Top 10 most spoken world languages
German, related to English and this European language, is reported to be the most widely spoken tongue of an important political union. It also dominates in Austria and Switzerland and dates back to the sixth century.
Japanese is a member of this language family, and its earliest form dates back to the early eighth century. How do you say "hello" in Japanese?
Primarily spoken in Russia, this is a Slavic language that can be traced back to the 10th century.
Spoken primarily in Portugal, Portuguese is a Romance language that was spoken in a medieval kingdom. What did Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes say about the dialect?
This ancient language, spoken in what is now present-day Bangladesh, is still flourishing. An attempt to abolish the Bengali dialect during a 1952 movement resulted in a celebration of it instead.
Most commonly spoken in India, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Hindi dates back to the 17th century, though the standardization of its grammar is a much more recent accomplishment.
Arabic is a Semitic language spoken by people primarily in the Middle East and is the language of a holy book. In its purest form, the dialect dates back to the fourth century.
This widely spoken language, the official tongue of 53 countries, was globally spread by this country, largely through colonial influence. In the United States, people developed their own version of popular words from English.
Another Romance language, Spanish has many dialects and is primarily spoken in Spain, Mexico, Colombia, Peru and several other countries. It dates back to the ninth century
Chinese, the most prevalent language in world, started with this ethnic group, and history suggests it began during an ancient dynasty.
Source: msn
