Asia is home to hundreds of languages comprising several families and some unrelated isolates. The most spoken language families on the continent include Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Japonic, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Turkic, Sino-Tibetan, Kra–Dai and Koreanic. Many languages of Asia, such as Chinese, Persian, Sanskrit, Arabic or Tamil have a long history as a written language.
Language groups
The major families in terms of numbers are Indo-European, specifically Indo-Aryan languages and Dravidian languages in South Asia, Iranian languages in parts of West, Central, and South Asia, and Sino-Tibetan in East Asia. Several other families are regionally dominant.
Sino-Tibetan
Sino-Tibetan includes Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, Karen, Boro and numerous languages of the Tibetan Plateau, Southern China, Myanmar, and North East India.
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are primarily represented in Asia by the Indo-Iranian branch, with its two main subgroups: Indo-Aryan and Iranian.
Indo-Aryan Indo-Aryan languages are mainly spoken in the Indian subcontinent, across different modern-day South Asian countries. Examples include languages such as Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), Bengali, Maithilli, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, Rajasthani, Gujarati, Sylheti, Noakhali etc.
Iranic Iranic languages are mainly spoken in and around the Iranian Plateau, spread across the modern-day countries of Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Pakistan and neighboring regions. Examples include languages like Persian, Kurdish, Pashto and Balochi.
Others Other branches of Indo-European spoken in Asia include the Slavic branch (due to Asia's proximity to Eastern Europe), which includes Russian in Siberia (since it falls under the Russian Federation); Greek around the Black Sea; and Armenian in Armenia; as well as extinct languages such as Hittite of Anatolia and Tocharian of (Chinese) Turkestan.
Altaic families
A number of smaller, but important and separately distinguished language families spread across central and northern Asia have long been linked in a hypothetical, controversial and unproven Altaic family. These are the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic (including Manchu), Koreanic, and Japonic languages. But since the mid-20th century a majority of scholars have come to regard it as a Sprachbund.
Austroasiatic
The Mon–Khmer languages (also known as Austroasiatic) are the language family in South and Southeast Asia. Languages given official status are Vietnamese and Khmer (Cambodian).
Kra–Dai
The Kra–Dai languages (also known as Tai-Kadai) are found in southern China, Northeast India and Southeast Asia. Languages given official status are Thai (Siamese) and Lao.
Austronesian
The Austronesian languages are widespread throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, including major languages such as Indonesian (Indonesia and Timor-Leste), Fijian (Fiji), Hiligaynon, Bikol, Ilocano, Cebuano, Tagalog (Philippines), and Malay (Brunei, Malaysia, and Singapore). Other significant Austronesian languages in Indonesia include Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese. Meanwhile, Indonesian is the most widely spoken language in the Austronesian family.
Dravidian
The Dravidian languages of South India and parts of Sri Lanka include Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tulu, while smaller languages such as Gondi and Brahui are spoken in central India and Pakistan respectively.
Afro-Asiatic
The Afroasiatic languages (in older sources Hamito-Semitic) are represented in Asia by the Semitic branch. Semitic languages are spoken in West Asia, and include the various dialects of Arabic and Aramaic, Modern Hebrew, and Modern South Arabian languages in addition to extinct languages such as Akkadian and Ancient South Arabian.
Siberian families
Besides the Altaic families already mentioned (of which Tungusic is today a minor family of Siberia), there are a number of small language families and isolates spoken across northern Asia. These include the Uralic languages of western Siberia (better known for Hungarian and Finnish in Europe), the Yeniseian languages (linked to Turkic and to the Athabaskan languages of North America), Yukaghir, Nivkh of Sakhalin, Ainu of northern Japan, Chukotko-Kamchatkan in easternmost Siberia, and—just barely—Eskimo–Aleut. Some linguists have noted that the Koreanic languages share more similarities with the Paleosiberian languages than with the Altaic languages. The extinct Rouran language of Mongolia is unclassified, and does not show genetic relationships with any other known language family.
