100+ Facts About Languages That You Might Not Know
A fast, searchable guide to surprising language facts from around the world, covering scripts, official languages, minority languages, Eurovision, language revival, diaspora communities, creoles, Romance languages, Semitic languages, Celtic languages and more.
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Turkish once used Arabic script
Turkish used to be written in the Arabic script until 1928.
Where “jeans” comes from
The word jeans comes from the French word for the city of Genoa (Gênes) in the Italian region of Liguria, home to the Ligurian language.
Luxembourg’s three official languages
Luxembourg is officially trilingual (French, German, Luxembourgish).
Llanito in Gibraltar
Llanito is the autochthonous language of Gibraltar.
Hebrew’s modern revival
Hebrew became extinct as a spoken language in the first few centuries CE until its revival in the late 1800s.
MSA vs. spoken Arabics
Modern Standard Arabic is a written language; people speak local/regional varieties of Arabic such as Egyptian Arabic, Moroccan Arabic and Lebanese Arabic.
Italian in Albania
Italian is a widely spoken language in Albania.
Mirandese in Portugal
Mirandese is one of the official languages of Miranda do Douro in Portugal.
Ñ beyond Spanish
Ñ is not exclusive to Spanish; it appears in languages such as Galician, Aymara and Quechua.
Jèrriais of Jersey
The native language of Jersey is not English but Jèrriais, a Norman variety closely related to French.
Amazigh official in two countries
The Berber (Amazigh) language is official in both Morocco and Algeria.
Ligurian in Bonifacio
There are still some speakers of a variant of Ligurian in the Corsican town of Bonifacio.
Tabarchin in Sardinia
People speak a variant of Ligurian (Tabarchin) in Carloforte and Calasetta in Sardinia.
Switzerland’s four languages
Switzerland has four official languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh.
Åland speaks Swedish
Swedish is the only official language of the Åland Islands, an autonomous region of Finland.
Andorra’s Catalan status
Andorra is the only country where Catalan is the sole official language.
Portuguese in Andorra
After Catalan and Spanish, Portuguese is the third most spoken language in Andorra.
“’O sole mio” is Neapolitan
The world-famous song “‘O sole mio” is not in Italian but in Neapolitan.
Latin’s only official home
The only country where Latin is an official language is the Vatican City State.
Romance languages are Latin’s heirs
If you speak Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Romanian, Ligurian, Corsican, Catalan or Galician, you speak an evolution of Latin.
Chipileño in Mexico
Chipileño is the language of Chipilo in Mexico, a variant of Venetian from the Veneto region of Italy.
USA and official language
The United States does not have an official language.
Welsh in Argentina
Welsh is not only spoken in Wales but also in Y Wladfa in Argentina.
Ukrainian co-official in Brazil towns
Two municipalities in Brazil have Ukrainian as a co-official language along with Portuguese.
Curaçao’s three languages
Curaçao has three official languages: Papiamentu, Dutch and English.
Belgium’s three languages
Belgium has three official languages: French, Dutch and German.
UK and official language
The United Kingdom does not have an official language.
ESC hosts’ languages
Hosts for the Eurovision Song Contest speak English and French.
ESC wins in English
Thirty-five winning Eurovision songs have been in English.
“Despacito” on YouTube
The second most-viewed-ever music video on YouTube is in Spanish: “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi.
Italian in Croatian Istria
Italian is one of the official languages in Istria County in Croatia.
Italian in Slovene Istria
Italian is an official language in Slovene Istria in Slovenia.
Italian in Malta (historic)
Italian used to be one of the official languages of Malta until 1934.
Maltese official since 1934
Maltese only became an official language of Malta in 1934.
Wikipedia’s top 5 languages
The top five languages with the most articles on Wikipedia are English, Cebuano, German, Swedish and French.
Most spoken Romance languages
The five most spoken Romance languages are Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and Romanian.
Top Germanic languages
The three most spoken Germanic languages are English, German and Dutch.
Basque is an isolate
The Basque language is not related to any other living language.
EU’s 24 official languages
The European Union has 24 official languages: Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
UN’s six official languages
The United Nations has six official languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
ESC wins in French
Fifteen winning Eurovision songs have been in French.
Catalan in Alghero
Catalan is the traditional language of the city of Alghero in Sardinia.
Greek speakers in Syria
There are Greek speakers in Syria, especially in the coastal town of Al-Hamidiyah.
Western Aramaic in Maaloula
Most of the remaining speakers of Western Aramaic are in Maaloula in Syria.
Finland’s two languages
Finland has two official languages: Swedish and Finnish.
Aranese in Catalonia
The only place where a variant of the Occitan language is official is in Catalonia under the name Aranese.
Munegascu in Monaco
The national language of Monaco is Munegascu, a variant of Ligurian.
Griko/Greko in Italy
There are Griko/Greko-speaking towns in Calabria and Puglia; Griko/Greko descends from Greek.
Na-našu in Molise
Na-našu is a language descended from Croatian with speakers in a few towns in Molise, Italy.
Arbëresh in Southern Italy
Arbëresh, a variant of Albanian, is spoken in several towns in Southern Italy.
Greek in Cargèse (historic)
Greek was widely spoken in Cargèse in Corsica before the mid-20th century.
Catalonia’s Catalan proficiency (2018)
According to the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2018, 81.2% of the population of Catalonia can speak Catalan.
Breton on the continent
The only Celtic language in mainland Europe is Breton, one of the languages of Brittany, France.
