Damon N. Beverly

🇯🇵 Japanese (日本語・Nihongo) Japonic • Kanji + Kana • SOV (topic-prominent) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~120–125M • Total ~130M+ JapanBrazil diasporaU.S.Hawaii Family / Branch Japonic → Japanese; closest relatives: Ryukyuan languages (mutual intelligibility: low)… 🇯🇵 Japanese #13 Most Spoken Language (126M speakers)

🇩🇪 German (Deutsch) West Germanic • Latin alphabet • V2 main clauses Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~95–100M • Total ~130M+ GermanyAustriaSwitzerlandItaly (South Tyrol)Diaspora Family / Branch Indo-European → Germanic → West Germanic (cousin to… 🇩🇪 German #12 Most Spoken Language (134M speakers)

🇵🇰 Urdu (اُردُو / Urdu) Indo-Aryan • Perso-Arabic (Nastaliq) • SOV Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~70–80M • Widespread L2 in Pakistan & diaspora PakistanIndiaGulfUK/US Family / Branch Indo-European → Indo-Iranian → Indo-Aryan → Hindustani… 🇵🇰 Urdu #11 Most Spoken Language (246M speakers)

🇮🇩 Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia) Austronesian • Latin alphabet • SVO Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~40–50M • L2 150M+ (national lingua franca) IndonesiaASEANMedia & education Family / Branch Austronesian → Malayo-Polynesian (close to Malay) Analytic… 🇮🇩 Indonesian #10 Most Spoken Language (252M speakers)

🇷🇺 Russian (Русский) Slavic • Cyrillic • SVO (highly flexible) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~150–160M • Total ~250–260M+ RussiaBelarusKazakhstan Ukraine (regions)Global diaspora Family / Branch Indo-European → Balto-Slavic → Slavic → East Slavic (close… 🇷🇺 Russian #9 Most Spoken Language (253M speakers)

🇵🇹 Portuguese (Português) Romance • Latin alphabet • SVO (flexible) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~230–250M • Total ~260M+ BrazilPortugalAngolaMozambiqueCape VerdeTimor-Leste Family / Branch Indo-European → Romance → West Iberian (Galician–Portuguese roots) Close to Galician… 🇵🇹 Portuguese #8 Most Spoken Language (267M speakers)

🇧🇩 Bengali (বাংলা / Bangla) Indo-Aryan • Abugida • SOV (topic–comment friendly) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~230–240M • Total ~265–300M BangladeshIndia (West Bengal, Tripura, Assam)Global diaspora Family / Branch Indo-European → Indo-Iranian → Indo-Aryan… 🇧🇩 Bengali #7 Most Spoken Language (284M speakers)

🇫🇷 French (Français) Romance • Latin alphabet • SVO Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~80M • Total ~300M+ FranceBelgiumSwitzerlandCanada (Quebec)Africa Family / Branch Indo-European → Romance → Gallo-Romance Cognates with Spanish/Italian Writing System Latin alphabet… 🇫🇷 French #6 Most Spoken Language (312M speakers)

🌍 Arabic (MSA) Semitic • Arabic script (abjad) • VSO / SVO Number of Speakers (est.) Arabic (varieties): 300M+ native • 400M+ total; MSA is the shared formal standard Pan-Arab worldMedia, education, religion Family /… 🇸🇦 Arabic (MSA) #5 Most Spoken Language (335M speakers)

🇪🇸 Spanish (Español) Romance • Latin alphabet • SVO (flexible, pro-drop) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~485–500M • Total ~570–600M+ SpainMexicoColombia ArgentinaPeruU.S. (L1/L2) Family / Branch Indo-European → Romance → Western Romance → Ibero-Romance (close… 🇪🇸 Spanish #4 Most Spoken Language (558M speakers)

🇮🇳 Hindi (हिन्दी) Indo-Aryan • Devanagari script • SOV (flexible) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~350–400M • Total ~600M+ (L2 & diaspora) IndiaNepalFijiMauritius Family / Branch Indo-European → Indo-Iranian → Indo-Aryan (close to Urdu; links… 🇮🇳 Hindi #3 Most Spoken Language (609M speakers)

🇨🇳 Mandarin Chinese (普通话 / Pǔtōnghuà) Sino-Tibetan • Tonal • SVO (topic–comment friendly) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~920M • Total 1.1B+ Mainland ChinaTaiwanSingaporeGlobal diaspora Family / Branch Sino-Tibetan → Sinitic → Mandarin group Largest… 🇨🇳 Mandarin Chinese #2 Most Spoken Language (1.2B speakers)

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 English — West Germanic language, global lingua franca, and SVO structure West Germanic • Indo-European • Latin script • SVO • Non-tonal Number of Speakers (est.) ~1.5 Billion (L1 + L2). The most… 🇬🇧 English #1 Most Spoken Language (1.5B speakers)

🇹🇷 Turkish (Türkçe) Oghuz Turkic • Latin alphabet • SOV (flexible) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~75–85M • Total ~90–100M+ TürkiyeNorthern Cyprus (TRNC)Diaspora (Europe, MENA) Family / Branch Turkic languages → Oghuz branch (related to… 🇹🇷 Turkish #20 Most Spoken Language (91M speakers)