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Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, Sino-Tibetan, Kra–Dai and Koreanic. Many languages of Asia, such as Chinese, Persian, Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil or Telugu, have a long history as a written language.
Language groups
The major families in terms of numbers are Indo-European, specifically Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian languages in South Asia; and Sino-Tibetan in East Asia. Several other families are regionally dominant.
Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan includes Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, Karen, Boro and numerous languages of the Tibetan Plateau, Southern China, Myanmar, and North East India.
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are primarily represented in Asia by the Indo-Iranian branch, with its two main subgroups: Indo-Aryan and Indo-Iranian.
Indo-Aryan languages are mainly spoken in South Asia. Examples include languages such as Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Sylheti)
Iranic languages are mainly spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan and neighboring regions. Examples include languages like Persian, Kurdish, Pashto and Balochi which are spoken in
In addition, other branches of Indo-European spoken in Asia include the Slavic branch, which includes Russian in Siberia; Greek around the Black Sea; and Armenian; as well as extinct languages such as Hittite of Anatolia and Tocharian of (Chinese) Turkestan.
Altaic families
A number of smaller, but important and separately distinguished language families spread across central and northern Asia have long been linked in a hypothetical, controversial and unproven Altaic family. These are the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic (including Manchu), Koreanic, and Japonic languages. But since the mid-20th century a majority of scholars have come to regard it as a Sprachbund.
Austroasiatic
The Mon–Khmer languages (also known as Austroasiatic) are the language family in South and Southeast Asia. Languages given official status are Vietnamese and Khmer (Cambodian).
Kra–Dai
The Kra–Dai languages (also known as Tai-Kadai) are found in southern China, Northeast India and Southeast Asia. Languages given official status are Thai (Siamese) and Lao.
Austronesian
The Austronesian languages are widespread throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, including major languages such as Fijian (Fiji), Hiligaynon, Bikol, Ilocano, Cebuano, Tagalog (Philippines), and Malay (Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, and Singapore). Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese of Indonesia, as well as Indonesian, which is the largest language in this family.
Dravidian
The Dravidian languages of South India and parts of Sri Lanka include Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tulu, while smaller languages such as Gondi and Brahui are spoken in central India and Pakistan respectively.
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (in older sources Hamito-Semitic) are represented in Asia by the Semitic branch. Semitic languages are spoken in Western Asia, and include Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic, in addition to extinct languages such as Akkadian.
Siberian families
Besides the Altaic families already mentioned (of which Tungusic is today a minor family of Siberia), there are a number of small language families and isolates spoken across northern Asia. These include the Uralic languages of western Siberia (better known for Hungarian and Finnish in Europe), the Yeniseian languages (linked to Turkic and to the Athabaskan languages of North America), Yukaghir, Nivkh of Sakhalin, Ainu of northern Japan, Chukotko-Kamchatkan in easternmost Siberia, and—just barely—Eskimo–Aleut. Some linguists have noted that the Koreanic languages share more similarities with the Paleosiberian languages than with the Altaic languages. The extinct Rouran language of Mongolia is unclassified, and does not show genetic relationships with any other known language family.
Caucasian families
Three small families are spoken in the Caucasus: Kartvelian languages, such as Georgian; Northeast Caucasian (Dagestanian languages), such as Chechen; and Northwest Caucasian, such as Circassian. The latter two may be related to each other. The extinct Hurro-Urartian languages may be related as well.
Small families of Asia
Although dominated by major languages and families, there are number of minor families and isolates in South Asia and Southeast Asia. From west to east, these include:
- Hattic, an unclassified language in Anatolia.
- extinct languages of the Fertile Crescent such as Sumerian and Elamite.
- extinct languages of South Asia; mainly the unclassified Harappan language
- small language families and isolates of the Indian subcontinent: Burushaski, Kusunda, and Nihali. The Vedda language of Sri Lanka is likely an isolate that has mixed with Sinhala.
- the two Andamanese language families: Great Andamanese and Ongan; Sentinelese remains undocumented to date, and hence unclassified.
- unclassified languages in Southeast Asia: Kenaboi.
