Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
Tagalog (pronounced [taˈɡaːloɡ]) is an Austronesian language spoken by approximately 57 million speakers in the Philippines and in many other countries, including Canada, Guam, Midway Islands, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, UK and USA. The name Tagalog means literally “resident beside the river”. During the pre-colonial era Tagalog used to be written with the Baybayin alphabet, descended from the Brahmi writing system, but today this alphabet is considered as a historical artefact and the official alphabet in use is Latin.
Writing system: Latin
Official in: Philippines
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
Swedish (or svenska, pronounced [‘sven’ska] is Swedish) is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 8.7 million people worldwide, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. Along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. One of the world’s most translated authors is the Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren, popular with her child fiction and of course, with her Pippi Longstocking.
Writing system: Latin (Swedish alphabet)
Official language in: Sweden, Finland, European Union
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
The Swahili language (pronounced [sua’hi:li:]) is a Bantu language, spoken by various communities inhabiting the African Great Lakes region and other parts of Southeast Africa, including Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Swahili vocabulary is partially derived from Arabic but it also incorporates German, Portuguese, English, Hindi and French words due to the contact with empire builders, traders and slavers during the past five centuries.
Writing system: Latin script (Roman Swahili alphabet), Arabic script (Arabic Swahili alphabet)
Official language in: Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
The Spanish language (or español, pronounced [espan’jiol] in Spanish) is a Romance language that originated in Castile, a region of Spain. It was first documented in central-northern Iberia in the ninth century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia. Approximately 414 million people speak Spanish as a native language, making it second only to Mandarin in terms of its number of native speakers worldwide.
Writing system: Latin (Spanish alphabet)
Official language in: Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
Somali (or Af-Soomaali, pronounced [æf sɔːˈmɑːli]) is an Afro-Asiatic language, belonging to its Cushitic branch. The Somali language is spoken by ethnic Somalis in Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Yemen and Kenya, and by the Somali diaspora. Over the centuries, a number of various writing systems have been used to express the Somali language in writing like Osmanya script, Wadaad writing and most recently, the Latin script. It is believed that an ancient Somali script existed, but it is long lost and little is known of it.
Writing system: Somali alphabet (Latin script)
Official language in: Somalia
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
Slovenian (or slovenski jezik, pronounced as [slo’venski je’zik] in Slovenian) is an Indo-European language that belongs to the family of South Slavic languages. It is spoken by approximately 2 million speakers worldwide, naturally the majority of whom live in Slovenia. Although the country is relatively small, there are over 32 different dialects spoken. The earliest known examples of a written Slovenian dialect are from the Freising Manuscripts, dating back between 972 and 1093 (most likely before 1000). These religious writings are among the oldest surviving manuscripts in any Slavic language.
Writing system: Latin (Slovene alphabet)
Official language in: Slovenia, European Union
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
The Slovakian language (or slovenský jazyk, pronounced [slɒ’venski ‘jazək] in Slovakian) is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages (together with Czech, Polish, Silesian, Kashubian, and Sorbian). The history of the Slovakian is complex, starting back in 9th century, but it was not until the late 17th century when the language established its standard and gave way to a prolific literary activity.
Writing system: Latin (Slovak alphabet)
Official language in: Slovakia, Czech Republic, Vojvodina, European Union
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
Sinhala (or සිංහල, pronounced [ˈsiŋɦələ]), also known as Sinhalese, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Sinhala has its own writing system, the Sinhala alphabet, which includes mostly curlicues, i.e. straight lines are almost completely absent from the alphabet, because it used to be written on dried palm leaves, which would split along the veins on writing straight lines.
Writing system: Sinhala alphabet (Brahmic)
Official language in: Sri Lanka
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
The Serbian language (српски/srpski, pronounced [srpski] in Serbian) is based on the most widespread dialect of Serbo-Croatian: Shtokavian dialect, which is also the basis of Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin languages. Serbian is practically the only European standard language with complete synchronic digraphia, using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. Most of the Serbian words are of native Slavic lexical stock, tracing back to the Proto-Slavic language.
Writing system: Cyrillic (Serbian alphabet), Latin (Gaj’s alphabet)
Official language in: Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Posted on: March 14th, 2014 by asapbademko No Comments
The Russian language (or ру́сский язы́к, pronounced [ˈruskiːj jаˈzəik] in Russian) belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the three living members of the East Slavic languages, along with Ukrainian and Belarusian. Being one of the richest, subtlest and yet most complex linguistic systems in the world, Russian is the language of many world famous thinkers, artists and academics. The modern Russian arose in the beginning of the 18th century under the rule of Peter the Great and was further revolutionised by the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin.
Writing system: Cyrillic (Russian alphabet)
Official language in: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Moldova:Gagauzia
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