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Of the many language families of Asia, Indo-European (purple, blue, and medium green) and Sino-Tibetan (chartreuse and pink) dominate numerically, while Altaic families (grey, bright green, and maroon) occupy large areas geographically. Regionally dominant families are Japonic in Japan, Austronesian in the Malay Archipelago (dark red), Kadai and Mon–Khmer in Southeast Asia (azure and peach), Dravidian in South India (khaki), Turkic in Central Asia (grey), and Semitic in the Mideast (orange).

There is a wide variety of languages spoken throughout Asia, comprising different language families and some unrelated isolates. The major language families spoken on the continent include Altaic, Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Caucasian, Dravidian, Indo-European, Afroasiatic, Siberian, Sino-Tibetan and Tai-Kadai. They usually have a long tradition of writing, but not always.

Language groups

Ethnolinguistic distribution in Central/Southwest Asia of the Altaic, Caucasian, Afroasiatic (Hamito-Semitic) and Indo-European families.

The major families in terms of numbers are Indo-European and Dravidian in South Asia and Sino-Tibetan in East Asia. Several other families are regionally dominant.

Sino-Tibetan

Sino-Tibetan includes Chinese, Tibetan, Burmese, Karen and numerous languages of the Tibetan Plateau, southern China, Burma, and North east India.

Indo-European

The Indo-European languages are primarily represented by the Indo-Iranian branch. The family includes both Indic languages (Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Marathi, Gujarati, Sinhalese and other languages spoken primarily in South Asia) and Iranian (Persian, Kurdish, Pashto, Balochi and other languages spoken primarily in Iran, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Central Asia, the Caucasus and parts of South Asia). In addition, other branches of Indo-European spoken in Asia include the Slavic branch, which includes Russian in Siberia; Greek around the Black Sea; and Armenian; as well as extinct languages such as Hittite of Anatolia and Tocharian of (Chinese) Turkestan.

Altaic families

A number of smaller, but important language families spread across central and northern Asia have long been linked in an as-yet unproven Altaic family. These are the Turkic, Mongolic, Tungusic (including Manchu), Koreanic, and Japonic languages. Speakers of the Turkish language (Anatolian Turks) are believed to have adopted the language, having instead originally spoken the Anatolian languages, an extinct group of languages belonging to the Indo-European family.^[1]

Mon–Khmer

The Mon–Khmer languages (also known as Austroasiatic) are the oldest family in 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 Fijian (Fiji), Tagalog (Philippines), and Malay (Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei). Javanese, Sundanese, and Madurese of Indonesia belong to this family as well.

Dravidian

The Dravidian languages of southern India and parts of Sri Lanka include Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam, 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), particularly its Semitic branch, are spoken in Western Asia. It includes Arabic, Hebrew and Aramaic, in addition to extinct languages such as Akkadian. The Modern South Arabian languages contain a substratum influence from the Cushitic branch of Afroasiatic, which suggests that Cushitic speakers originally inhabited the Arabian Peninsula alongside Semitic speakers.^[2]

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 Ruan-ruan 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 Southern Asia

Although dominated by major languages and families, there are number of minor families and isolates in South Asia & Southeast Asia. From west to east, these include:

• extinct languages of the Fertile Crescent such as Sumerian, Elamite, and Proto-Euphratean
  


• extinct languages of South Asia: 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 Sinhalese.


• the two Andamanese language families: Great Andamanese and Ongan; Sentinelese remains undocumented to date, and hence unclassified.


• isolates and languages with isolate substrata of Southeast Asia: Kenaboi, Enggano, and the Philippine Negrito languages Manide and Umiray Dumagat
  


• 
  Language isolates and independent language families in Arunachal: Digaro, Hrusish (including the Miji languages^[3]), Midzu, Puroik, Siangic, and Kho-Bwa
  


• 
  Hmong–Mien (Miao–Yao) scattered across southern China and Southeast Asia


• several "Papuan" families of the central and eastern Malay Archipelago: languages of Halmahera, East Timor, and the extinct Tambora of Sumbawa. Numerous additional families are spoken in Indonesian New Guinea, but this lies outside the scope of an article on Asian languages.

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, 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.

Language	Native name	Speakers	Language Family	Official Status in a Country	Official Status in a Region
Abkhaz	Aԥсшәа	240,000	Northwest Caucasian	Abkhazia	Georgia
Arabic	العَرَبِيَّة	230,000,000	Afro-Asiatic	Qatar,  Jordan,  Saudi Arabia,  Iraq,  Yemen,  Kuwait,  Bahrain,  Syria,  Palestine(observer state),  Lebanon,  Oman,  UAE,  Israel
Armenian	հայերեն	5,902,970	Indo-European	Armenia,  Nagorno-Karabakh
Assamese	অসমীয়া	15,000,000	Indo-European		India (in Assam)
Azerbaijani	Azərbaycanca	37,324,060	Turkic	Azerbaijan	Iran
Bangla	বাংলা	230,000,000	Indo-European	Bangladesh	India (in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Jharkhand)
Bodo	Boro	1,984,569	Sino-Tibetan		India (in Bodoland)
Burmese	မြန်မာစာ	33,000,000	Sino-Tibetan	Myanmar
Cantonese	廣東話/广东话	7,877,900	Sino-Tibetan		Hong Kong and  Macau
Chinese	普通話/普通话,國語/国语,華語/华语	1,200,000,000	Sino-Tibetan	China,  Taiwan,  Singapore,  Malaysia
Dari	دری	19,600,000	Indo-European	Afghanistan
Dhivehi	ދިވެހި	400,000	Indo-European	Maldives
Dzongkha	རྫོང་ཁ་	600,000	Sino-Tibetan	Bhutan
English	English	301,625,412	Indo-European	Philippines,  Singapore,  India,  Pakistan,  Malaysia	Hong Kong
Filipino	Wikang Filipino	110,784,442	Austronesian	Philippines
Formosan		171,855	Austronesian	Taiwan
Georgian	ქართული	4,200,000	Kartvelian	Georgia
Gujarati	ગુજરાતી	50,000,000	Indo-European		India (in Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli)
Hakka	Thòi-vàn Hak-fa	2,370,000	Sino-Tibetan	Taiwan
Hebrew	עברית	7,000,000	Afro-Asiatic	Israel
Hindi	हिन्दी	550,000,000	Indo-European	India
Indonesian	Bahasa Indonesia	240,000,000	Austronesian	Indonesia	East Timor (as a working language)
Japanese	日本語	120,000,000	Japonic	Japan
Kannada	ಕನ್ನಡ	51,000,000	Dravidian		India (in Karnataka)
Karen	ကညီကျိး	6,000,000	Sino-Tibetan		Myanmar (in Kayin State)
Kazakh	Қазақша	18,000,000	Turkic	Kazakhstan	Russia
Khmer	ភាសាខ្មែរ	14,000,000	Austroasiatic	Cambodia
Korean	한국어/조선말	80,000,000	Koreanic	South Korea,  North Korea	China (in Yanbian and Changbai)
Kurdish	Kurdî/کوردی	20,000,000	Indo-European	Iraq	Iran
Kyrgyz	кыргызча	2,900,000	Turkic	Kyrgyzstan
Lao	ພາສາລາວ	7,000,000	Tai-Kadai	Laos
Malay	Bahasa Melayu/بهاس ملايو	30,000,000	Austronesian	Malaysia,  Brunei,  Singapore
Malayalam	മലയാളം	33,000,000	Dravidian		India (in Kerala, Lakshadweep and Mahe)
Marathi	मराठी	73,000,000	Indo-European		India (in Maharashtra and Dadra and Nagar Haveli)