- the difficult to classify Arunachal languages: Digaro, Hrusish (including the Miji languages), Midzu, Puroik, Siangic, and Kho-Bwa.
- Hmong–Mien (Miao–Yao) scattered across southern China and Southeast Asia
- a few "Papuan" (Non-Austronesian) families of the central and eastern Malay Archipelago: such as the Timor-Alor-Pantar and North Halmahera languages, and the little known extinct Tambora language of Sumbawa. Numerous additional families are spoken in Indonesian New Guinea, which is generally considered to part of Oceania.
Creoles and pidgins
The eponymous pidgin ("business") language developed with European trade in China. Of the many creoles to have developed, the most spoken today are Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole of the Philippines, and various Malay-based creoles such as Manado Malay influenced by Portuguese. A very well-known Portuguese-based creole is the Kristang, which is spoken in Malacca, a city-state in Malaysia.
Sign languages
A number of sign languages are spoken throughout Asia. These include the Japanese Sign Language family, Chinese Sign Language, Indo-Pakistani Sign Language, as well as a number of small indigenous sign languages of countries such as Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many official sign languages are part of the French Sign Language family.
Official languages
Asia and Europe are the only two continents where most countries use native languages as their official languages, though English is also widespread as an international language.
| Language | Native name | Total Speakers | Language family | Official status in a country | Official status in a region |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saraiki | سرائیکی | 28,000,000 | Indo-European | Saraikistan | |
| Altai | Алтай тил | 57,000 | Turkic | Russia
| |
| Arabic | العَرَبِيَّة | 313,000,000 | Afro-Asiatic | Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria UAE Yemen | |
| Armenian | հայերեն | 5,902,970 | Indo-European | Armenia Artsakh | |
| Assamese | অসমীয়া | 15,000,000 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Azerbaijani | Azərbaycanca | 28,000,000 | Turkic | Azerbaijan | |
| Balochi | بلۏچی Balòči | 7,600,000 | Indo-European | Pakistan
| |
| Balti | بلتی སྦལ་ཏི། | 392,800 | Sino-Tibetan | Pakistan
| |
| Bengali | বাংলা | 230,000,000 | Indo-European | Bangladesh | India
|
| Bhojpuri | भोजपुरी | 50,579,447 | Indo-European | Nepal, India | Nepal
|
| Bikol | Bikol Bikol Naga | 4,300,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Bodo | बर'/बड़ Boro | 1,984,569 | Sino-Tibetan | Nepal
| |
| Burmese | မြန်မာဘာသာ | 33,000,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Myanmar | |
| Cantonese | 廣東話/广东话 | 7,877,900 | Sino-Tibetan | China
| |
| Buryat | Буряад хэлэн ᠪᠤᠷᠢᠶᠠᠳ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡᠨ | 440,000 | Mongolic | Russia
| |
| Cebuano | Bisaya Binisaya Sinugbuanong_Binisaya Sebwano/Sinebwano | 27,500,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Chhattisgarhi | छत्तीसगढ़ी | 17,983,446 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Chin | Kukish | 3,000,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Myanmar
| |
| Chinese Mandarin | 普通話/普通话 國語/国语 華語/华语 | 1,300,000,000 | Sino-Tibetan | China Singapore Taiwan | Myanmar
|
| Dari | دری | 19,600,000 | Indo-European | Afghanistan | |
| Dhivehi | ދިވެހިބަސް | 400,000 | Indo-European | Maldives | |