Maltese: EU’s Semitic language
The only official Semitic language of the European Union is Maltese.
Cypriot Maronite Arabic
A variant of Arabic strongly influenced by Cypriot Greek has historically been spoken in Cyprus by Cypriot Maronites.
Chinese in the USA
Chinese is the third most spoken language in the United States after English and Spanish.
UK royal motto in French
The royal motto of the United Kingdom is in French: “Dieu et mon droit”.
First Eurovision winner (1956)
The first Eurovision Song Contest took place in 1956; the first winning song was “Refrain” by Lys Assia, in French.
ABBA’s first #1 was in Swedish
ABBA’s first number-one single in Sweden was in Swedish.
Céline Dion’s native language
Céline Dion’s native language is French.
Hungarian & Finnish relation
Despite being geographically apart, Hungarian and Finnish are related.
Frisian’s link to English
Frisian, a West Germanic language spoken in the Netherlands, is closely related to English.
Oldest Creole: Kabuverdianu
The oldest Creole language is Kabuverdianu, spoken in Cape Verde.
South Africa’s many languages
South Africa has twelve official languages.
San Marino and Sammarinese
Italian is the official language of San Marino; the autochthonous language is Sammarinese, a variant of Emilian-Romagnol.
Largest French-based Creole
The most widely spoken French-based Creole language is Haitian Creole, spoken in Haiti.
Panjabi and Pakistan
Punjabi is not one of the official languages of Pakistan, despite being the most spoken first language in the country.
Philippine households’ languages
According to the 2020 census, over 60% of households in the Philippines speak another language other than Tagalog.
Macau’s two official languages
Alongside Chinese (Cantonese), Portuguese is an official language in Macau.
Ibiza’s Catalan name
The internationally well-known island of Ibiza is called Eivissa in Catalan, the autochthonous language of the island.
Hungarian in Vojvodina
Hungarian is one of the official languages of the region of Vojvodina in Serbia.
Albanian in North Macedonia
Albanian is the second official language of North Macedonia.
Spanish at home in Miami
According to the American Community Survey, 70% of the population of Miami, Florida, speaks Spanish at home.
Spanish at home in California
According to the American Community Survey, around 30% of the population of California speaks Spanish at home.
Borinquen and Taíno
The Taíno name for Puerto Rico is Borinquen; Taíno is an extinct Arawakan language.
Ligurian & Haketia in Gibraltar
Ligurian and Haketia (Moroccan Judeo-Spanish) were two of the main languages spoken in Gibraltar during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Sources of Maltese vocabulary
Maltese derives most of its vocabulary from Arabic, Italian, Sicilian, English and French.
English’s Romance influence
Despite being a Germanic language, English has incorporated a lot of vocabulary from Norman and French (Romance languages).
Top Indian first languages
Hindi, Bengali and Marathi are the most spoken first languages in India.
Guaraní in Paraguay
Paraguay is the only country in the Americas where most of the population can speak a Native American language: Guaraní.
Cornish revival
Cornish became extinct in the 18th century, but revival efforts mean over 500 people speak it as a second language per the latest census.
Navajo in the USA
The most spoken Native American language in the United States is Navajo.
Mozarabic in southern Spain
People in Southern Spain once spoke Mozarabic, a now-extinct language.
Mexico and Spanish speakers
The country with the most Spanish speakers is Mexico.
French speakers mostly in Africa
The majority of French speakers are in Africa.
Brazil and Portuguese speakers
The majority of Portuguese speakers are in Brazil.
Manx revival
The native language of the Isle of Man, Manx, became extinct in the early 1970s, but it is now being revived.
Welsh leads Celtic speakers
Welsh is the Celtic language with the most native speakers.
Most English speakers
The country with the most English speakers is the United States.
Canada’s two languages
Canada has two official languages: English and French.
Singapore’s four languages
Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.
Welsh proficiency in Wales
According to the Welsh Annual Population Survey, 29.7% of the population of Wales can speak Welsh.
Maltese and Italian (2012)
66% of Maltese people can speak Italian, according to the 2012 Eurobarometer.
New York’s top languages after ES
According to the American Community Survey, the three most spoken languages of New York State after English and Spanish are Chinese, Russian and Yiddish.
Nahuatl in Mexico
The most spoken Native American language in Mexico is Nahuatl.
Languages of the Bible
The original languages of the Bible are Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek.
Serbian’s two scripts
Serbian can be written either in the Latin or Cyrillic script.
French in the Aosta Valley
French is one of the official languages of the Aosta Valley region in Italy.
Kurdish in Türkiye
Over 10% of the population of Türkiye speaks Kurdish.
Most native speakers: Mandarin
Mandarin Chinese is the language with the most native speakers.
London’s top three after English
According to the 2021 census, after English, the three most spoken languages in London are Romanian, Spanish and Polish.
Quick facts
Language facts FAQ
How many facts are included on this page?
This redesigned version includes 101 fact cards.
Which country has Latin as an official language?
The only country where Latin is an official language is the Vatican City State.
Which language is the only official Semitic language of the European Union?
The only official Semitic language of the European Union is Maltese.
Which language is the native language of Jersey?
The native language of Jersey is Jèrriais, a Norman variety closely related to French.
Which language has the most native speakers?
Mandarin Chinese is the language with the most native speakers.
What are the original languages of the Bible?
The original languages of the Bible are Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek.