INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY

Indo-European Family

Language Family is a group of languages related by descent from a common ancestor (proto language)

What relates languages into one ancestor?

DIALECT

VOCABULARY

PRONUNCIATION

GRAMMAR&STRUCTURE

There are 225 language families recorded worlwide

Major/prominent Languge Families

By number of native speakers

This is a list of the top ten families with wide recognition as phylogenetic units, in terms of numbers of native speakers, listed with their core geographic areas.

1. Indo-European languages (Europe, Southwest to South Asia, America, Oceania)

2. Sino-Tibetan languages (East Asia)

3. Niger-Congo languages (Sub-Saharan Africa)

4. Afro-Asiatic languages (North Africa to Horn of Africa, Southwest Asia)

5. Austronesian languages (Oceania, Madagascar, maritime Southeast Asia)

6. Dravidian languages (South Asia)

7. Altaic languages (Central Asia, Northern Asia, Anatolia, Siberia)

8. Austro-Asiatic languages (mainland Southeast Asia)

9. Tai-Kadai languages (Southeast Asia)

10. Japonic languages (Japan)

By variety

According to the numbers in Ethnologue, the largest language families in terms of number of languages are the following. Some families are controversial, and in many the language count varies between researchers.

1. Niger-Congo (1,514 languages)

2. Austronesian (1,268 languages)

3. Trans–New Guinea (564 languages) (number disputed)

4. Indo-European (449 languages)

5. Sino-Tibetan (403 languages)

6. Afro-Asiatic (375 languages)

7. Nilo-Saharan (204 languages)

8. Pama-Nyungan (178 languages)

9. Oto-Manguean (174 languages) (number varies; Lyle Campbell counts 27)

10. Austro-Asiatic (169 languages)

11. Sepik-Ramu (100 languages)

12. Tai-Kadai (76 languages)

13. Tupi (76 languages)

14. Dravidian (73 languages)

15. Mayan (69 languages)

Indo-European

Language Family

a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau (Southwest Asia), Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent (South Asia).

Indo refers to Indian sub continent

European refers to Europe

There are 449 languages in this family according to 2005 Ethnologue