Most Spoken Languages

🇸🇴 Somali — Cushitic language, Latin script, and rich sound system with clear vowel length Cushitic • Afro-Asiatic • Latin script • SOV (common) • Non-tonal (tone not written) Number of Speakers (est.) ~24 Million… 🇸🇴 Somali #58 Most Spoken Language (30M speakers)

🇦🇫 🇵🇰 Pashto — Eastern Iranian language, SOV structure, and a rich Perso-Arabic script tradition Eastern Iranian • Indo-European • Pashto alphabet • SOV • Non-tonal Number of Speakers (est.) ~40+ million native speakers worldwide.… 🇦🇫 Pashto #57 Most Spoken Language (32M speakers)

🇵🇰 🇮🇳 Sindhi — Indo-Aryan language of Sindh, with rich consonants and multiple scripts Indo-Aryan • Indo-European • Perso-Arabic / Devanagari • SOV • Non-tonal Number of Speakers (est.) ~30–35 million first-language speakers, mainly in… 🇮🇳 Sindhi #56 Most Spoken Language (32M speakers)

🇮🇳 Malayalam — South Dravidian language, Malayalam script, and SOV structure South Dravidian • Dravidian • Malayalam script • SOV • Non-tonal Number of Speakers (est.) 35+ million native speakers, with many additional second-language speakers.… 🇮🇳 Malayalam #55 Most Spoken Language (33M speakers)

🇹🇷 🇮🇶 🇮🇷 🇸🇾 Kurdish — Northwestern Iranian language continuum, mainly SOV, with Latin and Arabic-based scripts Northwestern Iranian • Indo-European • Latin/Arabic Scripts • Mostly SOV • Non-tonal Number Of Speakers (est.) ~25–35 Million… 🇮🇷 Kurdish #54 Most Spoken Language (33M speakers)

🇺🇿 Uzbek — Karluk Turkic language, mainly SOV structure, and rich suffix-based grammar Karluk Turkic • Turkic • Latin/Cyrillic/Arabic scripts • SOV • Mostly Non-tonal Number Of Speakers (est.) ~35–40 Million native speakers worldwide (est.).… 🇺🇿 Uzbek #53 Most Spoken Language (34M speakers)

🌏 🗣️ Min Nan Chinese (Hokkien-Taiwanese) — Southern Min branch, character-based writing with common romanization, and rich tone patterns Sino-Tibetan • Sinitic • Min • Southern Min • Tonal • Mostly Analytic • Topic-Comment Friendly… 🇮🇩 Min Nan Chinese (Hokkien-Taiwanese) #52 Most Spoken Language (35M speakers)

🇮🇷 Mazandarani (Tabari) — Caspian Iranian language, modified–head noun phrases, and SOV rhythm Western Iranian • Northwestern (Caspian) • Persian-based script • SOV • Non-tonal Number of Speakers (est.) ~2–3M+ across Iran’s south-Caspian belt (Mazandaran,… 🇮🇷 Mazandarani #51 Most Spoken Language (35M speakers)

🇨🇳 Xiang Chinese (Hunanese) — Old vs. New Xiang, voiced-obstruent remnants, and checked syllables Sino-Tibetan • Sinitic • Chinese characters • SVO • Classifier language Number of Speakers (est.) ~33–38M speakers centered in Hunan; communities… 🇨🇳 Xiang Chinese #50 Most Spoken Language (35M speakers)

🇲🇦🇩🇿🇹🇳🇱🇾 Maghrebi Arabic — Negation circumfix, fast syllable timing, and Berber/French layers Semitic • Arabic script (plus Latin online) • VSO/SVO Essentials at a Glance Maghrebi Arabic (often Darija / Dziriya / Tounsi / Libyan)… 🇲🇦 Maghrebi Arabic #49 Most Spoken Language (35M speakers)

🇳🇵 Nepali — the Devanagari-written Indo-Aryan lingua franca of Nepal and the Himalayan foothills Indo-European • Devanagari (abugida) • SOV Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~16–17M; total users 25M+ across Nepal, India (Sikkim, Darjeeling), Bhutan,… 🇳🇵 Nepali #48 Most Spoken Language (36M speakers)