| Dzongkha | རྫོང་ཁ་ | 600,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Bhutan | |
| Filipino (Tagalog) | Wikang Filipino | 106,000,000 | Austronesian | Philippines | |
| Formosan | 171,855 | Austronesian | Republic of China | ||
| Georgian | ქართული | 4,200,000 | Kartvelian | Georgia | |
| Gujarati | ગુજરાતી | 50,000,000 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Hakka | 客家話/客家话 Hak-kâ-fa | 2,370,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Republic of China | |
| Hebrew | עברית | 7,000,000 | Afro-Asiatic | Israel | |
| Hindi | हिन्दी | 615,000,000 | Indo-European | India | |
| Hiligaynon | Hiligaynon Ilonggo Hiniligaynon/Inilonggo | 9,100,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Hokchiu | 馬祖話 Mā-cū-huâ | 12,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Republic of China
| |
| Hokkien | 臺灣話 Tâi-oân-oē | 18,570,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Republic of China
| |
| Ibanag | Ibanag | 500,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Ilocano | Pagsasao nga Ilokano | 11,000,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Indonesian | Bahasa Indonesia | 270,000,000 | Austronesian | Indonesia Timor Leste (Working languages) | |
| Japanese | 日本語 | 120,000,000 | Japonic | Japan (de facto) | |
| Javanese | Basa Jawa ꦧꦱꦗꦮ بَاسَا جَاوَا | 80,000,000 | Austronesian | Indonesia
Suriname, Sri Lanka, New Caledonia
| |
| Kachin | Jinghpaw | 940,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Myanmar
| |
| Kannada | ಕನ್ನಡ | 51,000,000 | Dravidian | India
| |
| Kapampangan | Kapampangan/Pampangan | 2,800,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Karen | ကညီကျိာ်း | 6,000,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Myanmar
| |
| Kashmiri | कॉशुर كٲشُر | 7,000,000 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Kayah | Karenni | 190,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Myanmar
| |
| Karakalpak | Qaraqalpaqsha | 870,000 | Turkic | Uzbekistan
| |
| Kazakh | Qazaqsha | 18,000,000 | Turkic | Kazakhstan | China
|
| Khakas | Хакас тілі Тадар тілі | 43,000 | Turkic | Russia
| |
| Khmer | ភាសាខ្មែរ | 16,000,000 | Austroasiatic | Cambodia | |
| Konkani | कोंकणी ಕೊಂಕಣಿ | 2,300,000 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Korean | 조선어 한국어 | 80,000,000 | Koreanic | North Korea South Korea | China
|
| Kurdish | Kurdî کوردی | 32,000,000 | Indo-European | Middle east
| |
| Kyrgyz | Кыргызча قىرعىزچا | 7,300,000 | Turkic | Kyrgyzstan | China
|
| Lao | ພາສາລາວ | 7,000,000 | Kra-Dai | Laos | |
| Magahi | मगही/मगधी | 12,706,825 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Maguindanao | بس ماگینداناو Maguindanaon | 1,500,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Malay | Bahasa Melayu بهاس ملايو | 30,000,000 | Austronesian | Brunei Malaysia Singapore | Indonesia
|
| Malayalam | മലയാളം | 37,000,000 | Dravidian | India
| |
| Marathi | मराठी | 99,000,000 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Maithili | मैथिली | 34,000,000 | Indo-European | Nepal
| |
| Meitei | ꯃꯤꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟ মৈতৈ Manipuri | 2,000,000 | Sino-Tibetan | India
| |
| Mon | ဘာသာ မန် | 851,000 | Austroasiatic | Myanmar
| |
| Mongolian | Монгол хэл ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡ | 5,200,000 | Mongolic | Mongolia | China
|
| Nagpuri | नागपुरी/सादरी | 5,108,691 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Nepali | नेपाली | 29,000,000 | Indo-European | Nepal | India
|
| Odia | ଓଡ଼ିଆ | 35,000,000 | Indo-European | India
| |
| Okinawan | 沖縄語 / うちなーぐち | 1,143,000 | Japonic | Japan
| |
| Ossetian | Ирон | 540,000 (50,000 in South Ossetia) | Indo-European | South Ossetia | |
| Pangasinan | Pangasinan | 1,400,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Pashto | پښتو | 60,000,000 | Indo-European | Afghanistan | Pakistan
|
| Persian | فارسی | 130,000,000 | Indo-European | Afghanistan (as Dari) Iran Tajikistan (as Tajik) | |
| Punjabi | ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پن٘جابی | 113,000,000 | Indo-European | India | India
|
| Rakhine | ရခိုင်ဘာသာ | 1,000,000 | Sino-Tibetan | Myanmar
| |
| Rohingya | Ruáingga | 1,800,000 | Indo-European |
| |
| Russian | Русский | 260,000,000 | Indo-European | Abkhazia (co-official) Armenia (inter-ethnic communication) Azerbaijan (inter-ethnic communication) Georgia (inter-ethnic communication) Kazakhstan (co-official) Kyrgyzstan (co-official) Russia | |
| Santali | ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ | 7,600,000 | Austroasiatic | India
(Additional) | |
| Shan | ၽႃႇသႃႇတႆ | 3,295,000 | Kra-Dai | Myanmar
| |
| Sindhi | سنڌي | 40,000,000 | Indo-European | India | Pakistan
|
| Sinhala | සිංහල | 18,000,000 | Indo-European | Sri Lanka | |
| Tajik | Тоҷикӣ | 7,900,000 | Indo-European | Tajikistan | |
| Tamil | தமிழ் | 88,000,000 | Dravidian | Singapore Sri Lanka | India
|
| Tausug | بَهَسَ سُوگ Bahasa Suluk | 1,200,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
Malaysia
| |
| Telugu | తెలుగు | 86,000,000 | Dravidian | India
| |
| Tetum | Lia-Tetun | 500,000 | Austronesian | Timor Leste | Indonesia
|
| Thai | ภาษาไทย | 60,000,000 | Kra-Dai | Thailand | |
| Tibetan | བོད་སྐད་ | 1,172,940 | Sino-Tibetan | China
| |
| Tripuri | Tripuri | 3,500,000 | Sino-Tibetan | India
| |
| Tulu | ತುಳು | 1,722,768 | Dravidian | India
| |
| Turkish | Türkçe | 88,000,000 | Turkic | Turkey Northern Cyprus Cyprus | |
| Turkmen | Türkmençe | 7,000,000 | Turkic | Turkmenistan | |
| Tuvan | Тыва дыл | 240,000 | Turkic | Russia
| |
| Urdu | اُردُو | 62,120,540 | Indo-European | Pakistan | India
|
| Uyghur | ئۇيغۇرچە | 10,416,910 | Turkic | China
| |
| Uzbek | Oʻzbekcha Ўзбекча | 45,000,000 | Turkic | Uzbekistan | |
| Vietnamese | 㗂越 Tiếng Việt | 86,500,000 | Austroasiatic | Vietnam (de facto) | |
| Waray | Winaray/Waray | 4,000,000 | Austronesian | Philippines
| |
| Yakut | Саха тыла | 450,000 | Turkic | Russia
| |
| Zhuang | Vahcuengh | 16,000,000 | Kra-Dai | China
|
See also
- Asian studies
- Asianic languages
- Classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages
- East Asian languages
- Languages of South Asia
- List of extinct languages of Asia
References
- Starostin, George (2016-04-05). "Altaic Languages". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.35. ISBN 978-0-19-938465-5. Retrieved 2023-07-11.
- De la Fuente, José Andrés Alonso (2016). "Review of Robbeets, Martine (2015): Diachrony of verb morphology. Japanese and the Transeurasian languages". Diachronica. 33 (4): 530–537. doi:10.1075/dia.33.4.04alo.
For now, shared material between Transeurasian [i.e. Altaic] languages is undoubtedly better explained as the result of language contact. But if researchers provide cogent evidence of genealogical relatedness, that will be the time to re-evaluate old positions. That time, however, has not yet come.
- Blench, Roger. 2015. The Mijiic languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification. m.s.
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Languages of Asia news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2016 Learn how and when to remove this message Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic Austronesian Japonic Dravidian Indo European Afroasiatic Turkic Sino Tibetan Kra Dai and Koreanic Many languages of Asia such as Chinese Persian Sanskrit Arabic Tamil or Telugu have a long history as a written language The Language families of AsiaLanguage groupsEthnolinguistic distribution in Central Southwest Asia of the Altaic Caucasian Afroasiatic Hamito Semitic and Indo European families The major families in terms of numbers are Indo European specifically Indo Aryan languages and Dravidian languages in South Asia and Sino Tibetan in East Asia Several other families are regionally dominant Sino Tibetan Sino Tibetan includes Chinese Tibetan Burmese Karen Boro and numerous languages of the Tibetan Plateau Southern China Myanmar and North East India Indo European The Indo European languages are primarily represented in Asia by the Indo Iranian branch with its two main subgroups Indo Aryan and Indo Iranian Indo Aryan languages are mainly spoken in South Asia Examples include languages such as Hindustani Hindi Urdu Bengali Bhojpuri Punjabi Marathi Rajasthani Gujarati Sylheti Iranic languages are mainly spoken in Iran Afghanistan and Pakistan and neighboring regions Examples include languages like Persian Kurdish Pashto and Balochi which are spoken in In addition other branches of Indo European spoken in Asia include the Slavic branch which includes Russian in Siberia Greek around the Black Sea and Armenian as well as extinct languages such as Hittite of Anatolia and Tocharian of Chinese Turkestan Altaic families A number of smaller but important and separately distinguished language families spread across central and northern Asia have long been linked in a hypothetical controversial and unproven Altaic family These are the Turkic Mongolic Tungusic including Manchu Koreanic and Japonic languages But since the mid 20th century a majority of scholars have come to regard it as a Sprachbund Austroasiatic The Mon Khmer languages also known as Austroasiatic are the language family in South and Southeast Asia Languages given official status are Vietnamese and Khmer Cambodian Kra Dai The Kra Dai languages also known as Tai Kadai are found in southern China Northeast India and Southeast Asia Languages given official status are Thai Siamese and Lao Austronesian The Austronesian languages are widespread throughout Maritime Southeast Asia including major languages such as Fijian Fiji Hiligaynon Bikol Ilocano Cebuano Tagalog Philippines and Malay Malaysia Indonesia Brunei and Singapore Javanese Sundanese and Madurese of Indonesia as well as Indonesian which is the largest language in this family Dravidian The Dravidian languages of South India and parts of Sri Lanka include Tamil Telugu Kannada Malayalam and Tulu while smaller languages such as Gondi and Brahui are spoken in central India and Pakistan respectively Afro Asiatic The Afroasiatic languages in older sources Hamito Semitic are represented in Asia by the Semitic branch Semitic languages are spoken in Western Asia and include Arabic Hebrew and Aramaic in addition to extinct languages such as Akkadian Siberian families Besides the Altaic families already mentioned of which Tungusic is today a minor family of Siberia there are a number of small language families and isolates spoken across northern Asia These include the Uralic languages of western Siberia better known for Hungarian and Finnish in Europe the Yeniseian languages linked to Turkic and to the Athabaskan languages of North America Yukaghir Nivkh of Sakhalin Ainu of northern Japan Chukotko Kamchatkan in easternmost Siberia and just barely Eskimo Aleut Some linguists have noted that the Koreanic languages share more similarities with the Paleosiberian languages than with the Altaic languages The extinct Rouran language of Mongolia is unclassified and does not show genetic relationships with any other known language family Caucasian families Three small families are spoken in the Caucasus Kartvelian languages such as Georgian Northeast Caucasian Dagestanian languages such as Chechen and Northwest Caucasian such as Circassian The latter two may be related to each other The extinct Hurro Urartian languages may be related as well Small families of Asia Although dominated by major languages and families there are number of minor families and isolates in South Asia and Southeast Asia From west to east these include Hattic an unclassified language in Anatolia extinct languages of the Fertile Crescent such as Sumerian and Elamite extinct languages of South Asia mainly the unclassified Harappan language small language families and isolates of the Indian subcontinent Burushaski Kusunda and Nihali The Vedda language of Sri Lanka is likely an isolate that has mixed with Sinhala the two Andamanese language families Great Andamanese and Ongan Sentinelese remains undocumented to date and hence unclassified unclassified languages in Southeast Asia Kenaboi the difficult to classify Arunachal languages Digaro Hrusish including the Miji languages Midzu Puroik Siangic and Kho Bwa Hmong Mien Miao Yao scattered across southern China and Southeast Asia a few Papuan Non Austronesian families of the central and eastern Malay Archipelago such as the Timor Alor Pantar and North Halmahera languages and the little known extinct Tambora language of Sumbawa Numerous additional families are spoken in Indonesian New Guinea which is generally considered to part of Oceania Creoles and pidgins The eponymous pidgin business language developed with European trade in China Of the many creoles to have developed the most spoken today are Chavacano a Spanish based creole of the Philippines and various Malay based creoles such as Manado Malay influenced by Portuguese A very well known Portuguese based creole is the Kristang which is spoken in Malacca a city state in Malaysia Sign languages A number of sign languages are spoken throughout Asia These include the Japanese Sign Language family Chinese Sign Language Indo Pakistani Sign Language as well as a number of small indigenous sign languages of countries such as Nepal Thailand and Vietnam Many official sign languages are part of the French Sign Language family Official languagesAsia and Europe are the only two continents where most countries use native languages as their official languages though English is also widespread as an international language Language Native name Total Speakers Language family Official status in a country Official status in a regionSaraiki سرائیکی 28 000 000 Indo European SaraikistanAltai Altaj til 57 000 Turkic Russia Altai RepublicArabic الع ر ب ي ة 313 000 000 Afro Asiatic Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria UAE YemenArmenian հայերեն 5 902 970 Indo European Armenia ArtsakhAssamese অসম য 15 000 000 Indo European India AssamAzerbaijani Azerbaycanca 28 000 000 Turkic AzerbaijanBalochi بلۏچی Baloci 7 600 000 Indo European Pakistan Balochistan Iran Sistan and Baluchestan Recognised Balti بلتی ས ལ ཏ 392 800 Sino Tibetan Pakistan Gilgit BaltistanBengali ব ল 230 000 000 Indo European Bangladesh India Barak Valley Assam Additional Jharkhand Recognised Tripura West BengalBhojpuri भ जप र 50 579 447 Indo European Nepal India Nepal Province 2 Parsa Bara India Jharkhand BiharBikol Bikol Bikol Naga 4 300 000 Austronesian Philippines Bicol RegionBodo बर बड Boro 1 984 569 Sino Tibetan Nepal India Bodoland Assam West BengalBurmese မ န မ ဘ သ 33 000 000 Sino Tibetan MyanmarCantonese 廣東話 广东话 7 877 900 Sino Tibetan China Hong Kong MacauBuryat Buryaad helen ᠪᠤᠷᠢᠶᠠᠳ ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡᠨ 440 000 Mongolic Russia BuryatiaCebuano Bisaya Binisaya Sinugbuanong Binisaya Sebwano Sinebwano 27 500 000 Austronesian