Here is a list of languages that you can pick from for the language research exercise. This list is a subset of the languages listed in this Wikipedia article. If there is another language that you’d like to research, ask the instructor for permission first.
| Language native name |
Native speakers (millions) | % of world population | Mainly spoken in | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Javanese Basa Jawa |
82 | 1.25% | Indonesia (Java) | Javanese is the largest language without an official status anywhere (and thus the largest minority language in the world), despite being used throughout Southeast Asia and Suriname. In terms of native speakers, Javanese is also more widely spoken than Indonesia's sole official language, Bahasa Indonesia. |
| Malay/Indonesian Bahasa Melayu Bahasa Indonesia |
77 | 1.16% | Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore | |
| Telugu తెలుగు |
76 | 1.15% | India (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Vietnamese Tiếng Việt |
76 | 1.14% | Vietnam | |
| Korean 한국어 조선말 |
76 | 1.14% | North Korea, South Korea | |
| Marathi मराठी |
73 | 1.10% | India (Maharashtra, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Tamil தமிழ் |
70 | 1.06% | India (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Puducherry), Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Urdu اُردُو |
66 | 0.99% | India, Pakistan | Mutually intelligible with Hindi. Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Persian فارسی |
65 | 0.99% | Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan | |
| Turkish Türkçe |
63 | 0.95% | Turkey, Northern Cyprus | Partially mutually intelligible with Azerbaijani |
| Thai ภาษาไทย |
56 | 0.85% | Thailand | |
| Gujarati ગુજરાતી |
49 | 0.74% | India (Gujarat, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Jin 晉語 / 晋语 |
48 | 0.72% | China (Shanxi, parts of Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, Shaanxi) | Part of Chinese language family |
| Min Nan 閩南語 / 闽南语 |
47 | 0.71% | Mainland China (Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan), Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei | Part of Chinese language family |
| Pashto پښتو |
39 | 0.58% | Afghanistan, Pakistan | |
| Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ |
38 | 0.58% | India (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Xiang 湘語 / 湘语 |
38 | 0.58% | China (Hunan) | Part of Chinese language family |
| Malayalam മലയാളം |
38 | 0.57% | India (Kerala, Lakshadweep, Mahé) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
Sundanese |
38 | 0.57% | Indonesia (Java) | Sundanese is the second largest language (after Javanese) without an official status anywhere (not counting Chinese languages such as Wu, Yue, Jin, Min Nan, Xiang). |
| Hausa هَرْشَن هَوْسَ |
34 | 0.52% | Nigeria | |
| Oriya ଓଡ଼ିଆ |
33 | 0.50% | India (Odisha) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Burmese မြန်မာစာ |
33 | 0.50% | Burma | |
| Hakka 客家話 / 客家话 |
31 | 0.46% | China (Southern) | Part of Chinese language family |
| Ukrainian українська мова |
30 | 0.46% | Ukraine | Partially mutually intelligible with Russian[7] and Belarusian.[7] |
| Bhojpuri भोजपुरी |
29 | 0.43% | India (Bihar) | Part of Bihari. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
| Tagalog Wikang Tagalog |
28 | 0.42% | Philippines | |
| Yoruba Èdè Yorùbá |
28 | 0.42% | Nigeria, Benin, Togo | |
| Maithili मैथिली, মৈথিলী |
27 | 0.41% | India (Bihar), Nepal | Part of Bihari. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Swahili Kiswahili |
26 | 0.39% | Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda | |
| Uzbek Oʻzbek Ўзбек اوزبیک |
