1.
KANNADA
Kannada is a southern Dravidian Language and according to Dravidian scholar Sanford Steever, its history can be conventionally divided in to three periods; Old Kannada (halegannada) from 450-1200 A.D., Middle Kannada (Nadugannada) from 1200-1700 A.D., and Modern Kannada from 1700 to the present.[21] Kannada is influenced to an appreciable extent by Sanskrit. According to the Dravidian scholars Bhadriraju Krishnamurti and Kamil Zvelebil, Kannada and Tamil split into independent languages from the proto Tamil-Kannada sub-group around 5th - 6th. century B.C. or earlier,[22][23] Influences of other languages such as Prakrit and Pali can also be found in Kannada language. The scholar Iravatham Mahadevan proved that Kannada was already a language of rich oral tradition earlier than 3rd century B.C., and based on the native Kannada words found in Prakrit and Tamil inscriptions of that period, Kannada must have been spoken by a widespread and stable populations.[22][24] The scholar K.V. Narayana claims that many tribal languages which are now designated as Kannada dialects could be nearer to the earlier form of the language with lesser influence from other languages.[22]
148 points - added 11 years ago by guest -
2.
Mandarin Chinese
Thanks to China being one of the most populous countries in the world, this language occupies the first position. Over 1100 million people worldwide speak this language.
129 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
spoken by 900 Million people, so it must be the No. 1!!!!!
Added 11 years ago by guest, 1 point
3.
English
This language is the second most widely spoken language, though the country of Great Britain is relatively small. Due to the colonization of the British in the past, this language has its presence in most countries with more than 450 million people speaking this language.
123 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
4.
Portuguese
111 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
spoken by 220 Million people
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
5.
Hindi
This language is gaining prominence in recent years and not only being spoken in India but by over 180 million people worldwide.
109 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
6.
Bengali
106 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 2 comments
Comments:
230 Million people speak it.
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
hindi is not mother tongue of india.
Added 13 years ago by guest, -1 points
7.
Cantonese
105 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
this is really odd and can you also show the number of people by millions because this list is kind of incomplete compared to other ones and make harder math questions i once got 1+1
Added 13 years ago by guest, 0 points
8.
Spanish
More than 300 million people all around the world speak this language, giving it the third position.
104 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
9.
Russian
This language which is spoken by more than 250 million people worldwide occupies the fourth position.
99 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
10.
Japanese
90 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
11.
punjabi
because punjabi a language of punjab,india is spoken worlwide like in england it is 2nd largest nd in canda it is 3rd largest spoken language,and in america also,this language is spoken all over the world
86 points - added 14 years ago by guest - 2 comments
Comments:
spoken by 140 Million people
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
Best language ever heard!
Added 12 years ago by guest, 0 points
12.
German
82 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 2 comments
Comments:
25% of US Americans have German ancestors, more percent than any other ethnic Group. Alltogether with the Austrians and Swiss it may be well about 100 Millions.
Added 8 years ago by guest, 0 points
More than 100 Million people in 60 countries speak German
Added 11 years ago by guest, -3 points
13.
Urdu
79 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
80 Million people speak it
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
14.
Vietnamese
79 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
80 Million speak it
Added 11 years ago by guest, 1 point
15.
Jinyu Chinese
77 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
16.
telugu
it is 2nd higiest spoken language in india and 16th higiest language in world
47 points - added 14 years ago by guest - 2 comments
Comments:
telugu is spoken by more people than tamil.so it should be in 15th position.it is spoken by 76 million people according to my knowledge and also the only language to have four lined poems with certain grammar rules called chandassu.Many telugu poets have become famous for having compiled more than 1000 of such poems giving moral values following these grammar rules.Personally I think that "padyalu" can be dedicated only to this language.
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
spoken by 74 Million people
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
17.
Turkish
46 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
70 Million speakers
Added 11 years ago by guest, -1 points
18.
Arabic
39 points - added 14 years ago by kris -
19.
Tamil
35 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 4 comments
Comments:
only 70 Million people speak Tamil. But Tamil is one of the most beautiful languages at all. It is one of the oldest too.
Added 11 years ago by guest, 2 points
* Tamil alphabets are created on the basis of ordinary sounds made by human.
* long sentences can be said in few words. that is why, thirukkural wriiten in tamil language is popular and translated to most world languages. kural, a short poem with seven words(cirs) give a big meaning. scholars say that, these seven words give deepness of seven oceans
*tamil is one of the oldest languages in the world.
*tamil has influenced many languages of asian continent.
*tamil has rich root words. so creating a new word wont be hard. that is why, tamil is the only indian language that can be used without the help of other languages. ask anyone to speak hindi, bengali,telugu, malayalam without sanskrit words.becoz they r derived from or influenced by sanskrit.
* an example, to say, how tamil is great
take the english word "came"
who came? cant determine
how many came? cant determine
take the tamil words "vanthaaL"
who came? a female
how many came? only one
*try to ask this question in english
a father has four sons. you have to ask him an question to get the answer as "he is my third son" . till date, none have answered this question.
*Unlike european languages, tamil can be used as a language for science and technology without borrowing a single word from other languages. eventhough languages are mutable, tamil has been maintained for more than two thousand years without the help of words from other languages.
Added 12 years ago by guest, 2 points
unlike other languages, tamil is a natural language. people can refer wikipedia, why tamil is reffereed as natural language.
Tamil was the official language in south india, sri lanka, thailand, malaysia, and indonesia till 12th century.
not about fanaticism, tamil is really a great classical languae of the world. it can be called as greek of the east.
Added 12 years ago by guest, 2 points
Official Language in Indian State of Tamil Nadu, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka. Indian census:60,793,814
78 million
Added 13 years ago by prabhu_karan, 1 point
20.
Korean
29 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
this list is kind of out of order compared to every other list in google about this topic
Added 13 years ago by guest, 1 point
21.
MARATHI
widely spoken language
15 points - added 14 years ago by guest - 1 comment
Comments:
70 Million people speak Marathi
Added 11 years ago by guest, 1 point
22.
Malayalam
this language is being spoken not only in kerala(a state in india) but also in many places around the globe, where malus live.
15 points - added 14 years ago by guest - 1 comment
Comments:
35 Million people speak Malayalam
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
23.
Gujarati
13 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
50 million people speak it
Added 11 years ago by guest, 0 points
24.
French
7 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
115 Million people speak French
Added 11 years ago by guest, -1 points
25.
marathi1
There are 90 million fluent speakers worldwide.[2] Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India[6] and the 15th most spoken language in the world.[3] Marathi is the oldest of the regional literatures in Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about AD 1000.[7]
6 points - added 14 years ago by guest -
26.
Italian
-15 points - added 14 years ago by kris - 1 comment
Comments:
Almost 60 Million people speak Italien
Added 11 years ago by guest, -2 points
Similar Top lists
| Category | Ranked | Added by | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most Frequently Misspelled Words | Other | 38 items | mail4gigi |
| The most widespread visual patterns | Other | 20 items | vlad |
| Most beloved caroon characters | Other | 19 items | xeniam |
| Top things you must do when buying a house | Other | 20 items | kris |
| 20 of the Wackiest Girls Names | Other | 20 items | cathywilson |
ShareRanks is about ranking things that are top, most, greatest, or even worst in all categories.
Use arrows to rank one item in versus another.
Use arrows to rank one item in versus another.
Top 10 20 most widely spoken languages are especially marked