🇮🇳 Odia (Oriya) — script, postpositions, and everyday expression Indo-Aryan • Odia script (abugida) • SOV Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~35M • Total 40M+ (Odisha + eastern India & diaspora) Odisha (India)ChhattisgarhJharkhandAndhra Pradesh Family… 🇮🇳 Odia (Oriya) #47 Most Spoken Language (37M speakers)

🇳🇬 Igbo (Asụsụ Igbo) — sound system, tone, and agile verb-aspect patterns Niger–Congo • Latin alphabet with diacritics • SVO • Tonal Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~25–30M • Total 30M+ across Nigeria and the… 🇳🇬 Igbo #46 Most Spoken Language (37M speakers)

🇵🇭 Cebuano (Bisayá) — Voice system, particles, and everyday fluency Austronesian • Latin alphabet • Predicate-initial Essentials at a Glance Cebuano (often called Bisayá) is a major Philippine language centered in the Visayas and Mindanao.… 🇵🇭 Cebuano #45 Most Spoken Language (38M speakers)

🇲🇦 Moroccan Arabic (Darija) — grammar, ma…sh negation, k- progressive, and ghadi future Afro-Asiatic • Semitic • Arabic script • VSO/SVO • Clitic system Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~30M • Total 35M+ including diaspora… 🇲🇦 Moroccan Arabic #44 Most Spoken Language (38M speakers)

🇸🇦 Najdi Arabic — a clear, central-Arabian colloquial spanning Riyadh, Qassim, and Ha’il Peninsular Arabic • Arabic script • VSO/SVO Number of Speakers (est.) ~19 million across central Saudi Arabia and adjacent desert regions (Iraq,… 🇸🇦 Najdi Arabic #43 Most Spoken Language (40M speakers)

🇿🇦 Zulu (isiZulu) — clicks, noun classes, and everyday communication Bantu • Latin script • SVO Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~12M • Total 27M+ across South Africa and neighbors South AfricaEswatiniLesothoZimbabwe Family / Branch… 🇿🇦 Zulu #42 Most Spoken Language (41M speakers)

🇲🇲 Burmese (Myanmar) — Learn the script, particles, and classifier phrases Sino-Tibetan • Burmese script (abugida) • SOV Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~33–35M • Total 40M+ across Myanmar and the diaspora MyanmarThailand • MalaysiaGlobal… 🇲🇲 Burmese #41 Most Spoken Language (42M speakers)

🇨🇳 Jin Chinese (Jinyu) — Pronunciation, Grammar, Particles, and Useful Phrases Sinitic • Jin branch • Chinese characters • Tone • Topic–comment • SVO Number of Speakers (est.) ~50–70M across Shanxi and parts of Inner… 🇨🇳 Jin Chinese #40 Most Spoken Language (43M speakers)

🇺🇦 Ukrainian (Українська) Slavic • Cyrillic • SVO (flexible) • 7 cases • rich aspect Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~30–35M • Total ~40M+ UkraineDiaspora (EU, NA)Media & education Family / Branch Indo-European → Balto-Slavic… 🇺🇦 Ukrainian #39 Most Spoken Language (44M speakers)

🇵🇱 Polish (Polski) West Slavic • Latin alphabet with diacritics • 7 cases • SVO (flexible) Number of Speakers (est.) Native ~38–40M • Total ~45–55M+ worldwide PolandEU diasporaUKUSGermany Family / Branch Indo-European → Balto-Slavic →… 🇵🇱 Polish #38 Most Spoken Language (48M speakers)

🇸🇩 Sudanese Arabic (العربية السودانية) Arabic dialect • Arabic script • SVO/VSO (analytic) Number of Speakers (est.) Native 15–20M+ • Widespread as a lingua franca across Sudan & South Sudan Khartoum ArabicNile ValleyDiaspora (Gulf, EU,… 🇸🇩 Sudanese Arabic #37 Most Spoken Language (52M speakers)