5 facts about foreign languages ​​that will help surprise your friends

1. There are more than 7,100 languages ​​in the world, but there may be fewer of them soon

The SIL International organization is engaged in accounting for world languages. She collects information in the directory "ethnologist» (Ethnologue): now it has 7,151 languages, including various dialects and adverbs. Not all of them have a bright future: Endangered by 2022 areEndangered Languages ​​/ Ethnologue 3,045 languages.

2. The fastest language in the world is Japanese. More likely

Japanese pronunciation speed is 7.84 characters per second. In second place, by a narrow margin, is Spanish at 7.82 characters per second. Such data are givenSlow down! Why Some Languages ​​Sound So Fast / Time in a study at the University of Lyon. But given the fact that there are more than 7,000 dialects and adverbs, it is too early to talk about superiority. Perhaps the fastest language simply did not make it into the sample.

3. The longest alphabet in the world has 74 letters

So many containsLongest alphabet / Guinness World Records Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. talkingWhat language is spoken in Cambodia? / Cambodia Travel it has about 16 million people. The shortest alphabet rotokasShortest alphabet / Guinness World Records - one of the languages ​​of Papua New Guinea. There are only 11 letters (according to others dataWhat is the shortest alphabet? / Around the world 12), and the carriers are much smaller - about 4,000 people.

4. 156 languages ​​are spoken in Russia

Such data leadsList of Russian languages ​​(v2022) / Institute of Linguistics RAS Institute of Linguistics RAS. On the website of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation statistics277 languages ​​and dialects are used by the peoples of Russia / Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation even more impressive - 277 (or even 295) languages ​​and dialects. 37 of them have state status in the republics, for example, Tatar - in TatarstanLaw of the Republic of Tatarstan dated July 08, 1992 N 1560-XII. About the state languages ​​of the Republic of Tatarstan and other languages ​​in the Republic of Tatarstan or Bashkir - in BashkortostanLaw of the Republic of Bashkortostan dated February 15, 1999 N 216-z. About the languages ​​of the peoples of the Republic of Bashkortostan.

5. The US does not have an official language

English is the de facto language used for business, government laws and other official situations. But its status as the main language of the country is nowhere not fixedLearn About Life in the U.S. / USAGov. This issue is decided at the state level. By the way, several of them have two official languages, for example, in HawaiiOfficial Languages ​​/ Hawaii State Legislature - English and Hawaiian South DakotaWhat Language Does South Dakota Speak? /CLG — English and Sioux.