Mongolian	Монгол хэл.mw-parser-output .font-mong{font-family:"Menk Hawang Tig","Menk Qagan Tig","Menk Garqag Tig","Menk Har_a Tig","Menk Scnin Tig","Oyun Gurban Ulus Tig","Oyun Qagan Tig","Oyun Garqag Tig","Oyun Har_a Tig","Oyun Scnin Tig","Oyun Agula Tig","Mongolian BT","Mongolian Baiti","Noto Sans Mongolian","Mongol Usug","Mongolian White","MongolianScript","Code2000","Menksoft Qagan"}.mw-parser-output .font-mong-mnc,.mw-parser-output .font-mong:lang(mnc-Mong),.mw-parser-output .font-mong:lang(dta-Mong),.mw-parser-output .font-mong:lang(sjo-Mong){font-family:"Abkai Xanyan","Abkai Xanyan LA","Abkai Xanyan VT","Abkai Xanyan XX","Abkai Xanyan SC","Abkai Buleku","Daicing White","Oyun Gurban Ulus Tig","Oyun Qagan Tig","Oyun Garqag Tig","Oyun Har_a Tig","Oyun Scnin Tig","Oyun Agula Tig","Mongolian BT","Mongolian Baiti","Noto Sans Mongolian"} ᠮᠣᠩᠭᠣᠯ ᠬᠡᠯᠡ	2,000,000	Mongolic	Mongolia	China (in Inner Mongolia)
Nepali	नेपाली	29,000,000	Indo-European	Nepal	India (in Sikkim and West Bengal)
Odia	ଓଡ଼ିଆ	33,000,000	Indo-European		India (in Odisha and Jharkhand)
Ossetian	Ирон	540,000 (50,000 in South Ossetia)	Indo-European	South Ossetia	Russia (in  North Ossetia–Alania )
Pashto	پښتو	45,000,000	Indo-European	Afghanistan	Pakistan
Persian	فارسی	50,000,000	Indo-European	Iran
Punjabi	پنجابی / ਪੰਜਾਬੀ	100,000,000	Indo-European		India (in Punjab, India, Haryana, Delhi and Chandigarh)  Pakistan (in Punjab, Pakistan)
Portuguese	Português	1,200,000	Indo-European	Timor Leste	Macau
Russian	Русский	260,000,000	Indo-European	Abkhazia,  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan,  Russia,  South Ossetia	Uzbekistan,  Tajikistan and  Turkmenistan (as an inter-ethnic language)
Saraiki	سرائیکی‬	18,179,610	Indo-European		Pakistan (in Bahawalpur )  India (in Andhra Pradesh )
Sinhala	සිංහල	18,000,000	Indo-European	Sri Lanka
Tamil	தமிழ்	77,000,000	Dravidian	Sri Lanka,  Singapore	India (in Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar islands and Puducherry)
Telugu	తెలుగు	79,000,000	Dravidian		India (in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Andaman and Nicobar islands, Puducherry)
Taiwanese Hokkien	臺語	18,570,000	Sino-Tibetan	Taiwan
Tajik	тоҷикӣ	7,900,000	Indo-European	Tajikistan
Tetum	Lia-Tetun	500,000	Austronesian	Timor Leste
Thai	ภาษาไทย	60,000,000	Tai-Kadai	Thailand
Tulu	ತುಳು	1,722,768	Dravidian		India (in Mangalore, Udupi, Kasargod, Mumbai)
Turkish	Türkçe	70,000,000	Turkic	Turkey,  Cyprus,  Northern Cyprus
Turkmen	Türkmençe	7,000,000	Turkic	Turkmenistan
Urdu	اُردُو‬	62,120,540	Indo-European	Pakistan	India (in Jammu and Kashmir, Telangana, Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh)
Uzbek	Oʻzbekcha/ Ўзбекча	25,000,000	Turkic	Uzbekistan
Vietnamese	Tiếng Việt	80,000,000	Austroasiatic	Vietnam

See also

• Asian studies


• Asianic languages


• East Asian languages


• Languages of South Asia


• List of extinct languages of Asia


• Classification schemes for Southeast Asian languages

References