan, Punan, Kenyah, Bajao (Oranglaut), Bugis (Boogie), Makassar, Mandar, Butung, Toraja, Tomini, Mori, Lalaki, Bunglu, Loinang, Banggay, Gorontalo, Bolaang-Mongondow, Minahasa, Sangirese, Malagasy, Talaudian, Tagaly, Kapam-Pagan, Sambal, Pangasinan, Iloki, Ibanang, Bikol, Bisaya (Visaya), Tausoug, Mara-Nao, Maguindanao, Yakan, Samal, Inibaloi, Kankanai, Bontok, Ifugao, Itneg , Kalinga, Itavi, Palavegno, Davavegno, Tagakaulu, Subanon, Bukidnon, Manobo, Thirurai, Tboli, Blaan, Bogobo, Aeta, Chamorro, Belau, Yap | |
| Central Austronesian | Bima, Sumbans, Manggarai, Ende, Lio, Khavu, Sikka, Lamaholot, Rotians, Ema (Kemak), Atoni, Tetum, Mambai, Kei people | ||
| East Austronesian | Melanesian peoples: South Halmaherans, Biaknumphorians, Takia, Adzera, Motu, Sinagoro, Keapara, Kilivila and other Melanesians of Papua New Guinea, Areare and other Melanesians of the Solomon Islands, Erats and other Melanesians of Vanuatu, Kanaks (Melanesians of New Caledonia), Fijians, Rotuma. Micronesian peoples: Truk, Pokhipei, Kosrae, Kiribati, Nauru, etc. Polynesian peoples: Tonga, Niue, Tuvalu, Futuna, Uwea, Samoa, Tokelau, Pukapuka, Rarotonga, Tahitians, Tubuai, Paumotu (Tuamotu), Marquesans, Mangareva, Maori , Hawaiians, Rapanui, etc. | ||
| Andaman | Onge | ||
| Trans-New Guinean | Enga, Huli^ Angal, Keva, Hagen, Wahgi, Chimbu, Kamano, Dani, Ekachi, Yagalik, Asmat, Kapau, Bunak | ||
| Sepik frame | Abelam, boyikin | ||
| Torricelli | Olo, arapesh | ||
| West Papuan | Ternatians, Tidorians, Galelas, Tobelos | ||
| East Papuan | Nation, buin | ||
| North American | Continental na-den | Athabaskans, Apaches, Navajos | |
| Haida | Haida | ||
| Almosan Quereciu | Algonquians (including Cree, Montagne, Nasca Pi, Ojibwe, etc.), Wakash, Salish, Keres, Dakota (Sioux), Caddo, Iroquois, Cherokee | ||
| Penuti | Tsimshian, Sahaptin, California Penuti, Muscogee, Totonaki, Mikhe, Huastec, Chol, Choctaw, Tzotzil, Canhobal, Mam, Maya, Quiche, Kakchi-Kel, etc. Hoka group. Peoples: Tequizlatec, Tlapanec | ||
| Central American | Uto-Aztec | Shoshone, Papago-Pima, Tepehuan, Yaqui, Mayo, Tarahumara, Nahuatl (Aztec), Pipil | |
| pano | Teva, Kiowa | ||
| Oto manga | Otomi, Masawa, Mazatec, Mixtec, Zapotec | ||
| Quechua | Quechua | ||
| Aymara | Aymara | ||
| South | Mapuche (Araucans), Puelche, Tehuelche, Selknam (She), Kawaskar (Alakaluf), Yamana | ||
| Equatorial Tucanoan | macro tucano | Tukano, maku, katukina, nambiquara | |
| equatorial | Arawaki, Guaivo, Jivaro, Tupi (including Guarani), Samuko | ||
| chibcha paez | Chibcha | Tarasca, Lenca, Miskito, Guaimi, Kuna, Yanomam, etc. Paes group. Peoples: Embera, Warao | |
| Zepano-Caribbean | caribbean | caribbean, uitoto | |
| same pano | Pano, matako, toba, same, kaingang, botokudo, bororo | ||
| Australian | Mabunag, dhuwal, jangu, gugu-yimidhirr, aranda, alya varra, varl-piri, pintupi, pitjantjajara, ngaanyatjara, valmajari, nyangumarda, images-barndi, murrinh-patha, tiwi, gunvingu, enindhilyagwa | ||
| Chukchi-Kamchatka | Chukchi, Koryaks, Itelmens |
In addition to the listed languages of the peoples of the world that are members of certain language families and groups, there are a number of languages that are not assigned to any families. These include Basque, Burishk, Ket, Nivkh, Ainu and some other languages.
language families of the world
The following classifications (+maps) are based on Merrit Ruhlen's book " Guide to the languages of the world” (A Guide to the World’s Languages), published by Stanford University Press in 1987), which in turn draws heavily on the work of the great linguist Joseph Greenberg, who died on May 7, 2001. Maps and statistics are only an approximation of reality. Errors are allowed.
Khoisan family
There are about 30 languages in this family, spoken by about 100,000 people. The Khoisan family includes the peoples we call Bushmen and Hottentots.
