Posted On: 2023-12-08 10:13:44
Since the dawn of time, humans have used language as a medium of communication. But with boundaries and barriers, each culture developed its own unique language to communicate. Despite the Constitution of India recognizing only 22 languages, there are an estimated 780 languages in India itself, making India the second most linguistically diverse country in the world.
December is celebrated as ‘Learn a Foreign Language Month’. During this month, people around the world dust off their old language textbooks, and try to learn a new language.
Learning a new language comes with a lot of benefits. It improves your understanding of other cultures, it opens up new job opportunities and makes it easier for you to travel to another country.
To observe Learn a Foreign Language Month, let’s look at some amazing facts about languages.
Chinese, Spanish, English and Hindi are some of the most widely spoken languages in the world. But they are only a part of the major languages. It is estimated that there are over 2,700 languages spoken in the world with 7,000 individual dialects.
With over 74 letters, Khmer is the language with the most number of alphabets. It is the official and national language of Cambodia and has been influenced by Sanskrit and Pali.
According to a legend, Heo Hwang-ok, the wife of Korea’s King Suro, arrived by boat from a distant kingdom called ‘Ayuta’. The kingdom of ‘Ayuta’ has been linked to the mistranslation of the Ay Kingdom, a vassal to the Pandyan Empire of ancient Tamilakam, present-day Tamil Nadu. Despite not being proven, Tamil and Korean languages do share some interesting similarities. Here are just some of the interesting similarities between the languages:
Grass: Pronounced Pul in Tamil, Pol in Korean
Day: Pronounced Nal in Tamil and Korean, both
Little bit: Pronounced Koñcam Koñcam in Tamil and Jogeum Jogeum in Korean
Mother: Pronounced Amma in Tamil, Omma in Korean
Sister/sister-in-law: Pronounced Anni in Tamil, Eonni in Korean
Must/have to: Kattayamaka in Tamil, Kachoyham in Korean
One: Onnu in Tamil, Eonnu in Korean
It is estimated that only 33% of words in the English language are derived from Old English, making the rest of the language borrowed. The English language has heavily borrowed from Old Norse, French and Latin. Words have also been derived from Sanskrit like Juggernaut (Jagann?tha), Jungle (Jangala), and Bangle (Bangala).
Despite the number of languages estimated at 2,700, there are more than 200 languages completely made for books, television and movies. This shows the capability of human minds. These languages are learnt by hardcore fans around the world. Some popular artificial languages are Na'vi from Avatar, Kiliki from Baahubali, Valyrian and Dothraki from Game of Thrones and a plethora of Elvish languages from Lord of the Rings.
Filaantro, along with Child Help Foundation, recognizes the importance of language. In Ashram Schools, we make an effort to teach students English. This will help them to secure job opportunities in the future.
How many languages can you speak? Let us know in the comment section below.
AUTHOR: Adil Sayyad
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