26 | 0.39% | Uzbekistan | |
| Sindhi سنڌي सिन्धी  |
26 | 0.39% | India, Pakistan (Sindh) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Amharic አማርኛ |
25 | 0.37% | Ethiopia | |
| Fula Fulfulde |
24 | 0.37% | West and Central Africa, from Senegal to Sudan | |
| Oromo Afaan Oromo |
24 | 0.36% | Ethiopia, Kenya | |
| Igbo Asụsụ Igbo |
24 | 0.36% | Nigeria | |
| Azerbaijani Azərbaycan |
23 | 0.34% | Azerbaijan, Iran | Partially mutually intelligible with Turkish |
| Awadhi अवधी |
22 | 0.33% | India (Uttar Pradesh) | Part of Hindi languages family. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
| Gan 贛語 / 赣语 |
22 | 0.33% | China (Jiangxi) | Part of Chinese language family |
| Cebuano Binisaya |
21 | 0.32% | Philippines (Central and Southern) | |
| Kurdish كوردی |
21 | 0.31% | “Kurdistan” (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria) | |
| Serbo-Croatian Srpskohrvatski hrvatskosrpski српскохрватски хрватскосрпски |
19 | 0.28% | Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo | |
| Malagasy Malagasy |
18 | 0.28% | Madagascar | |
| Saraiki سرائیکی |
17 | 0.26% | Pakistan (Sindh) | |
| Nepali नेपाली |
17 | 0.25% | Nepal, India (Sikkim, Darjeeling, Assam), Bhutan, Myanmar | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Sinhalese සිංහල |
16 | 0.25% | Sri Lanka | |
| Chittagonian টগাঁইয়া বুলি |
16 | 0.24% | Bangladesh (Chittagong) | |
| Zhuang Vahcuengh 话壮 |
16 | 0.24% | China (Guangxi) | Actually 13 or more languages; related to Thai, not part of Chinese language family. |
| Khmer ភាសាខ្មែរ |
16 | 0.24% | Cambodia | |
| Assamese অসমীয়া |
15 | 0.23% | India Assam (India) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |
| Madurese Madhura |
15 | 0.23% | Indonesia ( Madura, and Java) | |
| Somali Af-Soomaali |
15 | 0.22% | Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Dijibouti, Yemen | |
| Marwari मारवाड़ी |
14 | 0.21% | India, Pakistan (Rajasthan), Nepal | This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
| Magahi मगही |
14 | 0.21% | India (Bihar) | Part of Bihari |
| Haryanvi हरियाणवी |
14 | 0.21% | India (Haryana) | Part of Hindi languages family |
| Chhattisgarhi छत्तीसगढ़ी |
12 | 0.19% | India (Chhattisgarh) | Part of Hindi languages family. This is only a fraction of the speakers; the others are counted under Hindi above. |
| Chewa Nyanja |
12 | 0.17% | Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe | |
| Deccan دکنی |
11 | 0.17% | India (Deccan) | Part of Urdu |
| Akan Twi Fante |
11 | 0.17% | Ghana, Ivory Coast | |
| Kazakh Qazaqşa Қазақша قازاق ٴتىلى; |
11 | 0.17% | Kazakhstan | |
| Min Bei 閩北語 / 闽北语 |
10.9 | 0.16% | China (Fujian) | Part of Chinese language family |
| Sylheti ছিলটী |
10.7 | 0.16% | Bangladesh, India | |
| Zulu isiZulu |
10.4 | 0.16% | South Africa | |
| Kinyarwanda Ikinyarwanda |
9.8 | 0.15% | Rwanda | Part of Rwanda-Rundi |
| Dhundhari |
9.6 | 0.15% | India (Rajasthan) | |
| Haitian Creole Kreyòl Ayisyen |
9.6 | 0.15% | Haiti | |
| Ilokano | 9.1 | 0.14% | Philippines (Luzon) | |
| Quechua | 8.9 | 0.13% | Peru, Bolivia | A language family, not a language |
| Kirundi | 8.8 | 0.13% | Burundi, Uganda | Part of Rwanda-Rundi |
| Hmong | 8.4 | 0.13% | Laos | A language family, not a language |
| Shona | 8.3 | 0.13% | Zimbabwe | |
| Uyghur ئۇيغۇرچە |
8.2 | 0.12% | China (Xinjiang) | |
| Hiligaynon | 8.2 | 0.12% | Philippines (Western Visayas) | |
| Mossi | 7.6 | 0.11% | Burkina Faso | |
| Xhosa | 7.6 | 0.11% | South Africa | |
| Balochi بلوچی |
7.6 | 0.11% | Iran, Pakistan (Balochistan) | |
| Konkani कोंकणी ಕೊಂಕಣಿ |
7.4 | 0.11% | India (Goa, Karnataka, Maharashtra) | Schedule 8 official language of India. |