Philippines Central Visayas Eastern Visayas Northern Mindanao Davao RegionChhattisgarhi छत त सगढ 17 983 446 Indo European India Chhattisgarh Additional Chin Kukish 3 000 000 Sino Tibetan Myanmar Chin StateChinese Mandarin 普通話 普通话 國語 国语 華語 华语 1 300 000 000 Sino Tibetan China Singapore Taiwan Myanmar Kokang Wa StateDari دری 19 600 000 Indo European AfghanistanDhivehi ދ ވ ހ ބ ސ 400 000 Indo European MaldivesDzongkha ར ང ཁ 600 000 Sino Tibetan BhutanFilipino Tagalog Wikang Filipino 106 000 000 Austronesian PhilippinesFormosan 171 855 Austronesian Republic of China TaiwanGeorgian ქართული 4 200 000 Kartvelian GeorgiaGujarati ગ જર ત 50 000 000 Indo European India Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu GujaratHakka 客家話 客家话 Hak ka fa 2 370 000 Sino Tibetan Republic of China TaiwanHebrew עברית 7 000 000 Afro Asiatic IsraelHindi ह न द 615 000 000 Indo European IndiaHiligaynon Hiligaynon Ilonggo Hiniligaynon Inilonggo 9 100 000 Austronesian Philippines Western VisayasHokchiu 馬祖話 Ma cu hua 12 000 Sino Tibetan Republic of China Matsu Fukien de facto Hokkien 臺灣話 Tai oan oe 18 570 000 Sino Tibetan Republic of China Taiwan de facto Ibanag Ibanag 500 000 Austronesian Philippines Cagayan ValleyIlocano Pagsasao nga Ilokano 11 000 000 Austronesian Philippines Northern Luzon Central LuzonIndonesian Bahasa Indonesia 270 000 000 Austronesian Indonesia Timor Leste Working languages Japanese 日本語 120 000 000 Japonic Japan de facto Javanese Basa Jawa ꦧꦱꦗꦮ ب اس ا ج او ا 80 000 000 Austronesian Indonesia Special Region of Yogyakarta Central Java East Java Suriname Sri Lanka New Caledonia Javanese is also spoken by traditional immigrant communities of Javanese descentKachin Jinghpaw 940 000 Sino Tibetan Myanmar Kachin StateKannada ಕನ ನಡ 51 000 000 Dravidian India KarnatakaKapampangan Kapampangan Pampangan 2 800 000 Austronesian Philippines Central LuzonKaren ကည က 6 000 000 Sino Tibetan Myanmar Kayin StateKashmiri क श र كٲش ر 7 000 000 Indo European India Jammu and KashmirKayah Karenni 190 000 Sino Tibetan Myanmar Kayah StateKarakalpak Qaraqalpaqsha 870 000 Turkic Uzbekistan KarakalpakstanKazakh Qazaqsha 18 000 000 Turkic Kazakhstan China Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Russia Altai RepublicKhakas Hakas tili Tadar tili 43 000 Turkic Russia KhakassiaKhmer ភ ស ខ ម រ 16 000 000 Austroasiatic CambodiaKonkani क कण ಕ ಕಣ 2 300 000 Indo European India Goa Maharashtra Recognized Karnataka Recognized Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Recognized Korean 조선어 한국어 80 000 000 Koreanic North Korea South Korea China Changbai Korean Autonomous County Yanbian Korean Autonomous PrefectureKurdish Kurdi کوردی 32 000 000 Indo European Middle east Great KurdistanKyrgyz Kyrgyzcha قىرعىزچا 7 300 000 Turkic Kyrgyzstan China Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous PrefectureLao ພາສາລາວ 7 000 000 Kra Dai LaosMagahi मगह मगध 12 706 825 Indo European India Jharkhand Additional Maguindanao بس ماگینداناو Maguindanaon 1 500 000 Austronesian Philippines Bangsamoro Soccsksargen Zamboanga PeninsulaMalay Bahasa Melayu بهاس ملايو 30 000 000 Austronesian Brunei Malaysia Singapore Indonesia Malay language in Indonesia is considered a regional language bahasa daerah on part with regional languages spoken in the regions of Sumatra and KalimantanMalayalam മലയ ള 37 000 000 Dravidian India Kerala Lakshadweep Mahe PuducherryMarathi मर ठ 99 000 000 Indo European India Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Goa MaharashtraMaithili म थ ल 34 000 000 Indo European Nepal Madhesh Province Province No 1 India Bihar JharkhandMeitei ꯃ ꯇ ꯂ ꯟ ম ত Manipuri 2 000 000 Sino Tibetan India ManipurMon ဘ သ မန 851 000 Austroasiatic Myanmar Mon StateMongolian Mongol hel ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡ 5 200 000 Mongolic Mongolia China Inner Mongolia Autonomous RegionNagpuri न गप र स दर 5 108 691 Indo European India Jharkhand Additional Nepali न प ल 29 000 000 Indo European Nepal India Darjeeling West Bengal