Niger-Kordofanian family
The largest sub-Saharan African family of languages, it includes 1,000 languages with up to 200 million speakers. The most famous languages are Mandinka, Yoruba and Zulu.
Nilo-Saharan family
This family is ok. 140 languages and 10 million speakers. The most famous language is Maasai, spoken by the warlike nomads of East Africa.
Afro-Asian family
This is a large language group, which includes 240 languages spoken by 250 million native speakers. It includes: ancient Egyptian, and Aramaic, as well as the well-known Nigerian language Hausa. Some say ok. 200 million people!
Indo-European family (including isolates: Basque, Burushaski and Nahali)
The only major language family, Indo-European, which includes approx. 150 languages with 1 billion native speakers. Among the languages of this family: Hindi and Urdu (400 million), Bengali (200 million), Spanish (300 million), Portuguese (200 million), French (100 million), (100 million), Russian ( 300 million), and English (400 million) in Europe and America. The number of English speakers around the world may reach 1 billion people.
In the distribution region of this family of languages, there are 3 isolates that cannot be attributed to any family: those living in the territory between France and Spain, Burushaski and impudent that are located on the Indian Peninsula.
caucasian family
In total there are 38, they are spoken by about 5 million people. The most famous: Abkhazian and Chechen.
Kartvelian languages considered by many linguists as a separate family, possibly belonging to the Indo-European family. This includes the Georgian language.
Dravidian family
These are ancient languages. India, just ok. 25, the number of speakers 150 million people. The most famous of the languages of this family: and Telugu.
Ural-Yukaghir family
This family includes 20 languages with the number of speakers 20 million. The most famous of the languages: Estonian, Hungarian, Sami - the language of the Laplanders.
Altai family (including isolates Ket and Gilat)
The Altaic family includes about 60 languages spoken by about 250 million people. The Mongolian languages also belong to this family.
There are many discussions about this family. The first controversial issue is how to classify the Altaic and Uralic languages (see above), since they have a similar grammatical structure.
The second controversial issue is that many linguists doubt that Korean, Japanese (125 million speakers), or Ainu should be included in this family, or even that these three languages are related!
Isolates are also represented here: the Ket and Gilyak languages.
Chukchi-Kamchatka family ("Paleosiberian") family
Possibly the smallest family with only 5 languages spoken by 23,000 speakers. The distribution area of these languages is the northeastern part of Siberia. Many linguists believe that these are two different families.
Sino-Tibetan family
A very significant language family, which includes about 250 languages. Only 1 billion people speak!
Miao-Yao languages, Austro-Asiatic and Dai family
Austro-Asiatic (Munda languages in India and Mon-Khmer languages in southeast Asia) includes 150 languages spoken by 60 million people, including Vietnamese.
The Miao-Yao family of languages consists of 4 languages spoken by 7 million people living in southern China and Southeast Asia.
The Dai family has 60 languages and 50 million native speakers, this includes the Thai language (Siamese).
These three language families are sometimes combined with the Austronesian family (below) into a hyperfamily called the Austrian ( australian). On the other hand, some linguists consider the Miao-Yao and Dai families to be related to the Chinese languages.
Austronesian family
This family includes 1000 different languages spoken by 250 million people. Malay and Indonesian (essentially the same language) are spoken by approx. 140 million. Other languages of this family include: Madagascar in Africa, Tagalog in the Philippines, the aboriginal languages of Formosa (Taiwan) - now almost superseded by Chinese - and many languages of the Pacific Islands, from Hawaiian in the North Pacific Ocean to Maori in New Zealand.
Indian-Pacific and Australian families
The Indian-Pacific family includes approx. 700 languages, most of them are spoken on the island of New Guinea, the number of speakers of these languages is approximately 3 million. Many linguists do not believe that all these languages are related to each other. In fact, some of them have not even been studied! On the other hand, some believe that this family may also include the Tasmanian language - now extinct.
It is possible that 170 Australian Aboriginal languages also belong to this family. Unfortunately, only 30,000 speakers of these languages remain today.
Eskimo-Aleut family
The Eskimo-Aleut family of languages consists of 9 languages spoken ca. 85,000 people. The Inuit language plays a key role in the administration of Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat) and the Canadian territory of Nunavut today.
Na-Dene language family
This family includes 34 languages with approx. 200,000 people. The most famous examples are the Tlingit, the Haida, the Navajo, and the Apache.
Amerindian family (North America)
Although many linguists do not accept the idea of grouping all North (except Na-Dene and Eskimo-Aleut) and South American Indian languages into one family, they are often grouped for convenience. The Amerindian family includes almost 600 languages spoken by more than 20 million people. In North America, the most famous languages are: Ojibwe, Cree, Dakota (or Sioux), Cherokee and Iroquois, Hopi and Nahuatl (or Aztec), as well as the Mayan languages.
Amerindian family (South America)
The language map of South America includes some of the North American subfamilies and others. The most famous languages are Quechua (the language of the Inca Indians), Guarani and Caribbean. The Andean subfamily of languages (which includes Quechua) has almost 9 million speakers!