Caucasian families
Three small families are spoken in the Caucasus: Kartvelian languages, such as Georgian; Northeast Caucasian (Dagestanian languages), such as Chechen; and Northwest Caucasian, such as Circassian. The latter two may be related to each other. The extinct Hurro-Urartian languages may be related as well.
Small families of Asia Although dominated by major languages and families, there are a number of minor families and isolates in South Asia and Southeast Asia. From west to east, these include:
Hattic, an unclassified language in Anatolia. extinct languages of the Fertile Crescent such as Sumerian and Elamite. extinct languages of South Asia; mainly the unclassified Harappan language small language families and isolates of the Indian subcontinent: Burushaski, Kusunda, and Nihali. The Vedda language of Sri Lanka is likely an isolate that has mixed with Sinhala. the two Andamanese language families: Great Andamanese and Ongan; Sentinelese remains undocumented to date, and hence unclassified. unclassified languages in Southeast Asia: Kenaboi. the difficult to classify Arunachal languages: Digaro, Hrusish (including the Miji languagesBlench, Roger. 2015. The Mijiic languages: distribution, dialects, wordlist and classification. m.s.), Midzu, Puroik, Siangic, and Kho-Bwa. Hmong–Mien (Miao–Yao) scattered across southern China and Southeast Asia a few "Papuan" (Non-Austronesian) families of the central and eastern Malay Archipelago: such as the Timor-Alor-Pantar and North Halmahera languages, and the little known extinct Tambora language of Sumbawa. Numerous additional families are spoken in Indonesian New Guinea, which is generally considered to be part of Oceania.
Creoles and pidgins
The eponymous pidgin ("business") language developed with European trade in China. Of the many creoles to have developed, the most spoken today are Chavacano, a Spanish-based creole of the Philippines, and various Malay-based creoles such as Manado Malay influenced by Portuguese. A very well-known Portuguese-based creole is the Kristang, which is spoken in Malacca, a city-state in Malaysia.
Sign languages
A number of sign languages are spoken throughout Asia. These include the Japanese Sign Language family, Chinese Sign Language, Indo-Pakistani Sign Language, Filipino Sign Language as well as a number of small indigenous sign languages of countries such as Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many official sign languages are part of the French Sign Language family.
Official languages
Asia and Europe are the only two continents where most countries use native languages as their official languages, though English is also widespread as an international language.
LanguageNative nameTotal SpeakersLanguage familyOfficial status in a countryOfficial status in a region Altai Алтай тил 57,000 Turkic Russia Altai Republic Arabic 313,000,000 Afro-Asiatic BahrainIraqJordanKuwaitLebanonOmanPalestineQatarSaudi ArabiaSyriaUAEYemen Israel (special status) Armenian 5,902,970 Indo-European Armenia Assamese 15,000,000 Indo-European India (Scheduled) India Assam Azerbaijani Azərbaycanca آذربایجان دیلی تۆرکجه 28,000,000 Turkic Azerbaijan Iran South Azerbaijan
Russia
Dagestan (mostly in Derbent)Balochiبلۏچی Balòči7,600,000Indo-EuropeanPakistan Balochistan Iran Sistan and Baluchestan (Recognised)Baltiبلتی སྦལ་ཏི།392,800Sino-TibetanPakistan
Gilgit Baltistan Bengali 230,000,000 Indo-European Bangladesh, India (Scheduled) India Barak Valley, Assam (Additional) Jharkhand (Recognised) Tripura West Bengal Bhojpuri भोजपुरी 50,579,447 Indo-European Nepal Nepal Province 2, Parsa, Bara India Jharkhand (Additional) Bikol BikolBikol Naga 4,300,000 Austronesian Philippines Bicol Region Bodo बर'/बड़Boro 1,984,569 Sino-Tibetan India (Scheduled) Nepal India Bodoland, Assam West Bengal Burmese 33,000,000 Sino-Tibetan Myanmar Cantonese (Yue) Language 110,000,000 Sino-Tibetan Hong Kong Macau Buryat Буряад хэлэн 440,000 Mongolic Russia Buryatia Cebuano BisayaBinisayaSinugbuanong_BinisayaSebwano/Sinebwano 27,500,000 Austronesian Philippines Central Visayas Eastern Visayas Northern Mindanao Davao Region Chhattisgarhi छत्तीसगढ़ी 17,983,446 Indo-European India Chhattisgarh (Additional) Chin Kukish 3,000,000 Sino-Tibetan Myanmar Chin State Chinese Mandarin 1,300,000,000 Sino-Tibetan ChinaSingaporeTaiwanMyanmar Kokang Wa State Dhivehi 400,000 Indo-European Maldives Dogri डोगरी 2,600,000 Indo-European India (Scheduled) India Jammu and Kashmir Dzongkha 600,000 Sino-Tibetan Bhutan English English 203,000,000 Indo-European IndiaHong KongPakistanPhilippinesSingaporeTimor-Leste (Working languages) Malaysia (Recognized) Sri Lanka (Recognized) UAE (Recognized) French Français 300 Indo-European Lebanon (special status) India Puducherry (Additional) Filipino (Tagalog) Wikang Filipino 106,000,000 Austronesian Philippines Formosan 171,855 Austronesian Republic of China Taiwan Georgian 4,200,000 Kartvelian Georgia Gujarati ગુજરાતી 50,000,000 Indo-European India (Scheduled) India Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Gujarat Hakka 客家話/客家话Hak-kâ-fa 2,370,000 Sino-Tibetan Republic of China Taiwan Hebrew 7,000,000 Afro-Asiatic Israel Hindi हिन्दी 615,000,000 Indo-European FijiIndia (Scheduled) India Andaman and Nicobar Islands Bihar Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Chhattisgarh Delhi Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Ladakh Madhya Pradesh Rajasthan Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand West Bengal (Additional) Hiligaynon HiligaynonIlonggoHiniligaynon/Inilonggo 9,100,000 Austronesian Philippines Western Visayas Hokchiu 12,000 Sino-Tibetan Republic of China Matsu, Fukien (de facto) Hokkien 18,570,000 Sino-Tibetan Republic of China Taiwan (de facto) Ibanag Ibanag 500,000 Austronesian Philippines Cagayan Valley Ilocano Pagsasao nga Ilokano 11,000,000 Austronesian Philippines Northern Luzon Central Luzon Indonesian Bahasa Indonesia 270,000,000 Austronesian Indonesia Timor-Leste (Working languages) Japanese 120,000,000 Japonic Japan (de facto) Palau Angaur Island Javanese 80,000,000 Austronesian Indonesia Special Region of Yogyakarta Central Java East Java Suriname, Sri Lanka, New Caledonia Javanese is also spoken by traditional immigrant communities of Javanese descent Kachin Jinghpaw 940,000 Sino-Tibetan Myanmar Kachin State Kannada ಕನ್ನಡ 51,000,000 Dravidian India (Scheduled) India Karnataka Kapampangan Kapampangan/Pampangan 2,800,000 Austronesian Philippines Central Luzon Karen ကညီကျိာ်း 6,000,000 Sino-Tibetan Myanmar Kayin State Kashmiriकॉशुर كٲشُر7,000,000Indo-European India (Scheduled) India Jammu and Kashmir Kayah Karenni 190,000 Sino-Tibetan Myanmar Kayah State Karakalpak Qaraqalpaqsha 870,000 Turkic Uzbekistan Karakalpakstan Kazakh QazaqshaҚазақшаقازاقشا 18,000,000 Turkic Kazakhstan China Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Russia Altai Republic Khakas Хакас тіліТадар тілі 43,000 Turkic Russia Khakassia Khmer 16,000,000 Austroasiatic Cambodia Konkani 2,300,000 Indo-European India (Scheduled) India Goa Maharashtra (Recognized) Karnataka (Recognized) Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Recognized) Korean 80,000,000 Koreanic North KoreaSouth Korea China Changbai Korean Autonomous County Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture Kurdish Kurdî 32,000,000 Indo-European West Asia Kurdistan Kyrgyz Кыргызча 7,300,000 Turkic Kyrgyzstan China