Additional SikkimOdia ଓଡ ଆ 35 000 000 Indo European India Odisha Jharkhand Recognised Okinawan 沖縄語 うちなーぐち 1 143 000 Japonic Japan Okinawa PrefectureOssetian Iron 540 000 50 000 in South Ossetia Indo European South OssetiaPangasinan Pangasinan 1 400 000 Austronesian Philippines Ilocos Region Central LuzonPashto پښتو 60 000 000 Indo European Afghanistan Pakistan Balochistan Recognised Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Recognised Persian فارسی 130 000 000 Indo European Afghanistan as Dari Iran Tajikistan as Tajik Punjabi ਪ ਜ ਬ پن جابی 113 000 000 Indo European India India Delhi Additional Haryana Additional Punjab West Bengal Additional Pakistan PunjabRakhine ရခ င ဘ သ 1 000 000 Sino Tibetan Myanmar Rakhine StateRohingya Ruaingga 1 800 000 Indo European U N refugee camps Myanmar Rakhine StateRussian Russkij 260 000 000 Indo European Abkhazia co official Armenia inter ethnic communication Azerbaijan inter ethnic communication Georgia inter ethnic communication Kazakhstan co official Kyrgyzstan co official Russia South Ossetia state Tajikistan inter ethnic communication Turkmenistan inter ethnic communication Uzbekistan inter ethnic communication Santali ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ 7 600 000 Austroasiatic India West Bengal Additional Jharkhand Additional Shan ၽ သ တ 3 295 000 Kra Dai Myanmar Shan StateSindhi سنڌي 40 000 000 Indo European India Pakistan SindhSinhala ස හල 18 000 000 Indo European Sri LankaTajik Toҷikӣ 7 900 000 Indo European TajikistanTamil தம ழ 88 000 000 Dravidian Singapore Sri Lanka India Puducherry Tamil NaduTausug ب ه س س وگ Bahasa Suluk 1 200 000 Austronesian Philippines Bangsamoro Mimaropa Zamboanga Peninsula Malaysia SabahTelugu త ల గ 86 000 000 Dravidian India Andhra Pradesh Telangana Yanam PuducherryTetum Lia Tetun 500 000 Austronesian Timor Leste Indonesia East Nusa TenggaraThai phasaithy 60 000 000 Kra Dai ThailandTibetan བ ད ས ད 1 172 940 Sino Tibetan China Tibet Autonomous RegionTripuri Tripuri 3 500 000 Sino Tibetan India TripuraTulu ತ ಳ 1 722 768 Dravidian India Karnataka Recognised Kerala Recognised Turkish Turkce 88 000 000 Turkic Turkey Northern Cyprus CyprusTurkmen Turkmence 7 000 000 Turkic TurkmenistanTuvan Tyva dyl 240 000 Turkic Russia TuvaUrdu ا رد و 62 120 540 Indo European Pakistan India Bihar Recognised in 15 districts Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Recognised National Capital Territory of Delhi Additional Telangana Additional Andhra Pradesh Additional Uttar Pradesh Additional West Bengal Additional Uyghur ئۇيغۇرچە 10 416 910 Turkic China Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous RegionUzbek Oʻzbekcha Ўzbekcha 45 000 000 Turkic UzbekistanVietnamese 㗂越 Tiếng Việt 86 500 000 Austroasiatic Vietnam de facto Waray Winaray Waray 4 000 000 Austronesian Philippines Eastern VisayasYakut Saha tyla 450 000 Turkic Russia YakutiaZhuang Vahcuengh 16 000 000 Kra Dai China Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Wenshan Prefecture YunnanSee alsoAsian studies Asianic languages Classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages East Asian languages Languages of South Asia List of extinct languages of AsiaReferencesStarostin George 2016 04 05 Altaic Languages Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics Oxford University Press doi 10 1093 acrefore 9780199384655 013 35 ISBN 978 0 19 938465 5 Retrieved 2023 07 11 De la Fuente Jose Andres Alonso 2016 Review of Robbeets Martine 2015 Diachrony of verb morphology Japanese and the Transeurasian languages Diachronica 33 4 530 537 doi 10 1075 dia 33 4 04alo For now shared material between Transeurasian i e Altaic languages is undoubtedly better explained as the result of language contact But if researchers provide cogent evidence of genealogical relatedness that will be the time to re evaluate old positions That time however has not yet come Blench Roger 2015 The Mijiic languages distribution dialects wordlist and classification m s
